Originally Posted By: spasm3
Does the accord really get 50mpg once you use the battery, say on a road trip? What mileage does the accord get on engine only.
The Accord hybrid would be better for commuter, short trips , but for the hwy diesel should get better mpg.
It looks a bit small for a wagon, but being diesel it should last a long time, without hybrid battery replacement.
having said that , i'm thinking about a leaf solely as a commuter car.
I've driven my sisters hybrid and i find that on the hwy the engine constant coming on and going off is annoying, probably not so annoying for around town and expressway driving. But after and hour, i was ready to get out of it.
I have an accord hybrid. I do shirt tripping but a decent amount of longish (150-180 mile) driving too...
Ill say that on super short trips, Ive seen as low as 33 MPG (for the specific trip, the computer tracks since last turn-on as well as the whole tank). Ive also many, many times, achieved 70 MPG in the city doing just routine driving.
Ill typically get 45ish to work and 50-60 home. My drive is pretty flat, so not sure why.
On long trips, if doing all highway, whats interesting is that the car will change modes on the fly to increase MPGs. If you are driving over say, 72 consistently, you can be in the low 40s, like below EPA rated 45 hwy. If I took a true long-distance road trip, driving from fuel stop to fuel stop, I can see highway being between 40-45. But Id also be doing 700-ish miles between stops then, which isnt really practical. So in reality, I would see more like 45.
And Ive found that all but one tank, the car computer undershot the calculated MPGs based upon the amount of fuel I bought to top up.
But a wagon is, well, a wagon... And so it is handy, and if you do a lot of highway, the diesel will have favorable longevity performance, in my view, to a hybrid; ditto if you do low miles where the battery will chemically age without use, while the diesel will be good as new.
A reasonably priced ford diesel would be welcome. Im not shopping cars now, but I think it would be a winner. The VW sells like hotcakes, and I think a domestic brand would do well.