46mpg plays 21mpg Well it is sorta laughable... because the model T's 21mpg is equivalent to roughly 11 L per 100km. Which is the current norm for falcons and commodores. <_< The prius, on the other hand, works out at about 5 L per 100km. Sure the prius (and those 'other' cars) has air-con, electric seats, sunroof, etc - but considering all the other automotive advancements in the last century, we haven't come that far with fuel effeciency. But consider that the 500kg Model T puttered around with a top speed of 60-odd km/h from a 2.9L 4 cylinder engine putting out 15kw. We get more than 3 times the power out of an engine a third of the capacity in a car twice the weight, or 10-15 times the power out of the same capacity in a car 3 times the weight, and travelling at more than twice the speed. Absolutely, fuel consumption hasn't changed much. Fuel efficiency has, however, majorly.