I just recently bought a Honda Hybrid and I am only getting up to 39mpg. I
should be getting the full 50mpg as advertised. They do not tell you about
these little flaws in the cars untill you have bought and already own the car.
I now know that I have to wait till i reach the 5,000 mark to increase my mpg.
This is crazy.

Not just the electric motor from a stop, but the reclaiming of the energy
when stopping.

Steve

I think it largely depends on how you drive the car. Maybe there is
also something wrong with the vehicle. I have a 2005 Hybrid Civic and I
get roughly 47mpg commuting in heavy traffic 70 miles every day.
Inflating the tires to 35PSI improved mileage by about 10% for me. Also
I rarely ever exceed 70mph, and I don't floor the accellerator when I
accellerate...... If you drive appropriately you should be able to get
40+ if not sth is probably wrong with the car....

It seems to me that it's fairly well known that the mileage claims of
the hybrids are grossly overstated.

Peter H

These complaints about EPA fuel economy results have been around nearly as
long as I have been driving, and they are valid. The EPA response is that
the figures are not intended to be real world numbers ("your mileage may
vary"). When CAFE was introduced EPA fuel economy testing became mandatory.

Hybrid technology can indeed greatly improve fuel economy, but mostly in
congested in-town driving. Our 2002 Prius gets 50 mpg or better around town,
dropping into the mid or lower 40s in the winter. It loves hills, too,
averaging over 60 mpg on a round trip from Flagstaff to Sedona. But on the
freeway the economy is much like a typical economy car, only benefitting
from the engine downsizing allowed by using electricity to do the heavy
lifting during acceleration.

To add to the frustration many people feel, more efficient cars lose their
edge faster than the guzzlers. Running the heater full blast makes nearly no
difference in our 85 Volvo - it continues to get 20 mpg. The Prius can drop
from 45 mpg to the 20s on the fairly accurate fuel economy display if I turn
the heater on full and open the windows.

I imagine these issues will sharpen as hybrid technology improves, with more
electric power available and more models using it. The essence of
hybridization is to separate engine power from acceleration performance, and
to allow the car to operate more time without running the engine at all.
(Even the Honda IMA can do this by opening the valves.)

Mike

Maybe not patently ridiculous, but ridiculous.

Try an experiment.  Pump up the tires.  Lay off the
accelerator - although that shouldn't make much of
a difference with a hybrid.  Don't do any short trips
- make sure the shortest trip is no less than 10 miles.
Don't go fast - keep it under 50 m/hr.  Don't drive when
the outside temperature is less than 60 F.  Lay off the pizza.
Do that for one full tank and see what happens.

I have a 98 Civic HX and, in the summer, I never get
less than 50 m/gal.  However, I do occasionally get a
digital gesture from a little old lady.  I get them
all the time from SUV's.