Why is this car being hyped? My 1994 Ford Escort got 36 mpg on an average. Can't Nissan do better than this? Add this to same old design style .. forget it. Give us something fun w/ good mpg. At least a diesel would result in better mpg.

Mestdagh, I think your comparison is flawed.

You are comparing this to the Altima hybrid?

The Altima is much bigger, more comfortable, safer and more powerful. It gets really good mileage in the city (not just highway) and has AT-PZEV emissions (you can almost eat off that tailpipe). It is also a very popular model of car that people will actually buy. It is not perfect by any means, but a step in the right direction for Nissan (now if they can just keep moving and make plug in hybrids and eventually electric cars).

But why not compare an original VW beetle to it while you're at it..

Nice. Not a big fan of Nissan, but the Altima is very spacious. One more good hybrid option.

My 1994 Ford Escort got 36 mpg on an average.

You must be a very good driver, because the highest rated '94 Escort had a 33 mpg combined EPA rating.

With your driving skills, you should be able to milk 42 mpg out of this Altima - a 17% improvement over your little Escort.

I can understand why some people would say this is not treehugger-worthy news, but it's my opinion that any vehicle getting better than average fuel economy should be promoted as much as possible.

Regarding unrealistically high gas milage, especially in old cars...

Many cars have somewhat inaccurate speedometers which as a car ages get increasingly inaccurate. The friction element inside the speedometer gets looser and can't register speed (or miles) as accurately.

Car makers want to make sure the speedomenter errs on the slow side so to be sure you are never traveling faster than the speedometer says, for safety and legal reasons. Imagine if hundreds of thousands creeky old economy cars were slipping off curves because they were going faster than the speedometer showed; there would be all sorts of lawsuits about speed caused accidents and police speeding tickets.

Some older cars are wildly off. My cousins family and my family drove our two cars together on a family excursion. We filled up at the beginning and the end of the trip. According to his milage reading he got 39 mpg. According to my reading he got 27 miles per gallon. That's about 25% off!

Car makers have to have a reasonably accurate speedometer at time of sale by law, but think of the advantages of an optomistic speedometer over time. The car seems faster, more reliable and more economical than it really is. Not a bad thing for owner satisfaction, and resulting brand loyalty.

California, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, Maine and New Jersey. These states are among the strongest markets for hybrid vehicles.

What the hell? There are Priuses (Pri-i?) everywhere in Seattle. If Nissan were serious about this car, they'd be selling here from the get-go.

My point was, I get tired of the local (us & japanese) car manufacturers getting praise for doing a lousy job on mpg and style.
I'd love to have the selection the Europeans have. Sporting, styling cars w/ good mileage.
Sorry if I ruffled anyone's feathers.

Mestdagh, don't worry, I'm sure there's no feather damage here :)

I understand what you're saying. I like these hybrids because they are a step toward plug-ins, electrics, diesel-hybrids and other mixes of technologies (flex-fuel hybrids? hypercapacitor hybrids)? Also because they are making these technologies acceptable to the average buyer; lets not forget that a few years ago most people had no idea what hybrids were and wouldn't have touched one with a ten foot pole.

But yeah, fancy tech isn't everything. We must also move, like the europeans, toward something that is more "small, light, fun" than "big, powerful and drives like a boat".

I certainly hope that Amory Lovins is right and that carbon composites will become popular faster than most people think. That would make a HUGE difference.

I want a medium, fun and powerful yet efficient car. Not some efficient tin can, or some huge guzzling V8. Though I did love the power if the HEMI and the cylinder deactivation is cool. I also want luxury and efficiency. Why don't the high MPG cars have leather and GPS like Europe?

MGR is right. We can't repeal the laws of physics. Heavier cars will always be thirstier cars. The easiest way to have a light weight car is to make it small.

Every time I go to Europe I wish I could buy what the sell there here.

Thankfully, Nissan is selling the Versa here now. Interestingly, it has equal or more room than the Altima in every dimension except width! Great gas milage and way cheaper to buy, too.

If you like the small sassy european cars you will think the Verso is a MUCH nicer package than the kind of hoggy, old fashioned american style "big car look" the Altima has.

What about the cars Nissan ISN'T selling here:

Two EV (all electric) cars, the Altra and the very cool Hypermini or the small Tino hybrid.

Or some of the European versions of the Versa, including the diesel engine model.

Why do so many of the cars we need not get imported by companies like Nissan, or any of the car companies. They ALL have much cooler small cars that they sell in europe.

If Ford sold the cool cars it sells in europe in the US instead of the boring stuff they are making here, maybe they wouldn't be lossing billions of dollars a year.

Ford and GM got "drunk" on the profits from SUV's and let their cars wither in North America. Example:
When the Taurus came out in the 80's it was a very advanced car and sold in large numbers, class leader better sales than Honda Accord and Toyota Camry Then when truck/SUV sales took off in the mid 90's they ignored what at the time was the number one car and did very little updating from '93 on while Honda and Toyota did regular redesigns. Fast forward 10 years and the public reguards the Taurus as junk and buys Honda and Toyota.

I hope Ford and GM have learned their lesson, right their listing ships and give the people good, fuel efficent cars (they have the engineering depts. to do it). The test comes next year with the Fusion hybrid. It's supposed to be an inhouse design (not using parts from Toyota suppliers). We'll see.

