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Originally Posted by 'Dave 8o
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A hybrid will only really improve your MPG if you do a lot of start/stop driving, as the car can turn off the engine and use the battery power to propel the car. Motorway driving will just use the engine and so your mpg rate will be similar to that of a standard road car.
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As far as the Civic Hybrid goes, you're fundementally wrong. It never uses only battery power, and motorway driving doesn't just use the engine, it uses battery too. The Civic Hybrid
IMA does exactly what it does on the tin, its an intergrated motor ASSIST. It assists the petrol engine whenever it thinks it needs to. The engine does cut out when at a standstill (when it's warmed up) but then starts up again when setting off. I think the Prius might be capable of using battery only in town, but the Civic doesn't. There is, however a complicated equation and set of circumstances whereby you can have battery power kick in and minimal revs and the mpg meter be reading 100 mpg. It's in the hypermiling item I saw somewhere. Think it was in an Insight forum which had a section for the Civic Hybrid.