Fuel Economy

  • 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid

    If you buy a new car but can’t get anywhere near the gas mileage the automaker says you should, can you sue them for misleading you? For Heather Peters -- former attorney and owner of a 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid -- the answer is a resounding yes. At the Torrance Small Claims Court in California yesterday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Commissioner Douglas Carnaham ruled that Honda had misled Peters into believing her 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid could achieve a gas mileage of 50 mpg. In reality, Peters claimed her car “never got more than 41 or 42 [mpg] even on its very best...

  • Nichioh Maru Ship
    Nissan Transports 2012 Leafs With Solar-Powered Hybrid Ship

    Toyota might be the world’s largest hybrid automaker, but that isn’t stopping rival Japanese automaker Nissan from trying to become the world leader in hybrid electric car transporter ships. Its latest ship, announced on Tuesday this week, puts it ahead in the race to have the greenest...

  • The MINI Cooper SD diesel
    MINI Cooper Diesels May Be U.S. Bound: Report

    MINI head, Dr. Kay Segler, recently told Car and Driver that diesel models for U.S. customers are a "medium term" consideration for the automaker.

  • Ford EcoBoost engine
    Ford Expands EcoBoost Range, Improves Gas Mileage For Everyone

    Ford’s continuing drive towards smaller capacity, direct-injected, turbocharged, fuel efficient engines continued today as it announced yet more Ford cars and trucks will get EcoBoost engine options during 2012. Moreover, Ford claims that by the end of the year, nine of its production...

  • 2005 Subaru Outback Rear
    New Mileage Rules Encourage Small Cars To Become Big Trucks For Lower MPG

    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...

  • Used car salesman
    Car Dealers Fight Higher MPG Rules, Again, Over Affordability

    You'd think that if President Obama, two government agencies, and 13 of the world's largest carmakers supported a set of new regulations to improve gas mileage, they might be popular with auto dealers too. Not so. At a Tuesday public hearing on the proposed joint NHTSA-EPA standards for fuel...

  • 2009 vw jetta tdi 006

    Lately, we’ve covered several stories surrounding consumer claims that various green cars aren’t capable of achieving the gas mileage figures that the EPA ratings say they should. But what about cars that regularly do better than the EPA ratings for gas mileage? Using data obtained from a variety of sources, here is a list of five cars we feel regularly get better gas mileage than their EPA ratings. Before we start however, we need to point out a few caveats. Firstly, we’re using unverified user-submitted data from both the EPA’s FuelEconomy.Gov website and...

  • 2011 Hyundai Elantra, Grant's Tomb, New York City
    Hyundai Hits Mileage Targets Early, Says Elantra 40-MPG Rating Accurate

    South-Korean automaker Hyundai announced last week that it achieved a fleet-wide corporate average fuel economy of 36 mpg across its entire 2011 range. In doing so, Hyundai has essentially met U.S. 2016 Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards set for cars and light-duty trucks four years...

  • 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid
    Honda Civic Hybrid Gas-Mileage Case: What Factors Are At Play?

    At the start of January, we told you about the owner of a 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid who was taking the Japanese automaker to the small claims court. Heather Peters, alongside other owners who are filing similar class-action lawsuits against Honda, all claim that their Honda Civic Hybrids cannot...

  • 2013 Bentley Continental GT V8
    Bentley Will Use V-8, W-12 Engines In Plug-In Hybrid

    For years, prestige car brands remained insulated from the drive towards greater fuel economy and higher gas mileages. However, tightening regulations on gas mileage and emissions have forced many luxury automakers to take fuel economy seriously for the first time, requiring them to look for...

  • 2013 Dodge Dart Compact Sedan
    2013 Dodge Dart: 40-MPG CAFE Target Hints At EPA Ratings

    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...

  • SIM-LEI Video
    Japanese Electric Car Startup Explains Why Its Cars Look So Wacky

    We all know that most electric cars are more energy efficient than their gasoline counterparts, but just how do you improve on the limited range most electric cars have? For some automakers like BMW, the answer lies in making an electric car as lightweight as possible. For others, the answer is to...

