Good news: The quest for 50 mpg need not end in a Toyota Prius. It does require a hybrid, but you can hit that mark without going all hatchback. In fact, cars as mainstream as the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord now boast EPA-estimated combined mileage near the big five-oh with their hybrid variants, thanks to respective overhauls for the 2018 model year.
We put both the 2018 Toyota Camry Hybrid and 2018 Honda Accord Hybrid to the test, logging mileage and acceleration numbers in an Accord Hybrid Touring and Camry Hybrid XLE, top trim levels of each. Senior Consumer Affairs Editor Kelsey Mays and Production Editor Brian Normile drove about 165 miles in the two cars during a daylong loop around the Chicago metro area, where we consumed many hours of grunge-tastic SiriusXM Channel 34 despite neither of us wearing flannel that day.
Related: 2018 Toyota Camry Vs. 2018 Honda Accord: Video
EPA estimates for mileage on the Camry Hybrid are 44/47/46 mpg for SE and XLE trim levels. That’s right about the same as the Accord Hybrid’s 47/47/47 mpg. Those numbers put the two sedans into a rarified club of high-mileage family sedans that also includes the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid, which boasts an EPA-estimated 46 mpg combined — impressive figures for all three, considering they come after the EPA’s recent industrywide mileage revisions that knocked many cars down a rung.