Featured how is 131MPGe actually calculated?

No voodoo here

A gallon of gasoline has 33.7 kwhrs of energy

This allows you compare electronical consumption to mpg in common units

 

That 133 MPGe rating is for strictly plug-in use, not using any electricity generated from the hybrid system. And it isn't for a 200 mile trip, none of the test cycles are that long, nor is the battery range that long.

Here are some EPA links:
How Vehicles Are Tested
Detailed Test Information
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/pdfs/EPA%20test%20procedure%20for%20EVs-PHEVs-11-14-2017.pdf

Of the 5 drive test cycles rolled into the ratings, one does briefly get to 80 mph, but still averages just 48 mph, well short of your 75 mph trips. And that cycle has a total distance of just 8 miles. The longest test cycles are 11 miles.

 

My long term average is 5 miles/kWh. 5 miles/kWh × 33.7kWh/gallon = 168.5mpge. That's on electricity.

When on gas I usually get between 56 and 72mpg. I really only use gas on road trips out of town.

 

Both of those stats match mine exactly.

I REALLY wish the EPA would just have used miles/kWh. It's so much more direct and it's what the car records. Why make some artificial number just so you can confuse people using a term that include "mpg?" Anyone not knowing the obtuse formula the government invented to produce it, naturally assumes that it has to do with gasoline. It has nothing to do with gasoline.

Useful numbers on the Monroney sticker would be cost per mile in EV mode at $0.XX per kWh. Like they do with refrigerators. Or just miles/kWh.

 

They did use a ENERGY/DISTANCE measure unit. People don't focus on it though. They obsess with MPG, which never made any sense... and is the reason why most of the rest of the world does not. MPG encourages deception. Its misleading nature has been exploited for decades... even by hybrids. Remember Two-Mode?

A big part of the problem is that it originates from people not being aware of the rating's purpose. It is to provide a standardized measure to enabled a means of comparison within a class of vehicle. Comparing to a mismatch distorts reality, feeding a narrative. Sadly, it's one that calculation itself only serves to mystify. Most people don't get it... hence "e" for equivalent.

In other words, the new MPGe is just as misleading. So, stop using it. The other value on the window-sticker is the ENERGY/DISTANCE rating. It informs you how many kWh of energy is required to travel 100 miles of distance. For a dose of reality, think about what that actually means. It's the reverse of what everyone here has been taught all their lives. Instead of more being better, you want less.

For example, the rating from Prius Prime is "25 kWh / 100 miles". Despite it being a hatchback and the other Prime model being a large SUV with AWD, the rating for RAV4 makes its efficiency difference obvious: "36 kWh / 100 miles". There's no other detail necessary. With that value, you know precisely how much more energy it takes to travel the same distance with the less efficient vehicle. Try that with MPG.

Absence of simplicity is why the deception has persisted. People with power fought to keep the status quo from changing, even with the switch to electricity.

 

It is because the focus groups they had preferred the MPGe over anything using a form of watt hours.

Really, any distance per unit of fuel is worse than amount of fuel per distance. The latter is easier for most to grasp, people think of trips in terms of distance, and it is easier calculating averages with.

 

Yes. However, 4 miles / kWh (the same as 25kWh/100 miles) is just an estimate. My long-term (nearly 4 years) average is 5 miles / kWh. Yours may be different.

The cost of ownership has very little to do with the energy use on this car. It's so efficient that the energy use is practically nothing. TCO is dominated by initial cost, insurance and maintenance, and maintenance is dominated by tires.

 

The 25 kWh / 100 miles is energy needed to recharge the battery after 100 miles of driving. That should include the loses from charging / discharging. So the answer is yes, "Is it as simple as 25 x .22 to figure cost to drive the 100 miles."

Dan