Thursday, January 12, 2006

The myth of hybrid car fuel economy

Sure some owners of hybrid cars are unhappy, but consumer satisfaction surveys demonstrate that just under 100% of the owners of the Toyota Prius, by far the best selling hybrid vehicle, would buy another Prius. So, who are all these "Indeed, hybrids have increasingly faced sobering publicity about the "myth" of real-life fuel economy. Many drivers have reported to be disillusioned about underperforming the advertised mileage on their hybrids, which are most effective in stop-and-go city driving but help little on highways." CNN

To date, I've not heard one owner of a Toyota Prius hybrid or Honda Civic hybrid complain about their fuel mileage. Yes, I have heard complaints from Lexus RX400h owners, but the Lexus is a performance hybrid.

Still, I've talked dozens and dozens of Prius owners and the average fuel economy, combining both city and highway, is between 45 and 55 mpg. I've also talked to drivers that have achieve more than 60 mpg in some driving conditions.

In real world driving, what other vehicles are even coming close to that kind of fuel economy?

All kinds of conventional vehicles are not coming close to their EPA estimates, but their owners don't care, they didn't buy their car for fuel economy.

Sure some owners of hybrid cars are unhappy, but consumer satisfaction surveys demonstrate that just under 100% of the owners of the Toyota Prius, by far the best selling hybrid vehicle, would buy another Prius.

So, who are all these "disillusioned" drivers? Or, have a handful of drivers created this "myth" of disillusionment?

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1 Comments:

Blogger Jamison said...

The disillusionment talking point is the myth. I've had Civic Hybrid for 3 years now and I've never been disappointed with the real life fuel economy. I worked with people who have both versions of the Prius, we sit back and laugh at the people who try and convince us the gas mileage isn't worth the cost. I haven't been back in to talk my Honda dealer after they tried to convince me hybrids weren't worth the cost difference. I bought my second hybrid from Toyota as a result. There is no comparison between the fuel economy of a hybrid to an equal car.

1:49 PM  

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