w1ld wrote:
] ] Hybrid cars are hot, but not as hot as their owners, who
] ] complain that their gas mileage hasn't come close to
] ] well-advertised estimates.
] ]
] ] Today's the Day. Pete Blackshaw was so excited about
] ] getting a hybrid gasoline-electric car that he had his
] ] wife videotape the trip to the Honda dealership to pick
] ] up his Civic Hybrid.
] ]
] ] But after a few months of commuting to his job in
] Cincinnati,
] ] Blackshaw's hybrid euphoria vanished as his car's odometer
] ] revealed that the gas mileage he was hoping for was only a
] pipe
] ] dream. Honda's Civic Hybrid is rated by the EPA to get 47
] miles
] ] per gallon in the city, and 48 mpg on the highway. After
] nearly
] ] 1,000 miles of mostly city driving, Blackshaw was getting
] ] 31.4 mpg.

Wow my bug gets better than that :)

k wrote:
] ] Hybrid cars are hot, but not as hot as their owners, who
] ] complain that their gas mileage hasn't come close to
] ] well-advertised estimates.
] ]
] ] Don't knock the car companies for inflated claims:
] ] Experts say the blame lies with the 19-year-old EPA
] ] fuel-efficiency test that overstates hybrid performance.
] ] ...
]
] [ Also, " The EPA test "has inherent shortcomings,
] irrespective of what kind of car is being driven," says Philip
] Schmidt, professor of engineering at the University of Texas
] at Austin. Schmidt says hybrid cars use computers to more
] precisely control the flow of gasoline and have more efficient
] catalytic converters, which reduce the amount of emissions.
] Schmidt "wouldn't rule out" that hybrid cars' ability to limit
] emissions contributes to the disparity in EPA versus
] real-world numbers.
]
] Federal law requires that auto manufacturers use only EPA
] estimates when promoting their vehicles' fuel economy,
] according to Toyota spokeswoman Nancy Hubbell.
]
] I don't imagine this is the last we'll see of this issue.
] Certainly, my car doesn't get near the stickered milage,
] though i blame most of that on the way i drive, which is to
] say, fast and at higher RPM. Still even when i was trying to
] be efficient, i didn't get there, so clearly the tests are
] overstating the reality in most cases.
]
] Does anyone get MORE miles to the gallon than indicated by
] their sticker? -k]

Mine is pretty close, I do get better than sticker on the highway :)