The mileage for gas-electric hybrids probably will be 20% to 30% lower than present estimates for city driving and 10% to 20% lower on the highway. These vehicles quickly lose their all-electric advantage when operated in cold weather or quickly accelerated, Wehrum said.
"This is all about providing more and better information to consumers," he said.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday December 14, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 90 words Type of Material: Correction
Mileage tests: A front-page article Tuesday about changes in the way the Environmental Protection Agency estimates mileage for cars and trucks cited an out-of-production vehicle, the Ford Excursion, as an example of the kind of medium-duty trucks that must begin displaying EPA mileage labels in the 2011 model year. Medium-duty trucks with loaded weight ratings of 8,500 to 10,000 pounds that currently are being sold include the Hummer H2 from General Motors and many larger pickups such as the Ford F-250 Crew Cab and the Dodge Ram 3500 Crew Cab.
Toyota Motor Corp., which makes the popular Prius hybrid, now rated at 60 miles per gallon in the city and 51 on the highway -- a combined rating of 55 mpg -- supports the changes.
"This doesn't change the car or the technology, just the way the mileage is calculated," said Ming-Jou Chen, spokeswoman for Torrance-based Toyota Motor Sales USA. "It makes the estimate closer to real-world numbers, and we fully support that."
Moe Durand, a spokesman for Mitsubishi Motors Corp., which is bringing one of the first 2008 models to market in the U.S., said he was "quite pleased" with the averages cited Monday by EPA officials.
Environmental groups applauded, too.
The EPA "did an excellent job" with the revisions, said Russell Long, executive director of the Bluewater Network, the San Francisco-based environmental group that sought the changes. The new procedures can help motorists save money and reduce pollution by providing more accurate mileage information for them to use in their car-buying decisions, Long said.
"We're thrilled with it," he said.
The new system seems to be one that even auto dealers -- notoriously sensitive to anything that could hurt a sale -- can get behind.
"It won't have a big impact," said Fritz Hitchcock, whose Hitchcock Automotive Resources of Puente Hills owns several Toyota franchises and a BMW dealership.
"There's such intense comparison shopping on the Internet that people will know all about the changes" before ever setting foot in a dealership, he said. "And in the end, people find a reason to buy what they want to buy" regardless of mileage estimates.
Automakers are working on a plan for 2008 models that come out in 2007 that will enable shoppers to see the new fuel economy estimates and the mileage ratings that would have been attached to the vehicle under the present system.
As part of the new approach, the EPA redesigned its fuel economy window sticker.
It will provide a range of mileage for competing vehicles; estimated city and highway mileage for the vehicle displaying the sticker; the vehicle's estimated fuel costs for a year, based on 15,000 miles of driving; and a caution that gas mileage will vary based on driving conditions and driving styles.
The new EPA mileage estimates won't harm automakers' ability to meet federal rules requiring an industrywide average fuel economy of 27.5 miles per gallon for cars and 21 mpg for sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks and vans.
Those requirements are part of the corporate average fuel economy program run by the Transportation Department.
