[bwilson4web]

Recently, I saw an article titled "Hybrid car sales stagnate as buyers opt for fuel-thrifty compacts" in USA Today by Chris Woodyard that had this curious paragraph:

. . .
While the nation's top-selling hybrid, the Toyota Prius, has a 50 mpg combined rating, other hybrid sedans get less:
Ford's Fusion hybrid gets 41 mpg in the city and 36 mpg on the highway; Hyundai's Sonata hybrid gets 35 city and 40 highway.


Meanwhile, all Elantras and at least some Focus, Cruze and Honda Civic models are rated at 40 mpg or more on the highway.
. . .

So I went to www.fueleconomy.gov to see what we'd find:

ft{3}	City	Comb.	Hwy	make model
103	28	33	40	Ford Focus SFE, ~$20,780
107	29	33	41	Honda Civic HF, ~$19,689
110	28	33	42	Chevy Cruze Eco, ~$18,995
116	51	50	48	Toyota Prius, ~$24,000

I was expecting an article pointing out how few Prius were available because of the earthquake and tsunami. But instead here is a familiar refrain, 'pay no attention to that man behind the curtain but look only at highway mileage.' (parody from "Wizard of Oz".)

We buy a car to transport some volume of passengers and cargo from point A to B. Furthermore, the vast majority of us live in urban or suburban areas. Even those who live on a highway often have to visit a city to shop, work, or services. Finding a highway only user is not impossible but rare. But even on the highway, the Prius is 15% more efficient on the highway. I'm glad that these substantially smaller cars are available for those unable or unwilling to buy a Prius but this article leaves out a lot.

Bob Wilson