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Why You Should Care About Our 550-Mile Fuel Economy Hybrid Challenge

Hybrid or pure internal combustion? Its a question weve been asking ourselves for two decades now, and as the number of hybrid options grows, consumers wont find the answer any easier. Although traditional gasoline vehicles have upped their fuel economy game, hybrids still have a huge advantage. If fuel economy is among your primary concerns and youre thinking about getting a hybrid, there are a few things youll need to know. Read our 550-mile L.A. to Grand Canyon fuel economy challenge story here ! Todays SUVs and sedans are more efficient than before, but theres still a significant difference between a hybrid and a non-hybrid. Take the Toyota Camry , for example. According to the EPA, those who buy the Camry Hybrid LE will spend about $850 per year on gas, compared to $1,350 for the Camry LEan increase of more than 58 percent. The difference is also significant in actual fuel economy numbers, as the hybrid gets 20 mpg better than the regular model. Of course, theres a $3,800 sticker price jump for the hybrid, so youll need to drive a lot of miles to make up the difference. As gas prices continue to increase (and they will), youll also notice a significant difference at the pump. In February, when we wrote this story, the national average for gas prices was $2.27 per gallon. Just four months later, the national average of gasoline prices increased to $2.86an increment of more than 25 percent in four months. The Honda Insight made it from Los Angeles to the Grand Canyon via Las Vegas on only $31.83 worth of gas. Thats a bargain. Granted, Scott was trying to save as much fuel as possible , but even if hed driven with the radio on, the Insightor the Hyundai Ioniq Blue, for that matteris a great example of how far you can drive without stopping to pump gas. But real-world behavior matters, tooand thats also one of the reasons we wrote this story. Hybrid and regular cars will both take you from point A to point B, but how they do it is different. View this post on Instagram Made it! #mt70 A post shared by Scott Evans (@dasgimpen) on Feb 5, 2019 at 1:57pm PST For starters, hybrids are heavier, as they have to carry a battery, but that doesnt mean they have to be slower. Look at the Toyota RAV4 . The all-wheel-drive RAV4 Hybrid delivers 219 hp and goes from 0 to 60 mph in 7.5 seconds while getting 41/38 mpg. Compare that to the loaded front-drive RAV4 Limited with regular gas, which produces 203 hp and gets to 60 mph in 8.2 seconds, averaging 26/35 mpg. In this case, the hybrid is the clear winner, as it gets more power with less gas. But again, comparably equipped, the hybrid version carries a price bump. As technology improves and hybrids deliver even better fuel economy numbers, engineers will also deliver them with better acceleration and handling. Hybrids are no longer just the green alternative. They are the mainstream, and as such, they need to carry mainstream driving dynamics. With manufacturers doubling down on their efforts to offer more hybrids, consumers will have even more choice. The post Why You Should Care About Our 550-Mile Fuel Economy Hybrid Challenge appeared first on MotorTrend .

http://www.motortrend.com/news/why-you-should-care-fuel-economy-hybrid-challenge/

 

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