Consumer Reports claims hybrid gas mileage is 19 mpg lower than the EPA
says and are among the worst in mileage exaggeration.
http://autos.msn.com/advice/CRArt.aspx?contentid=4023460
But they are the best in mileage! According to the Consumer Reports list on this page!
It is obvious why there is such a large difference between actual and measured performance with hybrid cars. They are more sensitive to driving conditions and the driver's skill than regular cars. I usually get 45 to 50 mpg, which is 10 or 15 mpg below the EPA city driving estimate of 60 mpg. However, I have gone for hours at a time getting 75 mpg. The record is 110 mpg for a full tank. No ordinary car will have that range of performance.
Given the cost premium over a regular vehicle, it's likely that hybrids are actually wasting more energy thru their entire lifespan, beginning with construction at the factory.
The construction at the factory does not take any more energy for a hybrid than any other car. Actually, since hybrid production lines are the newest and best, it probably takes considerably less energy.
The other numbers depend upon how much you drive. Assume that Consumer Reports are correct and the Prius gets 45 mpg (which is actually the bare minimum in my experience). The best non-hybrid is the Volkswagen, which gets 34 mpg. None of the others come close. Compare the Volkswagen to the Prius. The average US driver goes ~12,000 miles per year, and it true that at that rate the Prius will not pay for itself compared to the VW. But for anyone who drives a lot more, it will pay. Some numbers:
Prius list price: $21,725
VW Jetta: $17,900
Difference: $3,825
Gasoline savings per year at 12,000 miles: 85 gallons, $256 (at $3 per gallon).
Payback time: 15 years
Payback time if you drive 24,000 miles: 7 years.
Look at a Honda Accord, starting MSRP $18,224, 25 mpg (Consumer Reports)
Payback time if you drive a Honda Accord 24,000 miles: 2.7 years
How about a Ford Crown Victoria LX? MSRP $24,510, 16 mpg. You lose going in, and at 24,000 miles per year every year you pay an extra $2,901. After 7.5 years you have lost enough to pay the entire cost of a Prius! You could have had a free automobile with the money you have wasted on fuel.
There may be some smaller, cheaper cars that get 34 mpg like the Volkswagen Jetta. My Geo Metro probably does, and the little bitty cars in Japan do. However, compared to a Jetta or a Prius, the Geo Metro is -- not to put too fine a point on it -- a death trap. It has very light construction and virtually no safety features except for seatbelts. The tires slip on a wet pavement as easily as bicycle tires do. On a level pavement, it will not go about 65 mph with the gas pedal fully depressed, and even at that speed it rattles and shakes like a Model T Ford. It also carries far less baggage, and the people in the back are crammed in. These limitations are not a problem for me, because the Geo Metro is far safer than a motorcycle or bicycle, and I seldom go over 45 mph with it.
As for those little bitty Japanese cars, years ago when a friend of mine accidentally dropped the rear wheel off the road into a ditch, he and I picked up the car and put it back. As I said they are much better than motorcycles but you would be crazy to drive one on a US Highway.
- Jed
