The MPGe Low Down on Toyota Cars

You may be noticing a common term on vehicle invoice stickers: MPGe …This is a fairly new term for most buyers.  At first glance, when you look at an invoice and see examples of MPGe boasting 100 miles per gallon, you might find yourself in sticker shock!  Well, that MPGe figure is the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) mpg-equivalent which is used to compare energy consumption with traditional fuel costs.  In other words, electric powered cars are going to provide you with an MPGe to base your decision of fuel economy.  According to Edmunds.com, there are several key components to look for when “decoding” the EPA’s stats for mpg in electric cars.  Hopefully our next few articles can help you obtain a better understanding too:

Efficiency Rating:

The EPA suggests that an electric car requires 34 kilowatt-hours of electricity in order to travel a full 100 miles.  When shopping for an electric car, the measurement of kWh/100m is the “most important operating-cost figure for EV owners.”  Edmunds says the lower the number, the better.

If kWh and m have you puzzled…rest assured…those are European measurements that are converted to MPGe figures that Americans can understand.

Kilowatt-Hours to MPG-Equivalent

So…on to further lingo that you may not have heard before.  Have you ever heard of BTUs?…You probably have heard of this in “heating” terms…Well, this is what the EPA uses to convert kWh/m to MPGe.  They calculate 115,000 BTUs per gallon of gasoline.  Here is the formula:

• 1 gallon of unleaded gasoline = 115,000 BTUs of heat
• 115,000 BTUs of heat = 33.7 kilowatt-hours of electricity

So, take the Toyota Prius Plug-in as an example.  These are rounded numbers, and not necessarily EPA ratings being used for easier understanding.  If the Prius Plug-in were to travel 100 miles on 33.7 kWh of electricity, which is the equivalent of 1 gallon of gas, it would receive a rating of 100 MPGe.

Check back for more on MPGe in our next article.  In the meantime, contact your local Weiss Toyota dealership, home of the greatest selection of used Toyota St. Louis cars and trucks.