In the mean time go Nissan the normal 4cyl Altima gets 23/29 city/highway with an auto so 41/36 is great.

Why don't the high MPG cars have leather and GPS like Europe?

Many do. Try doing some research.

Why don't the high MPG cars have leather and GPS like Europe

Which hybrids DON'T offer GPS? The Insight is the only one I can think of.

Many of them have leather seats as an option as well.

Many do. Try doing some research.

Ya? Like what? I suppose I should have put affordable in there too. I forgot that part. Try not being a jerk.

Which hybrids DON'T offer GPS?

Not sure about no GPS, but I know the Civic doesn't come with a leather option. Pruis I didn't bother looking at because it is so ugly. But I was not even talking about hybrids. Why can't I get a Versa, Fit, Scion, Vibe, Caliber, Aveo with leather and GPS? A compact luxury car.

Forgot one other point, jimmyjimjim I agree that mechanical speedos can end up out of wack due to years of use. Many cars now use an electronic sender and speedo/odo combination. Even a "throw back" car like my 2000 Mustang has an electronic setup. This addresses the wear issue. BTW just because the odometer and speedometer look analog they are still not driven by a cable system. Most car makes use needle indicators rather than digital numbers because people like them that way.

Try not being a jerk.

Here's a suggestion for you, jerk: try reading up on things before making comments. That way, you won't make silly, non-factual statements, which you often put in a dismissive tone about all kinds of "green" things.

A normal person would take such a suggestion to heart, as their purpose is to learn and grow and interact with others in a productive fashion. A jerk would do otherwise.

Pruis I didn't bother looking at because it is so ugly. But I was not even talking about hybrids.

You weren't talking about hybrids? Gee, when you say "high mileage", I think of what the three most efficient cars for sale in the US are. Oh, right! They're all hybrids! And hybrid technology makes any platform more efficient than its non-hybrid counterpart, often by a substantial margin -- so, that could also be considered "high mileage" relative to a given vehicle class.

Why can't I get a Versa, Fit, Scion, Vibe, Caliber, Aveo with leather and GPS? A compact luxury car.

There are plenty of compact luxury cars. You're asking for affordable, high mileage luxury cars? Kind of impossible, you know, since luxury is pretty much the opposite of affordable.

I'm sure if you actually go do some research, you'll find that very crucial leather and GPS.

Thanks Anonymous. I did my research. I did not find anything that met my criteria. Thanks for being so thoughtful and nice.

I did my research. I did not find anything that met my criteria.

Funny, since I saw that the Vibe has leather. First thing I checked. Perhaps you should sharpen your research skills.

Oh, and have you ever heard of the word "aftermarket"? Amazing what you can find for navigation/GPS systems these days.

Thanks for being so thoughtful and nice.

I am a fan of returning what is given.

Formerly working at a Nissan dealership I know that Nissan has bought the rights to Toyotas 1st generation Hybrid technology. Therefore they are way behind in comparison to Toyota as far as what they are offering the public now. Hopefully that will change. Also Nissan is NOT currently offering diesel engines in any vehicle in our US market, BIG mistake! Their Titan pick-up and Armada SUV get lousy fuel economy, however people still purchase them by the thousands for the “look at me up here above you” reason. Realizing that people are people and are going to buy what makes them happy, and you can’t change them. However someday when they wake up and realize they are simply supporting the Bush & company agenda they will realize how wasteful they have been. I’ve heard it said, however I don’t know how true it is, that for every Japanese vehicle purchased there are seven US jobs that are eliminated. Perhaps that should be expanded to Korean cars now, and maybe Chinese cars purchased at that huge import house we in America support called Wal-Mart.

I hope Nissan secured other suppliers for it's hybrid transmission other than Toyota's supplier. If they didn't they may find their supply of parts is strangled buy the demands of Toyota. Ford ended up with this problem and could only build around 20K units (and got slammed in the green blogs for making a "token effort")because Toyota demanded and got the lions share of the hybrid transmissions. For this reason every auto maker or partnership of automakers needs to develope their own system of suppliers for hybrid parts like they do for other items.

Big deal on the 41 mpg hybrid. My 2000 Saturn SC1 gets 41 mpg on straight gas. Note, that it was built in 2000. Seven year old technology. Now VW has a Polo diesel that gets 68 mpg, but VW doesn't plan to intoduce it into the USA - why ?

I made the mistake of buying a 2007 altima hybrid to commute to work. I drive around 80 miles round trip each day on the NYS thurway. I only averaged 28 mpg. I understand the car gets better in the city. The big problem I have with the car is the TCS. It designed to keep your wheels from spinning if you get on a slippery surface. It works great. The problem is that Nissan sells these cars in the northeast where it snows and we have ice. In the non hybrid version of the altima they install a button to turn off the TCS if you are in heavy snow or on ice. The owners refers to the button and tells you to turn off the system because the TCS can actually stop the front wheels from turning. Believe me it will stop the wheels totally. Nissan didn't think to install the button in the hybrid. I got stranded on a hill and had to turn around and come back down the hill because the wheels would not turn and allow me to move forward. I have documented this on the National highway safety web site. Nissan would not do anything about it. They state that the system works as designed. I traded the hybrid in for a Toyota. If you drive in snow in the winter stay away from the Altima Hybrid until Nissan corrects their error.

What are you guys talking about....Prius has the best design and it's the best Hybrid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!