Do Hybrid Cars Really Mean Big Savings at the Pump?

CHICAGO, Dec. 8, 2005 — -- Tony Adler is happy with his hybrid car -- except for one nagging thing.

"It doesn't give the advertised amount of mileage," he said.

He had dreamed of 60 miles a gallon and was willing to pay more to get, but his car hasn't come close.

"It's a source of frustration," said Adler, "because one of the things that happens when you get this car is that you start obsessing on the miles per gallon that you're getting."

It's dawning on Adler and other hybrid owners that those government numbers on the window sticker are unrealistic.

The Environmental Protection Agency calculates its numbers in the lab, but "Consumer Reports" magazine found recently that taking the cars out on the road yields a different result.

"The city mileage is where we see the biggest differential," said David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports' Auto Test Center.

The Toyota Prius, for example, gets 60 mpg in EPA tests, but 35 in Consumer Reports' study.

The EPA says the Honda Civic Hybrid should get 48 miles while driving in the city, but Consumer Reports puts the number at just 26.

Almost no conventional cars tested by Consumer Reports matched the EPA mileage numbers either. The EPA is preparing to revise its mileage calculations to account for such energy consuming-factors as air conditioning, traffic congestion, and cold weather. Hybrid makers themselves are offering lessons to drivers to help them maximizing mileage.

By whatever measurement, hybrids are more fuel-friendly and less polluting than conventional cars. But environmentalists worry that hybrid motors are now being put into SUVs and pick-ups that emphasize power over mileage -- running counter to the hybrids' real appeal.

Said Dan Becker, director of the Sierra Club's global warming and energy program.: "It's up to the automakers to make sure that they don't kill the goose that's laying the golden egg of hybrids."

ABC News' Dean Reynolds filed this report for "World News Tonight."