Bill Jacobs Kia, a premiere Kia dealer in Illinois, wants to update you on a blog from the past. Recently two drivers, Wayne Gerdes and Chris Bernius, left KMMG in West Point, GA in an attempt to set a Guinness World Record for lowest fuel consumption in a hybrid gasoline vehicle through the continental United States. It has recently been reported that both men did in fact create history!
Both drivers drove a factory standard Kia Optima 7,899 miles across the continental United States while averaging almost 65 miles per gallon the entire trip! Talk about efficiency! The drivers shattered EPA highway estimates by just over 60% showing once and for all that drivers paired with certain techniques and habits can increase efficiency.
A lot of people don’t realize how impressive this feat really is. Increasing your fuel economy 61% higher than estimates is something to marvel at, as well as all of the elements the drivers had to encounter throughout the trips entirety. Thomas Oh, Kia’s Senior Executive VP and COO recently noted that, “While traveling across the United States the Optima Hybrid experienced temperatures ranging from more than 118 degrees Fahrenheit to less than freezing point. The team climbed through the formidable Rocky mountain chain and negotiated rush hour traffic in Chicago, New York City and Las Vegas – which makes the Optima Hybrid’s fuel consumption figure all the more impressive.” Oh has a very big point considering the fact that even small town rush hour traffic seems almost unbearably bad, but paired with Carmageddon occurring everyday in LA, Chicago and New York City these efficiency numbers are almost unbelievable.
Looking back at the trip it took two weeks to complete, during which the Optima used slightly over 5 and a half tanks of gasoline. The drivers averaged a total of 564 miles driven each day, and an average of 1,418 miles in between each fill up! If you’re looking for efficiency look no further than Bill Jacobs Kia, an Illinois Kia dealer, and the wide selection of new and used cars in Illinois.
