What is the gas milage difference (in mpg) between a Toyota Prius and a Corrolla?

Question

How much of this is attributable to the differences in: weight, shape, and hybrid/nonhybrid?

Answer 1

The Prius is 1.5 to 2 times more efficient with fuel. It costs more, but has a better resale value.  

Answer 2

The Toyota Corolla is a compact sedan (92.0 cu. ft. passenger volume (90.7 cu. ft. if installed with a moonroof), plus 12.3 cu. ft. luggage volume).  for the manual transmission, 28mpg city/37mpg highway/31mpg combined, while the automatic transmission is 26mpg city/35mpg highway/29mpg combined.

http://fueleconomy.gov/f*g/bymodel/2008_...

actual owners tend to report average mpg in the 30s:  https://www.fueleconomy.gov/mpg/MPG.do?a...

The Toyota Prius is a midsized hatchback (96.2 cu. ft. passenger volume plus 14.4 cu. ft. luggage volume). It was designed as a hybrid from the ground up, so there is no relationship to the Corolla except for the Toyota ownership.  48mpg city/45mpg highway/46mpg combined.

http://fueleconomy.gov/f*g/bymodel/2008_...

actual owners tend to report average mpg in the mid-high 40s:  https://www.fueleconomy.gov/mpg/MPG.do?a... and http://www.greenhybrid.com/compare/milea...

The Prius is a larger car (based on interior volume), at a curb weight of 2932 lbs.

http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/specs...

The Corolla's curb weight depends on the trim/model...

base manual is 2723 lbs.

base and LE automatic is 2745 lbs.

S manual is 2767 lbs.

XLE automatic is 2811 lbs.

S automatic is 2822 lbs.

XRS manual is 2877 lbs.

XRS automatic is 2965 lbs.

http://www.toyota.com/corolla/specs.html

I'll also note that the Corolla is a ULEV (ultra low emission vehicle - 70percent cleaner than the average car) in CA-emission states.  The Prius is an AT-PZEV (SULEV (super ultra low emission vehicle - 90percent cleaner than the average car) and zero evaporative emissions, and a 150,000 mile warranty) in CA-emission states, so it is cleaner.

Meanwhile, the Toyota Prius has one of the lowest coefficients of drag at 0.26 (lower than that of many sportscars), so it is very aerodynamic. When you add in other design features such as the CVT transmission and an efficiently-used gasoline engine, and you get higher fuel economy.

Answer 3

i dont know if this helps but my mom had a prius that got 52-59 mpg

Answer 4

I don't know exactly how much gas mileage but I know the owner of a Toyota dealership and he said people are so busy trying to buy hybrids but they dont realize that to actually save a significant amount of money from buying a toyota corolla 'not hybrid' or toyota prius 'hybrid' (for example) it would take 15 years to save a significant amount of money.