  • Prius Racing In Japan

    Take a quick look at photograph of the line up of brightly colored race cars, complete with sponsor decals, crash-helmet-wearing drivers, and it looks like just another car race. But take your time, and you see something strange about the line of patiently-waiting race cars at the Fuji Speedway circuit in Japan. Every single car is a Toyota Prius hybrid. And each car is a competitor in the 2011 Toyota-sponsored Prius Cup. Held to help promote Toyota’s hybrid technology, 29 dealers across Japan took part, each vying for the highest fuel economy and best possible crew service during the...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf at quick-charging station
    Top Five Green-Car Stories Of 2011: MPGs, Electric Cars, And More

    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...

  • 2013 Mercedes-Benz E400 Hybrid
    Mercedes-Benz To Show Two New Hybrids At Detroit Auto Show

    Well, looks like Volkswagen won't be the only carmaker unveiling a new hybrid sedan at next month's Detroit Auto Show. Yesterday, Mercedes-Benz revealed a pair of hybrid E-Class sedans in Germany, the first with a gasoline V-6 engine and the second with a turbocharged diesel four. According to...

  • 2012 Chevrolet Sonic hatchback, road test, Catskill Mountains, Oct 2011
    2012 Chevy Sonic Test Drives: Carmaker Looks To Bloggers, Not Journalists

    Normally, when an automaker brings a new car to the market, it invites automotive journalists to get behind the wheel to put the car through its paces and render their professional opinion on how the car drives, feels and performs. But as part of the launch of the 2012 Chevrolet Sonic, Chevrolet is...

  • 2011 Hyundai Elantra
    Consumer Watchdog To EPA: Re-Test Hyundai Elantra Gas Mileage

    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.

  • 2012 Toyota Highlander Hybrid
    Third-Row, 7-Seat Family Vehicles With Highest Gas Mileage

    We get asked a lot about hybrids with seven seats. The answer is simple: There's only one, the 2012 Toyota Highlander Hybrid. But the question is really more about fuel efficiency: What family vehicles with a third row of seats that can carry seven people get the best gas mileage? It's a major...

  • Xtronic CVT, 6th generation  -  for 2013 Nissan Altima

    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 engine's most economical operating range. Nissan has long been a CVT proponent, with more of them on the road than any other automaker. Now, the company has completely redesigned its line of CVTs, producing improvements in gas mileage that the company says could be as high as 10 percent. Smaller and...

  • 2012 Cadillac SRX
    Cadillac Seriously Considers Producing Clean Diesel Engines, Possibly For U.S.

    When it comes to large luxury sedans and SUVs, many car buyers are now choosing to swap high-capacity gasoline engines for the latest generation of high-mileage, clean-diesel engines from German automakers like BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz. Now Cadillac, General Motor’s luxury brand, has...

  • Tata Nano
    World’s Cheapest Car, Tata Nano, Gets More Features, Better Economy

    We may have unfairly called the Indian-built Tata Nano “unusually combustible” last week, but there’s no denying that the world’s cheapest car is responsible for helping tens of thousands of Indians get behind the wheel of their first car. Now the diminutive Tata Nano has...

  • Traffic
    How Much Would A Greener Car Save You Over Thanksgiving Weekend?

    Over the coming days, millions of Americans will hit the roads of the U.S. as they make the yearly pilgrimage to be home with their loved ones for Thanksgiving. In total, Americans are expected to spend around $553 million at the gas station over the coming days to fuel their Thanksgiving trips...

  • 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid, production model
    Will Toyota Prius Hit Gas-Mileage Trifecta: 40, 50 & 60 MPG?

    With new corporate average fuel economy rules now taking us to 54.5 mpg by 2025, gas mileage will be the focus of new-car development for years to come. With its 15 years of experience in hybrid-electric vehicles, Toyota seems well positioned for steady improvements. Now, there's a chance that...

  • 2013 Mazda CX-5 compact crossover on test drive, Southern California, Nov 2011
    2013 Mazda CX-5 Kicks Compact Crossover Gas Mileage Higher

    Let's face it: If you want the best gas mileage in a compact or mid-size all-wheel drive crossover, you have to go hybrid. But hybrids are still more expensive than gasoline models by a few thousand dollars, and the majority of buyers prioritize price over those last few miles per gallon. So the...

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