I would like to throw in my 2 cents into this. Engine Break in has a large impact on mpg. I drive a Jetta TDI(Diesel, and my expectations are that the engine will not be fully broken until it reaches 20,000-30,000). So I would take the 2-3000 miles in the owners manual and double that figure before you actually get decent mileage. And if you spend a lot of time running around on the electric motor, there is less opportunity for the ICE to even break-in. Weather(Wind, temperature, humidity). And most importantly, the driver behind the wheel. I see lots of hybrid vehicles where I commute and the drivers definitely are not driving for mpg, they are flooring it around racing from red-light to red-light. Not coasting to a stop. Tailgating the car in front of them. But as a comparision to the C-MAX, I get 38-40 mpg on my 20 mile commute, in city driving. This is with the diesel. I accomplish this by being very smooth, I accelerate with the traffic around from the light. But I coast in gear to the lights even if it means drivers behind me are impatient. The less time I spend sitting idling the diesel the better.
