When the 2010 Toyota Prius officially launches this spring, it will now officially receive a combined EPA estimated fuel efficiency rating of 50 MPG — that’s an estimated city/highway mpg rating of 50 in the city, 49 on the highway.
This blows away the first-generation Prius, which was rated at an EPA combined 41 MPG. It even blows away the current-generation Prius with its EPA combined 46 MPG combined city/highway. All this despite being bigger, longer and more…horsepower-y.
[Jalopnik says] We’ll have our drive impression sometime later this month, so you’ll have to wait to find out if Toyota’s taken this more-efficient Prius from bland to, you know, another, stronger shade of vanilla. Heck, maybe it’s even moved up to “cream.” You’ll have to wait to find out.
Pretty snazzy! Full press release from Toyota at the Jalopnik website.
Who’s dumber? The dweebs in Detroit who keep building crap or the nutballs who buy just enough gashawgs to make the category look useful to beancounters?
ugly, small, piece of junk.
Awesome car. I just received my 2009 Prius 2 weeks ago tomorrow and averaging better than 52 MPG. Sweet.
I used this, http://fueleconomy.gov/Feg/savemoney.shtml and found that it would take 10 years to recoup the MSRP difference…
I guess if I planned on owning it for 10+ years I’d consider it…
What’s the price difference between it and the conventional gas car? How long will it take to save the difference? How long do the batteries last? The usual questions.
I owned a 1992 Ford Festiva that got exactly the same gas mileage because it didn’t weigh much. I drove it mostly in town–too flimsy for the highway…gave it to my daughter, and it now has 175,000 miles on it
#5 good points. However, the Prius and other alternate or hybrid cards are not for everyone.
Some people choose to buy green and not motivated by absolute ROI against dollars. Some people choose muscle cars or pretty cars – can you believe that? Wow.
For me, this is a company car and I picked this one over gas only (the ratings and other anecdotal data suggests it’s a great car).
Even if it’s out of my pocket, I am a liberal who cares about the environment and wants to help stoke movement in conservation in my own small ways. I also look at a car as a transport device, not an ego booster. I know that perplexes conservatives but it’s understandable and there’s nothing wring with that.
I ended up buying a Honda Civic Hybrid simply because the split rear window was completely useless.
Hopefully that is gone.
Any interior photos?
#8. Aah, I should have scrolled down. OK, it’s definitely a Toyota.
The Prius is now completive with the high mileage diesels from Europe. Good game of catchup Toyota, too bad Detroit is not in this game, otherwise we might have a nice choice of high mileage vehicles.
1, Or the Green tree-huggers who would rather compromise on crash safety in favor of better fuel economy?
Everyone has their own priorities.
I will probably be in the market for a new vehicle in 2011. I plan on keep my eye on this technology. Is this a plug-in hybrid?
That’s going to suck in the snow.
Why is this big news. When I was in the Navy I drove a base model, bare bones 1985 Honda CRX HF, that got 53 MPG on the freeway with a headwind. And I paid 4 grand for the thing. Now we need something with a ton of batteries inside it that cost 20+ grand to get the same milage?
Green? Hardly. Look at how much environment damage it takes to build a Prius right now.
Ah, the usual trolls.
Since when can you “compare” a Festiva to a Prius?
The Prius is much bigger, better airbags and crumple zones, easily twice the cargo capacity.
Compare similar sized cars – then compare their prices – and the Prius has barely a 3k$ “premium”.
Then look at TCO – how taxi drivers in Vancouver, Sydney, and now Toronto and Montreal, are using the Prius.
After over 300,000 miles, the only things that were done is regular maintenance.
– air filter
– oil changes
– spark plugs at 150k
– tires
– brake pads at 100k – 150k miles !!!
– no rust
The Prius, if kept for 300,000 miles or Ten Years, has one of the lowest TCO’s in history.
A Honda CRX only sat 2 adults, half the size and weight of a Prius, and at 53 MPG you were using a manual transmission, without ABS brakes or air conditioning.
A Prius is not twice as expensive. It’s the same price as a Camry or an Accord.
50 MPG is totally average. I’m in the UK and I get about 51mpg in my mid-sized, 2 year old non-hybrid SUV (Toyota Verso). I’d want at least 70+ from a hybrid to make the difference worth it.
I hear ads on the radio for Audi sports cars with 60+mpg.
50/60 mpg is probably around the average for modern cars in the UK now, and they are not hybrids.
Detriot has all the US brainwashed that a standard car engine can only do 20/30 mpg. It’s not true.
HAHA #18 that is so funny
So you never noticed the volumetric difference between Imperial Gallons and American Gallons?
Hint: US gallons = less volume
Why, even One Ton doesn’t weigh the same.
Even here in Canada, people get “caught” off balance by that fact, where 1 gallon in Canada (when used) is the same as the UK gallon.
