EPA Ratings

  • 2014 Chevrolet Silverado High Country

    The 2014 Silverado equipped with the 6.2-liter V-8 posts significant mileage improvements over last year's model.

  • 2013 Chevrolet Volt Fuel Economy
    Your Mileage May Vary; Dashboard MPG Readings Vary Too

    It's one of the most common questions asked of any new car: "So what kind of gas mileage does it get?" The answer most often comes from the car's gas-mileage readout on the dashboard, generally specified to the tenths of a mile per gallon. But as Edmunds determined, those readings vary considerably...

  • 2014 Chevrolet Malibu
    2014 Chevy Malibu Gas Mileage: Making Eco Mild Hybrid Irrelevant, Again?

    The 2014 Chevrolet Malibu gets a new base engine, and with it come new, higher fuel-efficiency ratings from the EPA. But does the improved gas mileage mean the Malibu Eco model no longer has a reason to exist? For the new model year, Chevy made a large number of changes to the year-old vehicle...

  • 2014 Mazda 3 four-door sedan, 2013 Frankfurt Auto Show  [photo: IndianAutosBlog]
    2014 Mazda 3 Sedan Live Photo Gallery: 2013 Frankfurt Auto Show

    The all-new 2014 Mazda 3 was revealed at the end of June, but only as a five-door hatchback--the model that will be the mainstay in Japan and Europe. Now we've had our first look at the 2014 Mazda3 four-door sedan in person; it was displayed at last week's Frankfurt Auto Show. The pictures show the...

  • Sample used car gas-mileage window sticker for a 2000 Honda Insight.
    EPA Offers Gas Mileage Stickers, Embeds For Selling Used Cars

    The EPA is expanding its used car gas-mileage label tool. It now allows sellers to create a graphic for online ads.

  • 2013 Audi TDI range
    Audi Urges Diesel-Friendly Regulations, Holds DC Diesel Rally

    Audi and corporate parent Volkswagen believe clean diesels are being ignored by government regulations and incentive programs that promote hybrids and pure electric cars.

  • 2014 Nissan Versa Note

    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 impressed. While it's not as stylish or upscale-feeling as the Chevrolet Sonic, nor as flexible inside for carrying people and their stuff as the aging Honda Fit, the Versa Note proved to be a more pleasant long-distance road-trip vehicle than we'd expected. 35-mpg combined rating The Note offers several...

  • 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid, Catskill Mountains, NY, Oct 2012
    EPA's Ford C-Max Hybrid Gas Mileage: "Our Testing Not At Fault"

    It's frustrating buying a car to find its gas mileage falls short of the official EPA ratings, and it's a frustration quite familiar to owners of the 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid. The car was launched to much fanfare with its 47 mpg combined rating--identical to that of the Ford Fusion Hybrid--but it...

  • 2013 Toyota Avalon Hybrid, Catskill Mountains, NY, May 2013
    Five 40-MPG Mid-Size Sedans You Can Buy Today

    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...

  • 2013 Honda Fit EV drive event, Pasadena, CA, June 2012
    The Five Greenest, Most Energy-Efficient Cars of 2013

    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...

  • 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid, Los Angeles, August 2012
    Ford's C-Max Mileage Mess: How It Happened And What It Means

    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...

  • 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid, Catskill Mountains, NY, Oct 2012
    2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid Owners Get Cash As Ford Lowers MPG Rating

    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...

  • 2014 Ford C-Max

    Ford will lower the 47-mpg gas mileage rating for its C-Max Hybrid hatchback, a much-disputed metric that was never backed up by real-world owner experience. Soon after the cars launched a year ago, widespread media coverage--on this site and Consumer Reports, among others--indicated that owners were getting real-world figures that varied significantly from the rated mileage for Ford's new hybrid models. Neither the 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid nor the 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid, which use identical powertrains, appeared to return nor achieve anywhere near the advertised EPA ratings of 47 mpg combined...

  • 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel, test drive in Hell, Michigan
    The New Diesel Cars For 2014

    With an increasing number of diesel passenger cars appearing in showrooms, car buyers have more options for fuel-efficient driving than they did only a few years ago. After a brief hiatus several years ago, when new and tougher emissions standards came into effect for diesel vehicles, the number...

