NEW fuel economy ratings for Prius

[clintd555]

I'm not sure if this is old news or not, but I just heard on the news that the Prius took the largest hit for the new fuel rating standards. However, at the new rating of 48 MPG city driving, it's still the most fuel economical car available. The Hybrid Civic's rating went down to 40 MPG - ouch!

I think 48 MPG represents a more accurate rating for the Prius and is still VERY good.

I've been trying to access http://www.fueleconomy.gov/ to confirm the numbers, but it seems to be overloaded with traffic at the moment.

Has anyone else been able to retrieve the new ratings? The new MPG ratings will appear on all 2008 model vehicles.

[tripp]

The Prius dropped about 16% is I recall. 46MPG combined is pretty fair I think. Now it's really easy to do considerably better than the EPA. My combined avg over 21K mi is now just over 51 MPG so I've exceeded the EPA estimate by 11% and my mileage is nothing to write home about. I think it's better this way because people won't be hearing about so many underachievers and will hear about more people exceeding the EPA numbers on a regular basis. I wonder how often people are able to exceed EPA numbers in other cars in normal driving conditions. Seems like it would be a lot harder to do, especially the old numbers.

It seems like most cars took an 8-12% hit just from the random sampling that I did of the FE site. So 16% is wildly different.

[zenMachine]

And then there's this:

A lot of people equate hybrids with great fuel economy. And while that may be true in some cases, it's not always accurate, says Phil Reed of Edmunds.com.

Performance hybrids, for example, don't necessarily save you more gas than a traditional car. Plus, hybrids are notoriously far off from the miles per gallon, or MPG rating, designated by the EPA. For example, the Toyota Prius was given an MPG rating of 60, but in real-world testing that number was more like 33 MPG, according to Edmunds.com.[/b]

CNN: The real truth about hybrid cars

[dmckinstry]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tripp @ May 24 2007, 07:16 PM) [snapback]449519[/snapback]</div>

The Prius dropped about 16% is I recall. 46MPG combined is pretty fair I think. Now it's really easy to do considerably better than the EPA. My combined avg over 21K mi is now just over 51 MPG so I've exceeded the EPA estimate by 11% and my mileage is nothing to write home about. I think it's better this way because people won't be hearing about so many underachievers and will hear about more people exceeding the EPA numbers on a regular basis. I wonder how often people are able to exceed EPA numbers in other cars in normal driving conditions. Seems like it would be a lot harder to do, especially the old numbers.

It seems like most cars took an 8-12% hit just from the random sampling that I did of the FE site. So 16% is wildly different.
[/b]

I suspect that most people in non-hybrids don't even pay attention to their actual mileage.

Dave M.

[ozyran]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dmckinstry @ May 24 2007, 10:27 PM) [snapback]449530[/snapback]</div>

I suspect that most people in non-hybrids don't even pay attention to their actual mileage.

Dave M.
[/b]

Starting last March, before my wife and I got the Prius, we kept a log book on both her 2003 Intrepid and my 1997 Tacoma. We traded the Intrepid for our Prius, but we still keep a logbook.

[ystasino]

People believe a lot of crap to rationalize their decisions. So if they want to believe 33mpg from Edmunds.com so be it.

Meanwhile I enjoy 50+mpg

[Tyrin]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zenMachine @ May 24 2007, 09:25 PM) [snapback]449528[/snapback]</div>

And then there's this:
CNN: The real truth about hybrid cars
[/b]

Where the hell did Edmunds get 33 MPG? You'd have to drive 100 MPH constantly to get that bad!

[narf]

You'll find that many of the reviewers that claim the ultra low mpg for a Prius are using the car for lots of very short trips. I usually get about 30 to 35 mpg for the first 5 minutes of driving in my Prius, then it jumps up to 50 or so for the rest of the trip. Just like any car, when it's warming up it's not nearly as efficient as it is once up to operating temperature.

[priusincc]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dmckinstry @ May 24 2007, 07:27 PM) [snapback]449530[/snapback]</div>

I suspect that most people in non-hybrids don't even pay attention to their actual mileage.

Dave M.
[/b]

I guess I'm not most people, but I have always tracked not only MPH, but all expenses for my past vehicles in order to come up with a yearly cost per mile. But, you are probably right, the average non-hybrid person does not.

Also, the Prii isn't all about MPH, it has other low emission features, but MPH usually gets the attention.

[dogfriend]

I looked up the 3 vehicles we have. I would say the new ratings seem to be pretty accurate, although on a trip we got about 28 -29 with the Avalon at 70mph. The Explorer rating is dead on, unfortunately.

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