Do Hybrids and Small Cars Guzzle Gas at Highway Speeds?

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Since Americans saw the $4 a gallon gas prices back in the summer of 2008 there has been a huge emphasis on fuel efficiency, new technologies for reducing carbon footprint and educating the consumer on social responsible choices in the current automotive market place. This isn’t the first time that gas prices or availability have cause the American consumer and automotive market to try and make changes though. Let’s take a look back at history and then see what the latest Consumer Reports study on highway fuel efficiency could mean for the future.

The American Car consumer in the United States has faced gas shortages, high prices and generally habit altering situations several times since the invention of the horseless carriage. One of the first and most notable situations was during the Great Depression when people could only buy so much gas due to the economy and the supply. Then in the ‘70s we saw another gas crisis, which spurred on the detuning of the high horsepower cars that were seen in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. The economy focus continue into the ‘80s with the introduction compact cars like the K-car platform from Chrysler and offerings from Companies like Toyota, Honda and Nissan that would return some pretty spectacular numbers in the mpg department.

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The other thing that happened during the ‘70s is the U.S. speed limit changed to 55 mph via the National Maximum Speed Law that was part of the 1974 Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act. The intent was to lower gas consumption by 2.2 percent in response to the 1973 oil crisis. This where the new study from Consumer Reports comes in; they found that the Honda Insight hybrid shows a 7-mpg drop when traveling at 65 mph instead of 55 mph. This drop increases to 15-mpg when traveling at 75 mph.

This decrease in fuel efficiency isn’t limited to just hybrids, Consumer Reports found that the Toyota Camry see about a 5-mpg drop when speed is increased to 65 mph and about a 10-mpg drop at 75 mpg. What does all this really mean? Just as it was almost 40 years ago, when you drive faster than you will reduce fuel efficiency. So does this mean we will see the return of the National Maximum Speed Law? Only time will tell, but there are already groups lobbying for people to drive green by driving 55 mph on all highways and interstates.

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[Source: ConsumerReports and U.S. News and World Reports]