Today’s London Observer has a large display ad for the Prius ( the first I’ve seen in the UK). It shows a black Prius against a solid black background. The car has a colourful parrot standing on the wing mirror. Anyone like to suggest the thinking behind that? (There are no wild parrots in the UK - in fact no very colourful birds other than those in zoos) The short text is optimistic, if not misleading. For example: “an amazing 65.7 mpg†“at low speeds it uses no petrol...†Translated to American gallons I make that 54.7 mpg. Do USA owners consider these to be fair statements in the ad? (For others it’s 4.3 litres/100kms)
Nothing is "fair" in Advertising" The general rule in the States is "buyer beware" and expect all advertisers to exaggerate their claims. But, saying it uses "no petrol" at low speeds is a little beyond exaggeration, especially for Toyota. We have colorful parrots here; I'd love to see the ad!
55 MPG (US) might be achieved driving a half-hour or more at 40 MPH. Driving gently in warm weather I can maintain 48+MPG in the city even on short trips.
My last 3 tanks have been above 55 MPG. 2 times a week, I drive 75 miles (mostly highway) to a clients site and then 75 miles back, going around 62-65 MPH. Not sure exactly, but am getting 58-60+ MPG during this trip. Around the burbs on short trips, I am getting in the low 40's. It all averages out to the 55 figure. I think I need a parrot. Maybe I'll take a photo of the car and photoshop one in.
65.7mpg is the official combined fuel economy under the EU testing regime. Like the US official figure, it's rather higher than you might actually get in real life - my lifetime average is 52mpg.
Fuel Consumption - Metric [l/100 km] Metric Urban (cold) 5.0 Metric Extra Urban 4.2 Metric Combined 4.3 Fuel Consumption - Imperial Imperial Urban (cold) 56.5 (47.0mpg) Imperial Extra Urban 67.3 (56.0mpg) Imperial Combined 65.7 (54.7mpg) http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/search/ve...ls.asp?id=10982 Cars with better combined fuel economy than the Prius include the diesel Citroen C1 and C2 and the diesel Renault Clio.
yep like herewith the EPA, its probably the only figure they can advertise legally is it possible? oh ya, can be done. this past summer, every tank i had exceeded that figure. in fact 7of 8 tanks were at 58 mpg or higher
We just filled up yesterday and then drove to a restaurant about 40 minutes from our house--half Interstate, half surface roads. Upon returning home, MFD showed 55.4 MPG. After driving to my office this morning (3.5 miles), it has crept back down to 55.0. I certainly think mileage quoted in the UK ad serves consumers at least as fairly as our EPA "estimates" do in the US.
Don't they get the EV switch? That would make the statemet more true. But eventually it would still have to use fuel to charge up.
I agree that “Let the buyer beware†applies always. “Caveat emptor†is an ancient principle but here in the UK we have the Advertising Standards Authority trying to keep things from being too misleading. More on: http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/ Yes, I have an EV switch, but it’s soon cancelled by the car. This morning I switched on EV as I drove out of my drive into a traffic flow of 20MPH. The ICE took over before I had gone half a mile. Vincent can see the parrot picture by going to http://www.toyota.co.uk/prius
My only guess about the parrot is to suggest the environmental friendliness of the car. I suppose for the UK, a hedgehog sitting on the hood would have been more appropriate...LOL!!
Acutally it's a Blue and Gold Macaw. If you look at the two pictures below, the one on the right, that looks like the parrot in the advertizement is a Blue and Gold Macaw. I ought to know, I used to have one. The one on the left, that is all green with blue and red, is a Military Macaw. Sorry folks, I'm an animal person (in case you couldn't tell by my name) and I used to work at the San Francico Zoo. I know my animals, and it's hard for me to resist correcting folks when they confuse one for the other. Anyway, that advertizment seems pretty on par with something we'd have here in the states. Misleading, but not technically fasle, and eye catching.
Thanks for correcting my misidentification, Rattiemama! I've only looked at them, never owned one, like you have.
At least Europe's testing is a bit more realistic. Canada's official figures are 4.0/4.2 L/100km (city/hwy). Japanese 10-15 cycles run into the 3L/100km range. Over the summer I've averaged around 4.4-4.5L/100km (got close to 4.30L/100km once).
