Real-world hybrid car testing reveals some models are less efficient than claimed

New testing by the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) has shown not all hybrid vehicles deliver fuel savings compared to their petrol counterparts – with several using more in real-world testing on Australian roads.

Hybrid sales in Australia – and other parts of the world – rose dramatically in 2024, with a 76 per cent increase led by the Toyota RAV4 hybrid SUV, which topped monthly sales charts in eight of the past nine months.

In the first three months of 2025, hybrids accounted for around 15 per cent of all new vehicles sold here – with more, including a Ford Ranger PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) heading to showrooms.

Yet the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) has carried out its first test to see how hybrid models stack up against the petrol cars they replace – with the AAA encouraging hybrid shoppers to ‘do their homework’ before signing a deal.

2020 Subaru Forester Hybrid 2.0e-S review

The vehicles were tested on a 93km route around the Victorian city of Geelong in a mix of conditions including highway, urban and rural types of road.

All six models tested use less fuel according to mandatory lab testing results, which also recorded the emissions of each vehicle.

Yet real-world testing by the AAA revealed a wider variety of results.

The mild hybrid Subaru Forester SUV used 0.2L/100km or 2.8 per cent more petrol overall than its petrol-only version in the AAA’s testing.

A mild-hybrid vehicle typically has a small electric motor and battery designed to provide a small amount of assistance to improve fuel economy but does not power the wheels.

The Forester mild-hybrid used the same amount of fuel as its petrol version on the urban section of the test and was more efficient on the rural portion – but was a significant 12.7 per cent thirstier, almost 1L/100kms, on the highway run.

The GWM Haval Jolion hybrid – a ‘conventional hybrid’ which can run on electric power – was the only other vehicle tested to use more than its petrol equivalent, at least in one setting.

While the Jolion delivered an overall 16.5 per cent saving, it was half the benefit (38.3 per cent) of the lab tests.

It, too, was less efficient on the highway – using 2.8 per cent (0.2L/100km) more fuel than its petrol-only version – with the AAA’s data again showing how a hybrid is used determines the overall fuel and cost-saving benefit.

Other hybrids performed strongly on the highway, including the Toyota Kluger hybrid’s 25 per cent improvement.

The Toyota Camry hybrid delivered a 13.4 per cent highway saving on its way to topping the testing with the highest 32.4 per cent overall improvement over its petrol version.

Toyota Australia stopped selling non-hybrid versions of the Camry, Kluger, Corolla and RAV4 among other models in mid 2024.

The top-selling Toyota RAV4 proved 2.0 per cent more efficient overall, including a 21 per cent gain on the highway, with all four Toyota hybrids tested proving more economical to run in all three driving scenarios.

The AAA says it intends to test up to 200 vehicles across body types and powertrains – including new electric vehicle protocols – to provide motorists with more real-world testing data over the next four years.