EPA Gas Mileage - Your Mileage May Still Vary

• SEE ALSO: 2009 Fuel Economy Guide

Washington DC November 17, 2008; The AIADA newsletter reported that drivers have complained for years that their cars could not attain the optimistic fuel economy figures listed on the window sticker.

But since the Environmental Protection Agency has changed the way it calculates fuel economy, many consumers are saying their mileage is even better than the estimates, according to a recent survey by J. D. Power & Associates.

In the 2007 study, the mileage drivers said they were getting was, on average, 97 percent of the EPA estimate.

But in the 2008 study, the stated mileage was 105 percent of the estimate.

Before the agency adopted the new way of calculating fuel economy figures, owners of hybrids were often among the most disappointed that they couldn't achieve the optimistic estimates on the window sticker.

Now, more hybrid owners said they were getting fuel economy closer to what the EPA predicted, or even more.

The Toyota Prius is an example. In the 2007 survey, consumers reported getting only 81 percent of the EPA's estimates, which were 60 mpg in the city and 51 mpg on the highway. In the 2008 survey, drivers reported getting 94 percent of the new estimates, which are 48 mpg in the city and 45 on the highway.

"There is still a gap, but it's much better," Mike Marshall, J.D. Power's director of automotive emerging technologies, told the New York Times.