The U.S. Department of Energy, through its Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity (AVTA), has completed 1 million miles of hybrid electric vehicle fleet testing. The testing includes collecting the energy efficiency (miles-per-gallon fuel use), and vehicle maintenance and repairs data, as well as defining the types of missions the hybrid electric vehicles are driven in. At testing completion, the vehicles are sold and the total life-cycle costs - including depreciation, fuel, operating, maintenance and repair costs - are calculated and reported.
The number of each type of hybrid electric vehicle tested, the total miles accumulated, and average fuel economy to date include:
* 4 Honda Civics, 284,000 miles and 38.0 mpg
* 6 Honda Insights, 347,000 miles and 46.0 mpg
* 6 Toyota Prius (model years 2002 and 2003) 380,000 miles and 41.1 mpg, and
* 2 Toyota Prius (model year 2004) 16,000 miles and 44.6 mpg.
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