Another Study Confirms: Hybrids Do Best In Cities, Diesels On Highways

A vehicle's design largely determines its fuel efficiency, but how it's driven--and where--can have a significant impact as well.

With their ability to drive solely on electric power at low speeds, hybrids appear better suited to city driving, while diesel drivers have been known to exceed their vehicles' rated fuel economy on the highway.

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Those perceptions are confirmed by a new study of U.K. data from research firm Emissions Analytics, which found that in terms of fuel economy, on average, hybrids do best in cities, while diesels do best on highways.

Note that this study used U.K.-market vehicles, which are rated using the highly-optimistic European testing cycle. The specific models surveyed also aren't available in the U.S.

The study found that both types of powertrain did worse in city driving than highway driving--but the penalty was worse for diesels than hybrids.

It was 7 percent for diesels, but only 3 percent for hybrids--which makes sense considering that many hybrids have higher rated city mpg than highway mpg, while it's usually the inverse for diesels and other vehicles that rely solely on internal-combustion power.

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