Which is why people should use metric.
Here’s the MATH :
One imperial gallon is approximately equal to 1.201 U.S. gallons.
One imperial gallon is exactly 4.54609 litres, whereas one U.S. gallon is exactly 3.7854118 liters.
Sooo, a 60MPG in the UK equals 50 MPG in the US.
Also, most UK cars use diesel instead of petrol, what Americans call gasoline. Diesel has 25% more energy per volume.
So a 60MPG diesel, in the UK, equals in the US for a petrol car, 37.5 MPG.
Most American cars, being heavier, bulkier, then European cars, get in the 30 to 35 MPG range.
So the 50 MPG Petrol G3 Prius gets 60 MPG in the UK gallons – at PAR with diesel, for a medium sized sedan seating 4/5 adults with a large cargo capacity. Thus a valid family sedan.
Compare “that” with a two-seater + bunk and no cargo capacity of a VW Rabbit that does 60 UK MPG. Not the same at all.
All the while, polluting less by a very large margin, if SMOG is at all important to any of you.
# 17 Mark Derail said, “Compare similar sized cars – then compare their prices – and the Prius has barely a 3k$ “premium”.”
Wrong.
A 2009 Hyundai Elantra 4DR has an MSRP of ~$14k That’s $7,000 less than the Prius…
I never knew how people bitch and moan about the Prius being expensive. It’s 22k to start. Honestly that’s an average cost. What are you comparing it to a 93 Geo Metro? Yeah don’t buy a car just because it’s eco friendly, but when you do buy a car, get something economical and sensible . Not some jacked up minivan who’s dressed up as some manly off road vehicle ( when most of them are built on minivan frames anyways )
Ha Paddy-o, Hyundai’s are across the board way cheaper (to buy) cars in all their respective categories.
Also, not very innovative with technology, which explains their low cost.
Do you really expect an Elantra to keep 50% of it’s original purchase cost after 100K miles and five years?
What about repair costs? You have to factor TCO over five years, then ten years, to see that the Prius, and other high quality Japanese cars, retain a higher resell value, and while parts can cost more, they are better quality that last longer.
When was the last time you heard a Honda Accord owner change not just his brake pads after 30k miles, or his muffler/exhaust system?
My Mom got a Hyundai Sonata (for reference). Very nice exterior and interior.
Her TCO after 4 years is higher so far than what I paid my Prius.
In fact, she can’t trade it in for a newer model, because her payments haven’t caught up to the resell value.
After 4 years ! For a car that would be paid for in 5 years.
I had pushed her to buy a Camry or a Solara, but the lower price point of the Hyundai and a quick to-sign salesman got her stuck.
With her mileage, a Camry, she would have *received* money on the trade-in, even at the Toyota dealer. For maybe just 100$ more per month.
FWIW, the fuel economy of the Camry versus the Sonata, would easily offset that 50$ in gas per month.
So many don’t consider TCO…
# 22 Mark Derail said, “Also, not very innovative with technology, which explains their low cost.”
Explain. They have VERY high reliability ratings. As I said, your data was wrong. Rather than throwing out vague, undefined, criticisms of a vehicle, stick to data.
Okay, they got the mileage thing licked. Now, can they please, please stop using the Pontiac Aztec as their styling model?
you can get a diesel that gets 50 mpg ….adn not have to pay the hybrid tax
Paddy-O, I just said that Hyundai has not invented anything, and among all car brands, they are always the lowest priced in a particular category.
I was disappointed with their MPG numbers.
I’d say Hyundai are masters of the re-do, done right, similar to the Saturn brand in the first few years.
IOW, they stick with known technology that is trustworthy. Making fuel effeciency vehicules is not their priority – it’s the best bang for the buck. Bottom line.
When my Mom got the Sonata, it was the nicest vehicle in that price range, that was brand new. The Camry was “bland” in comparison.
#24 I’d like the Prius with a Toyota Matrix.
Doesn’t look like a car that I’d want to drive, and I suspect that it is not very good for the environment either.
I base the latter on the fact that environmentalists push it so much, and their track record is horrible.
recycling, MBTE, CFL, etc.
My bike gets way more than 50 mpg. However the emissions from a three bean burrito lunch are staggering.
CAN we reword this..
VEHICLE should be CAR..
It should not include Motorcycles..
30,
lets go back the the promises of the 70-80’s..
My 86′ Oldsmobile gets 30MPG..STILL.
And its a good sized HEAVY CAR.
I still cant figure out why smaller cars cant get that much..and a lot MORE.
BMW is coming out with a smaller 7 speed transmission car that beats MOST of what the USA has made.
It all comes to MONEY, Make it cheaper, MORE MONEY…
30,
“why don’t they build a smaller commuter version that gets 70 mpg?”
Honda did that, the original 2-seat hybrid Insight. It did not sell enough.