Hybrids Don't Always Deliver Low Mileage

Hybrids • Honda To Sell Hybrid For Under $20,000 • Honda Insight Complaints • Happy Hybrid Owners • Toyota Prius Complaints

May 12, 2004
Purchasers of hybrid cars are learning a bitter lesson -- those sky-high mileage estimates contain a lot of blue sky. Instead of getting 45 or more miles per gallon in city driving, many hybrid drivers say they're lucky to get better than 30 mpg.

While Toyota Prius and Honda Insight owners understandably blame the manufacturer for overstating mileage claims, experts say the blame really lies with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its 19-year-old fuel efficiency test.

Consumer Reports has found that hybrid cars get less than 60 percent of EPA estimates while navigating city streets -- the Civic Hybrid averaging 26 mpg in the city, the Toyota Prius 35 mpg, much less than their respective EPA estimates of 47 and 60 mpg. Highway mileage is typically closer to EPA estimates.

A big part of the problem is that the 19-year-old EPA tests use vehicle emissions to derive an estimated fuel-efficiency rating. Since the hybrids produce very low emissions, the test doesn't measure their real-world fuel consumption accurately.

Turbodiesels, now quite popular in Europe, may be a better answer for those seeking better mileage, although very few models are currently available in the U.S. and diesel fuel can be hard to find and expensive.

The most gas efficient fuel-only car on the U.S. market today is the VW Jetta Diesel Turbo. It gets 45 miles to the gallon, but consumers in California and four other states can't buy it yet because it doesn't meet clean-air requirements for particulate emissions.

That may change within the next few years, however. Diesel fuel sold in the U.S. will be required to have a lower sulfur content and thus burn "cleaner" beginning in 2006.

Turbodiesels have a huge market share in most of Europe. Nearly one-third of the cars sold in the U.K. are diesel. Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Peugeot, Citroen, Alfa Romeo, Volkswagen and all other major brands feature diesels in nearly every model segment.

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