2007 Hybrid cars losing fuel efficiency – Toyota Prius drops 20% in city mpg

Posted: Feb 26, 2007
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2007 Toyota Prius looses 20% fuel efficiency

According to a new government fuel-economy ratings that are available for the first time, new hybrid cars are losing their fuel efficiency as compared to old models. If you go to the government’s fuel-economy Web site, http://www.fueleconomy.gov/, and click on the section called “Compare Old and New MPG Ratings,” and select any hybrid car, you can see that new hybrid cars use significantly more fuel than their previous ratings.

We looked up two cars including the 2007 Toyota Prius and the 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid. The Honda Civic Hybrid dropped from a city/highway mpg of 49/51 to 40/45 with a combined drop from 50 mpg to 42 mpg. Not too bad right? Well check out the Toyota Prius that is praised for its fuel efficiency and hasn’t even received an upgrade since its initial debut. The Toyota Prius dropped from a city/highway mpg of 60/51 to a current mpg of 48/45. That’s 20% drop in its city mpg and a 12% drop in its highway mpg.

Guess hybrid cars aren’t as effecient as they used to be.

Source: Detroit Free Press

[tags]Cars, Car, Auto, Automobile, Vehicles, Technology, Auto News, News, Hybrids, Toyota, Honda[/tags]


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  • http://gaiachurch.org Jon K. Hart

    Hybrids “aren’t as effecient as they used to be?” (&they even mispeld). It at least irresponsible to stop at that comment. The cars are exactly as efficient, & will get the same mileage as before the new test –it’s only the gov’t test that’s changed (as it should have). The Detroit Free Press confused the map for the road… like looking at a new, smaller-scale map & saying that the destination is closer today.

  • HKaiser

    Loosing? (Losing is the correct spelling).

    “Spare no expense to conserve,” should be the slogan from the hybrid vehicle. Given the average mathematical skill of the average American, I doubt most hybrid owners have calculated how much extra they actually must pay to own and operate a hybrid, even when using the EPA fuel economy ratings. Given the gross overstatement of government fuel economy numbers, the hybrids are yet even more expensive!

    Spare No Expense To Conserve!

  • Kohook1

    EPA ratings are optimistic (higher than actual) for both gas and hybrid vehicles. So the “gross overstatement of government fuel economy numbers” is neither here nor there because it doesn’t say anything about the cost of hybrids compared to alternatives (e.g., conventional vehicles).

    In any case, I would bet a lot of money that the average Prius owner is much more intelligent than the average American. Though HKaiser is right that monetary costs of a Prius vs a comparable car (4cyl Camry?) are higher, the observed preferences of Prius buyers strongly suggests that they receive utility from emitting less criteria pollutants (e.g., NOX, unburned hyrdocarbons) and GHG emissions whether or not they directly and personally benefit from cleaner air and/or lower risk of global warming. That said, I would argue that they value the cache of a Prius as much as they do the decreased emissions.