Toyota Prius Mileage

By: Jennifer Hong
Staff Writer
Published: Oct 19, 2009

Toyota Prius Mileage Rating and Fuel Saving Tips

Since its introduction in 1997, the Toyota Prius Hybrid has been known to achieve greater fuel efficiency than most compact cars. This third-generation 2010 Prius can achieve a combined 51 MPG (miles per gallon) mileage rating. It is built with new breakthrough technologies than the previous models. If you could imagine, Toyota was actually a decade before its rivals when it released the hybrid car.

Over the past decade, Toyota has focused on reducing carbon emissions while providing greater fuel economy. The 2010 Prius was the answer as the automobile went through major revisions to make it lighter and more powerful. Overall, the hybrid vehicle is definitely a nice piece of engineering.

Toyota Prius has been a full hybrid since its first introduction over 10 years ago. This allows the automobile to run on an engine alone, battery alone, or a combination of both. This system blends the best of parallel hybrid to achieve the ability to operate on the electric mode alone, and to charge the batteries while the car is running.

Another nice thing about this Toyota hybrid is that it requires no belts under the hood for better fuel economy and less potential maintenance. This is one of the reasons why this is an eco-friendly car. The driver can also receive feedback, from the multi-information display panel, which can provide help to acquire economical driving habits.

The Hybrid Synergy Drive system in the 2010 Prius is 90 percent newly-developed with significant improvements over previous models. The trans-axle is lighter in weight and reduces torque losses by as much as 20 percent in comparison to the previous model. The inverter, which converts direct current to alternating current, has a new direct cooling system to reduce size and weight.

The Prius is powered by a 1.8-liter Atkinson-cycle engine with four cylinders. The automobile makes use of an electric water pump and a new exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system, which contributes to the engine's efficiency. Prius has also adopted a new electronic controlled braking system with control logic optimized to enhance regeneration.

There have been several questions by consumers if they should wait to buy the 2010 Toyota Prius. While we do not provide easy answers or recommendations on which hybrid car to buy, or when to buy, we can say that you can't go wrong with this vehicle. Especially when the automobile has been tested for more than 10 years. The car also holds the best mileage rating in comparison to other hybrid cars.