The Hopping household recently upgraded our primary vehicle as out old one was…well…getting old (13 years and 190K old). Knowing that my daily commute is 40 miles one-way (80+ miles per day five days a week), we agreed that any car we bought would have to get a minimum of 30 miles per gallon…

After months of hunting, looking, debating, praying, and thinking we finally settle on a 2007 Toyota Prius with 76,500 miles (see pic below). For those who don’t know, the Prius in a hybrid vehicle using both an electric and gas engine to power the car – resulting in lower gas usages and higher miles per gallon (it is also very, very quiet – which is a blessing after years of road noise and a whistling sunroof!).

Being a hybrid we knew that the Prius should get better gas mileages than our old Hyundai Elantra (30~ mpg), but we were not sure how much more – especially seeing that I drive over a mountain pass each day…

Well it is with great excitement that I report that after three weeks of driving said vehicle, we are averaging 46.0 mpg!! Much happiness!