Cully,
I am beginning to form an opinion on why "city" numbers are so unattainable. When the battery is charged (and I assume this is the case during EPA testing), the car can operate for 10 or so minutes covering little distance without any noticable mileage drop. During long trips, however, the battery becomes drained and mileage suffers dramatically.
Since the EPA tests do not take a drained battery into consideration, they are therefore extremely optimistic in this sense.
If EPA estimates for city driving were 51mpg instead of 60mpg, there would be a 51mpg overall mileage rating -- something definitely attainable and extremely accurate.
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