Toyota Prius averages 93 mpg; sets Guinness world record

The record-breaking mpg is also much higher than the 56 mpg EPA estimate for the car.

A stock fifth-generation Toyota Prius has set a Guinness World Record for averaging 93.158 mpg during its West Coast to East Coast drive across the USA.

Legendary hypermiler, Wayne Gerdes drove his new Toyota Prius from Los Angeles to New York - a total distance of 3,211.7 miles (5,168.7 km) to set the Guinness World Record for the "best west-coast-to-east-cost fuel economy". The Prius' 93.158 mpg average for the entire trip beat the previous world record by over 20 mpg. The record-breaking mpg during the drive is also much higher than the EPA estimate of 56 mpg for the car.

Gerdes though did acknowledge that his driving style throughout the trip was certainly not normal. He mentioned how he employed different ways to extract the maximum efficiency from the car. This included slow takeoffs from stops, a diligent eye on the pressure applied to the accelerator pedal, easing off the gas early when approaching a stop and allowing the car to glide as long as possible. This, along with his hypermiling philosophy of driving either at or below the speed limit, helped achieve the high fuel economy average.

Wayne Gerdes, stated, "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."

Michael Tripp, VP of Vehicle Marketing Group, Toyota, stated, "The Prius has impressed us all for the past 23 years, and frankly, it continues to wow us today. The world record for the highest mpg to us is just one more proof point that the Prius truly is an engineering marvel."