miles per gallon

The Nissan Versa is one of the largest "subcompacts" on the market. For 2014, a new hatchback model called the Versa Note joins the all-new sedan launched last year. We spent several hundred miles with a prototype 2014 Versa Note over three days of this past weekend, and came away relatively...

Imagine it's 2025 and the full impact of tougher gas-mileage regulations has taken effect. That year, it's easy to buy a mid-size sedan--perhaps even something a bit larger--that returns 40 mpg in regular use. Here's the thing, though: For 2013, there are already a handful of sedans that do that...

What cars available in dealers today make the most efficient use of energy? The answer turns out to be four battery-electric vehicles and one plug-in hybrid. Gasoline and diesel cars don't even come close; internal combustion engines waste two-thirds to three-quarters of the energy in their fuel on...

Ford spent nine months justifying the 47-mpg fuel-efficiency rating of its new 2013 C-Max Hybrid--before it bowed to public pressure and lowered it to 43 mpg late Thursday. While its three latest hybrid models continue to sell well, the latest reversal draws attention to Ford's challenges when the...

For Ford, it's all about "customer satisfaction"--a phrase it's repeated hundreds of times over the past nine months. During that time, it's grappled with the realization that not only did its 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid not achieve anywhere close to its 47-mpg EPA rating, but the shortfall had made...

The 2013 Dodge Dart has gotten off to a slow start in the market, but it's a vitally important car for Chrysler. The first vehicle based on shared underpinnings from its parent Fiat, the Dart has to show Chrysler can build competitive cars--and, even more important, top-quality small cars that...

Obviously, fuel economy will be an increasingly big deal in years to come. The gas-mileage ratings of new cars and trucks must double (and then some) between last year and 2025. But as two recent news events pointed out once again, EPA mileage ratings on the window stickers of new cars may not be...

We tend to like small cars, as a personal preference. But the very smallest of cars often don't get the best gas mileage, and they can feel subjectively unsafe in some driving conditions. So how did our 2013 Chevrolet Spark minicar do on gas mileage? We've concluded that--depending how you use...

it's always nice when the big boys say, "You're right." We reported three weeks ago that Ford's new 2013 hybrids were not achieving their 47-mpg EPA gas mileage rating in real-world usage. Now Consumer Reports has confirmed that finding, based on its own testing, in videos and a blog post published...

This is starting to look not so good. It appears that two new hybrid cars from Ford--the 2013 C-Max Hybrid hatchback and the 2013 Fusion Hybrid sedan--may not deliver real-world gas mileage that's anywhere near their 47-mpg EPA ratings. Automotive journalists have been quietly discussing this for a...

How much do you spend on gasoline each year? If you happen to live in the average U.S. household, the total is more than $2,850 every year--roughly $240 a month, or $60 each week. So when the Consumer Federation of America surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults in May on their attitudes toward fuel efficiency...

When you see that magic 40-miles-per-gallon number in a car ad, does it make you pay attention? Most likely it does. (Among other things, it's usually in much larger type than the other two EPA ratings.) But how seriously should you take any publicized gas-mileage ratings? Most people seem to know...

If your workplace is anything like ours, it seems that while you're at work, most of the rest of the United States has taken the entire week off to celebrate Independence Day. For our own celebration, and with a friendly nod to our defeated British colleagues, we thought it would be appropriate to...

With conventional gas engines incremental improvements of the range of 20% are possible over a 20 year span, but for really large gains alternative technology seems to be necessary.

Smaller, more efficient engines will be all the rage for the next 15 years, as automakers work to meet gas-mileage standards reaching past real-world averages of 40 miles per gallon. One of the most eagerly awaited is Ford's three-cylinder, 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine, first shown at the Frankfurt...

Automakers have long known there's a double standard for gas mileage. Cars have to meet higher goals, trucks have less stringent requirements. And the larger the vehicle, the lower the average fuel economy it has to deliver. The proposed fuel economy standards for 2017 through 2025 vehicles...

The 2013 Dodge Dart, which will be fully revealed to the public at next week's Detroit Auto Show, achieved an unadjusted gas-mileage rating of at least 40 mpg, according to Chrysler. But hold on; before you rush over to the dealership and put money down, consider that 'unadjusted' means that it's...

Yep, it's almost the end of the year, which means reams of roundup stories from all your favorite auto websites. Nope, we're not that different: We've got one too. Here's our take on the five most important stories--or perhaps themes--of 2011 in the growing world of green cars. New fuel economy...

The advocacy group Consumer Watchdog has called for the EPA to test whether the Hyundai Elantra lives up to its EPA gas-mileage ratings in real-world use; owners have complained that it doesn't.

One of the best ways to improve fuel economy is to keep a car's engine operating at its most efficient speed, regardless of how fast the vehicle is traveling. That's the principle behind continuously variable transmissions, or CVTs, which use belts and variable pulleys to match road speed to an...