I’ll be making a long distance trip later on this summer. To maximize gas mileage, I thought of renting a Prius. I’ve heard that the car has better fuel efficiency during stop-and-go driving, but what about highway travel? Any owners of the Prius out there to help me determine highway mpgs?
Hybrids are much more fuel efficient in stop and go traffic. You can usually do almost as well on the highway with any fuel efficient vehicle.
If you own a compact car now, any fuel savings on a highway trip are not going to pay for the rental cost of a Prius for several weeks. If you have a corporate rental rate, you are probably looking at $700+ for two weeks. depending on the miles you plan to drive, that $700 is very hard to save by renting a Prius.
If you now own a Hummer or a Ford Expedition, and plan a very long trip it might pay.
I recently did a highway round trip of 320 miles and my Prius showed52.1 mpg.
My average highway mileage is upper 50’s to low 60’s. It is not a hybrid.
Remember that HOW you drive is almost as important as WHAT you drive (within reason).
For example, Top Gear did a test with a Prius and a BMW M3. They drove the Prius at it’s limit for 10 laps around a track and had the M3 follow it. Result - the M3 got better millage than the Prius! That’s because the Prius was at or near WOT the whole time, versus the M3 being driven somewhat pokey (for an M3).
Thank you to all who replied…I have heard various highway mpg figures for the Prius from 40-60, but I suppose it does depend on individual driving habits and road conditions. It seems that smaller, lighter cars are not as efficient at highway speeds…I have found that to be the case with my 3-cyl Subaru Justy. It seems to be most efficient at 45-50mph, but I wouldn’t dare take it on a long highway trip…it is too old and unsafe by todays standards.