<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1250"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2802" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY style="BORDER-TOP-STYLE: none; BORDER-RIGHT-STYLE: none; BORDER-LEFT-STYLE: none; BORDER-BOTTOM-STYLE: none" bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>That sounds a little fishy to me because any "shifting" one does to influence the power source is only done below 40 mph. And as there is no shifter, any "shifting" is done simply with accelerator pressure. On the highway above 40 or 45 mph, the gasoline engine is going to run 100% of the time (unless you are going down a big hill) - so you really can't influence anything anyway. If I keep my speed down around 60 mph, I can get close to 60 mpg on the freeway.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Terry Farrell</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><BR></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=423113220-10042006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>I have an acquaintence with a Prius who did a Houston to California and back run, averaging about 54 mpg.  It's real, but he said it was a tough drive because one had to be shifting all the time to balance battery and engine.....</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=423113220-10042006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>les bartlett</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=423113220-10042006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>houston</FONT></SPAN></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>