When I get into a press car and I rack up a nice mpg figure, I always manage to be a little more chipper. It's likely because I am a competitive person and when you factor in numbers, it becomes a game. Particularly in hybrids or EVs.
While you can drive the tires off a high-performance machine, you can play the numbers game with an alternative energy vehicle. For example, when I recently drove the Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid, for the initial electric charge I kept adding and subtracting miles depending on my driving style. A little game of cat and mouse, if you will.
Long story short though, if you're like me an get proud over mpg calculations, you should probably double check it the old fashion way. That's because Edmunds has just uncovered that gas gauges overestimate, in some cases up to 19 percent.
That's a HUGE difference.
According to an automaker's spokesperson, the representative defended gas gauges by saying that their driving efficiency tools and not a precise measurement.
What do YOU think of that?
As gas prices rise, drivers are paying closer attention to the fuel economy gauges that are found in most late-model cars as part of the trip computer. The only problem is that the gauges are inaccurate. In fact, Edmunds testing reveals that one such gauge claimed fuel economy 19 percent higher than the actual result.
Across two tests in seven different vehicles, the gauges were 5.5 percent inaccurate on average, according to data gathered by the editors at Edmunds.com...[Source: Edmunds]
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