Toyota Prius Sets Guinness Record For Highest MPG On Coast-to-Coast Trip

by Carl Malek | September 12, 2024

The Toyota Prius has always been an icon in the hybrid vehicle segment thanks to its impressive fuel economy and some of the technology that Toyota has managed to bake into the car over the years. The Prius can now add being a record holder to its resume thanks to a new Guinness World record it set for the highest mileage ever recorded on a coast-to-coast trip.

A new hypermiling world record was set recently with the help of a Toyota Prius.

The Toyota Prius has accomplished plenty of milestones during its time in production with the model becoming the enduring face of Toyota’s hybrid vehicle business. A recent round of updates gave the Prius a new level of style and injected it with improved driving dynamics and style while also adding even more fuel economy for customers to experience.

However, the Prius also managed to get a new world record with the car being used to set a new Guinness World Record for combined fuel economy on a coast-to-coast trip of the United States which is one of the pinnacles of hypermiling for drivers willing to push the envelope of fuel economy and human endurance.

Prius’s new record smashes old fuel efficiency record

The new record was set by hypermiler Wayne Gerdes who smashed the olf record by getting 93 combined MPG during a coast-to-coast drive of the United States.

The new record was set by hypermiler Wayne Gerdes with Gerdes driving from Los Angeles City Hall in California all the way to New York City in a Toyota Prius LE. Gerdes managed to get an average combined fuel economy figure of 93.158 mpg which crushed the old record with that outgoing milestone boasting a combined MPG of over 70 mpg in coast-to-coast driving.

Gerdes’ journey of 3,211.7 miles across the country took him through a wide variety of terrain as well as unpredictable weather. he drove the Prius up mountain elevations as high as 7,000 feet and through unforgiving places like the Mojave Desert and the Gulf Coast where strong winds from the Gulf of Mexico were a persistent challenge when it came to ensuring that the Prius had enough aerodynamic efficiency to achieve its maximum fuel economy.

“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.”

Tips to improve your fuel economy

The new record holder even shared some of his secrets to help motorists get improved fuel economy on their commutes.

While most drivers will not be hypermilers like Wayne Gerdes, the record holder did offer some simple driving tips for commuters looking to improve their daily fuel economy with Gerdes encouraging drivers to have slower take-offs from stops and to keep even pressure on the accelerator pedal. He also says that when stops are ahead, using the car’s momentum to glide to a stop instead of using the brakes will also help improve fuel economy.

Toyota for its part, was honored to have a role in the successful world record attempt with Toyota Vehicle Marketing vice president Michael Tripp stating “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.”