Feds release 2010 Fuel Economy Guide, Prius still most miserly
2010 Toyota Prius - Click above for high-res image gallery
Quick – what's the most fuel efficient car currently for sale in America? Did you guess the Toyota Prius? If so, give yourself a cookie, you're right. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the 2010 version of Toyota's seminal hybrid once again scores the mileage victory with its estimated 51 mpg city and 48 highway.
Second place is grabbed by a set of newcomers to the hybrid arena for the 2010 model year: Ford's Fusion sedan and its sibling from Mercury, the Milan. The Blue Oval's hybrid duo earn EPA ratings of 41 city and 36 highway, making them the most fuel efficient midsize sedans in America.
Rounding out the top 10 vehicle platforms are the Civic Hybrid and Insight from Honda; the Lexus HS 250h; the Nissan Altima Hybrid; the Ford Escape, Mazda Tribute and Mercury Mariner hybrid 'utes; Smart's Fortwo coupe and cabriolet (the only non-hybrids in the top 10); Toyota's Camry Hybrid and finally the Lexus RX 450h.
Want to know where your next car comes in on the federal government's list for 2010? Click here to find out.
Gallery: Review: 2010 Toyota Prius
[Source: fueleconomy.gov via Green Car Congress]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
danrenfroe2016 9:16AM (10/16/2009)
They need to change how they test the Hybrids... The toyota gets 48 Highway.... Not for long it wont, after the Battery discharges its over! The Diesels as the better way to go...
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audi_arena 10:12AM (10/16/2009)
Thats a good point: My blackberry's battery lasted for three days straight when it was brand new, and now I would be lucky to get more than 4 hours out of it... Can someone do a study about how this affects the fuel economy pls?
Bob-omb 10:32AM (10/16/2009)
The Prius's battery pack is NOTHING like a cell phone battery. Many Priuses have over 100k miles. Don't you think the owners would complain about the batteries not performing properly?
I DO think the EPA should change how they get their numbers, though. I haven't seen one real world test in which the Fusion Hybrid got better fuel economy than the Camry Hybrid. Every car magazine, every blog -- they always put down nearly identical numbers.
Swede 11:10AM (10/16/2009)
You're right the Prius batterys are nothing like a mobile. Phones and laptops use Li-Ion, the Prius is stuck with old nickel metal hybrids batterys.
PJ 1:16PM (10/16/2009)
Guys, it's been quite a while since the "discharging hybrid battery" scare held any water. Your laptop and cell phone batteries can discharge because it's up to the owner to regulate the charging, and most don't follow the instructions. They run their cell phones until the battery dies, then plug it in and let it sit fully juiced for a couple days, drain it back down to zero again, and surprise, the battery croaks.
In a hybrid, the *car* regulates the battery use and keeps it from reaching the upper or lower extremes of its charge, where damage happens. The Prius battery, for example, is kept between 40-80% by the ECU.
There are Prius taxis running around with 250,000-300,000 miles on the original battery, so this really ought to be old news.
Bobmarley 9:23AM (10/16/2009)
they should include diesels
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james 9:27AM (10/16/2009)
Well, you two beat me to it!
Some European diesels can now get over 70mpg, and if you drive a Prius like you would a normal car you'll be lucky to see 40 mpg..... go figure.
Diesel is still the fuel of Satan though!
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Jeff 9:35AM (10/16/2009)
"lucky to get 40 mpg"? I average around 53 mpg in my wife's Prius and have been doing this for over 2 1/2 years now. I drive it like a normal person and it is not very hard to get this kind of fuel efficiency.
In fact, I drove it for a strait week once while she was on a business trip and averaged 61 mpg over the course of about 120 miles in 5 days.
anybody who gets under 45mpg in the Prius is driving like an idiot in the first place and should be used as a benchmark for how the car performs.
james 9:57AM (10/16/2009)
Well fair enough then, owned.
I do like how you referred to it as 'my wife's Prius' hehe
kepone 10:07AM (10/16/2009)
Lucky to get 40mpg indeed, more like 30mpg is the norm at normal highway speeds ( 70mph plus ).. Unless you drive everywhere doing 45mph or below, or you live in a city and never leave it, the Prius's mileage is pathetic compared to a VW Diesel. As mentioned in another post i made before, on the highway, my 04 Audi A4 1.8t gets better mileage than a Prius.
Bob-omb 10:36AM (10/16/2009)
"Lucky to get 40mpg indeed, more like 30mpg is the norm at normal highway speeds ( 70mph plus )."
No, it's not. Why do people who DON'T OWN a Prius love to bash its mileage? What are you so scared of?!
Rental car -- 2007 Prius. 400 mile highway trip, 65-70mph, no stops, 52mpg. NEXT.
Tourian 11:15AM (10/16/2009)
Do people with Prius always only rely on Toyota's onboard mileage indicator to test how much they're getting out of their Prius? OR do they use calibrated third party testing equipment?
Chris O 11:42AM (10/16/2009)
I rented a Prius and HATED every minute of it.
I flogged it as best I could, but I still averaged mid-40s with the thing. The interior is garbage, the suspention is awful, the brakes (the actual brakes, not the regen) are terrible, and the seats felt like they were made of blocks of recycled cardboard.
Mileage was never a problem, though - then again, with a 1.5L engine, it SHOULD have good fuel economy on the highway, no?
Chris O 12:04PM (10/16/2009)
@Tourian
There is another way of measuring mileage....
I measured my mileage by dividing my miles covered in my rental period by the amount of fuel it took to top off my tank when I returned the rental. If anything (by assuming the tank was full when I got it) I calculated mileage that was lower than the real-world figure.
Jeff 9:29AM (10/16/2009)
The Fusion hybrid is obviously NOT the most fuel efficient midsize sedan in America, the Prius is. According to the fuel economy guide, they are both the same class of vehicle and they are obviously both sedans, so how is this not obvious? Both this site and the stupid ford commercials are propagating a lie that is obviously not true to anybody who can figure out that 51 > 41 and 48 > 36.
@danrenfroe2016 - My wife and I routinely get around 48mpg on the highway in our Prius, even on trips over 100 miles. The battery does not just discharge; the ecu keeps it at a near-constant level of charge.
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bstn149 9:37AM (10/16/2009)
You're kidding yourself if you think the Prius has the same interior comfort and offers the same driving experience as a Fusion. Just go drive one. Maybe Prius is big enough in interior volume to barely cross over the midsize threshold, but for interior noise, acceleration, braking and handling performance as well as all around comfort the Fusion is worlds better. The Prius is an appliance, a high-quality one, but still an appliance. The Fusion is a car.
Aloysius Vampa 10:01AM (10/16/2009)
"and they are obviously both sedans"
?
Jeff 10:50AM (10/16/2009)
@Aloysius Vampa - Sorry, maybe not so obvious unless you do a little digging but they are both only offered as 4-door sedans.
akboss302 9:35AM (10/16/2009)
Interesting that 40% of the cars on the 'economy leaders' page use a manual transmission. It may be old tech but it works! The way I see it they are more fun, saves min. $1K off the purchase, cheaper to fix/maintain, why do Americans hate them so much?
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dal20402 10:12AM (10/16/2009)
Because they require a bit of skill and education.
Americans are so lazy they'll drive to the McDonald's at the end of the block.