Toyota Prius cruises to new world record with coast-to-coast economy run
A coast-to-coast cruise across the USA is something you'd usually romanticise about, with your mind's eye likely rumbling into the sunset in a Ford Mustang convertible or something similar.
But a so-called 'hypermiler' had different ideas and with some very careful coaxing, managed to break a Guinness World Record for fuel economy in a bottom-of the-range Toyota Prius.
Wayne Gerdes achieved the feat by driving from Los Angeles City Hall to New York City Hall with an average consumption of 93.158 miles per gallon, which equates to 2.52 litres per 100km.
The 5,167km journey took him through a wide variety of terrain, including elevations as high as 2,130 metres, while also facing unpredictable weather, such as strong winds coming in from the Gulf of Mexico and temperatures soaring above 40 degrees celcius in the Mohave desert.
“For a record attempt like this, it’s a lot of planning,” said Gerdes. “You can’t just go sight unseen into doing this. You have to have that plan. But you also have to be able to work on the fly. So, if things change, you have to switch up your plan. Reroute. Figure out what you’re going to be able to do to achieve that goal.”
The hypermiler says anyone can achieve decent fuel economy if they just stick to a few basic rules. These include slower take-offs, keeping consistent pressure on the accelerator and easing off early to use your vehicle's momentum to the max when a stop is approaching.
Gerdes achieved the record in a base front-wheel drive version of the latest Toyota Prius (not the plug-in hybrid version). It is powered by a 2.0-litre petrol-electric hybrid system with a system output of 144kW. Toyota claims a highway fuel consumption figure of 4.2 l/100km for this model.
The fourth-generation Toyota Prius, which was revealed abroad in 2022, is currently not sold in South Africa.
IOL Motoring