  • Fuel gauge
    Facing Fuel-Economy Fracas, Ford Focuses On Gas Mileage Myths (Video)

    Many buyers of new Ford cars--both its 2013 C-Max and Fusion hybrids, and those fitted with its EcoBoost line of downsized, turbocharged engines--report real-world gas mileage much lower than the cars' EPA ratings. Ford is trying to counter almost a year's worth of media attention to these concerns...

  • 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid, Los Angeles, August 2012
    2013 Ford C-Max, Fusion Hybrids To Be Modified To Boost MPG In Real-World Use

    That noise you heard yesterday afternoon? That was the sound of the other shoe dropping. Ford said yesterday that it will "enhance the on-road fuel economy performance" of the 77,000 2013 hybrid models it's sold over the last year, in an effort to "improve customer satisfaction." The announcement...

  • 2014 Mazda 3
    2014 Mazda 3 Launches: Two SkyActiv Engines, High MPG Expected

    Mazda launched its all-new 2014 Mazda 3 compact hatchback today at coordinated events in New York, Melbourne, Istanbul, St. Petersburg, and London. The new Mazda 3 lineup, which will include a four-door sedan version as well when it goes on sale this September, is the second model designed around...

  • 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LTZ
    2014 Pickup Truck Gas Mileage: Ford Vs Chevy Vs Ram, Who's Best?

    The U.S. will save a lot more gasoline by improving the fuel efficiency of gas-guzzling high-volume pickup trucks than it will swapping out Toyota Corollas for Prius hybrids. That's mathematical fact. Now, finally, the makers of the three most popular pickup truck lines sold in the U.S. are...

  • 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid, Catskill Mountains, NY, Oct 2012

    Your mileage may vary--but these days, it appears, your mileage may vary more than it used to. According to a new report, the gap between rated fuel efficiency and the real-world gas mileage achieved by actual drivers is increasing. In 2001, it notes, the average difference between rated gas mileage and actual results was 20 percent or less in the U.S. and 10 percent or less in Europe. By 2012, that gap had risen to 35 percent in the U.S. In Europe, it was 25 percent in 2011. Highlighted by Ford hybrids The variation in real-world results against published EPA efficiency ratings has been...

  • 2014 Ford Fiesta 5-door hatchback
    2014 Ford Fiesta SFE: 34 MPG Combined, 41 MPG Highway

    Ford's updated Fiesta SFE is offering even better fuel efficiency for the 2014 model year. The Fiesta uses a 1.6-liter gasoline engine, developing around 120 horsepower. It's a fun little car to drive, but the main focus here is economy. With EPA-rated mileage figures of 30 mpg city, 41 highway and...

  • 2013 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid - factors affecting real-world gas mileage, from presentation
    2013 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid Underscores 'Your Mileage May Vary'

    It seems Ford has taken to heart the concerns over the difference in its new hybrids between EPA gas-mileage ratings and real-world results. In a media presentation yesterday on the new 2013 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid, Ford's luxury brand devoted considerable time to explaining how it helps drivers...

  • 2014 Ford Fiesta: EcoBoost (European version)
    Best Mileage Non-Hybrid Car In 2014: From Ford Or Mitsubishi?

    You want a four-seat car with the highest EPA combined gas-mileage rating you can get--but you've decided you don't want a hybrid. For 2014, two new competitors are joining the fray--and they seem likely to offer considerably better fuel efficiency than today's best-of-the-pack. This year, your...

  • 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid, Los Angeles, August 2012
    Gaming The EPA Gas-Mileage Tests: How It Really Works

    Every now and then, EPA gas-mileage ratings--and cars that notably fail to achieve them in real-world use--burst into public awareness. Hyundai and Kia had to agree to reduced ratings and send refunds to buyers after admitting to testing-procedure errors following an EPA investigation. But do...

  • 2014 Chevrolet Impala, test drive in Hell, Michigan
    2014 Chevrolet Impala 2.5-Liter Four-Cylinder: Quick Drive

    The new 2014 Chevrolet Impala is a big five-passenger family sedan, the largest one Chevy sells. While it was launched earlier this year with a 303-horsepower 3.6-liter V-6 engine, it can now also be ordered with a 196-hp, 2.5-liter four-cylinder Ecotec engine that produces 186 lb-ft of torque...

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