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For steady state highway, weight doesn't matter. Unfortunately most U. S. cars are city drive, so mass would be best addressed.
On the highway, I wouldn't expect a hybrid to be much good..for 48% better mileage it would need to get 33 x 1.48= 49 MPG. Remember I am running a diesel, not gas on this van. I can get 33.3 mpg @ 68mph with a 7,500 lb vehicle on midwest flat highways.
I have found that with heavy traffic moving at 55 to 60 mph, that the traffic appears to help push/pull the van along so even while in a lower gear than when running 68 mileage stays quite high, around 31, IIRC. The brick effect probably helps with this, I suspect....plenty of surface areas for vacuum to work on.
It seems most diesel vehicles get about the same highway as hybrid
S.
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