Fuel Economy

  • 2018 Honda Fit

    Honda's smallest of vehicles—the Fit hatchback—has received several updates for the new model year, its fourth for the current-generation version. The 2018 Honda Fit now has incremental styling modifications, additional safety features, a new optional audio system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and a Sport model that has been added to the little hatch's lineup. While not a drastic departure, the 2018 Fit's new grille now features a two-piece chrome and piano-black grille, which Honda says flows into the headlights in a more cohesive manner. DON'T MISS: Honda Clarity...

  • 2014 BMW 328d xDrive Sport Wagon, New York City, Jun 2014
    What AWD vehicle has the highest fuel economy?

    "I want a fuel-efficient car, but I live in a snowy area, and won't buy one without all-wheel drive; what's the best?" It's a question we hear often. Whether or not you agree that AWD is a must-have in wintry climes, the selection of cars with high fuel economy and AWD is limited. DON'T MISS: 2014...

  • Hypermiling a Ford C-Max Hybrid
    How to drive Ford C-Max Hybrid for best gas mileage? Owner video explains

    Purchasing a hybrid vehicle makes for a slightly different ownership experience than a traditional gasoline-only car. There are always a few tips and tricks for owners to return the best mileage and range from electrified vehicles, and now a 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid owner has shared his secrets...

  • Gas pump
    How much would relaxing U.S. fuel-economy rules matter? Poll results

    One of the earliest acts of the Trump Administration was to announce that it would re-examine emission rules finalized by the EPA in the waning days of the Obama Administration. Making good on that promise, EPA administrator (and climate-science denier) Scott Pruitt reopened the commenting period...

  • 2018 Toyota C-HR
    Some crossover SUVs get easier fuel-economy rules, others don't

    What's a truck? If you tell your average suburban family that they're hauling their kids to school and sports practices in a truck, many will push back. "It's an SUV," you'll likely hear, or perhaps, "it's called a crossover"—short for crossover utility vehicle, or a car-based SUV. DON'T...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV pre-production vehicles at Orion Township Assembly Plant, March 2016
    Fuel-efficiency rules create jobs too, contrary to industry plaints

    Fuel economy and emission standards have been a contentious issue in recent months as the auto industry and government officials clash over regulations and their potential benefits. Earlier this year, one of the largest pieces of evidence against more stringent fuel economy regulations came from...

  • Gas pump

    Under the new administration of President Donald Trump, the EPA has reopened comments on its decision to finalize emission rules for 2022 through 2025 vehicles. Meanwhile, the NHTSA—which sets fuel-economy rules that have to correspond to EPA limits on carbon-dioxide emissions—hasn't yet issued its corporate average fuel-economy rules for that same period. Now, a bipartisan group of senators has introduced a bill that roughly keeps current standards in places but gives makers of light trucks and utility vehicles additional credits toward meeting those rules. DON'T MISS: Automakers...

  • 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid debuts at 2017 New York auto show
    Would weaker EPA rules kill advanced start-stop hybrid systems for U.S.?

    Today's political climate has made for fluid motion in regulations, and corporate average fuel economy targets haven't been left out. Suppliers and automakers have already begun investing heavily into vehicles to be sold in 2022 through 2025, which will include various fuel-saving and...

  • 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid Limited, Catskill Mountains, NY, May 2017
    2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid: gas mileage review

    The 2017 Hyundai Ioniq comes in two versions: a nationally distributed hybrid-electric version, and an all-electric model that will be sold mostly in California and a handful of other states. There'll also be a plug-in hybrid version coming for 2018. We liked the Ioniq Hybrid when we first drove it...

  • 2016 Nissan Leaf SL and 2016 Toyota Prius Three, Hudson Valley, NY, Dec 2015
    Buyers in Trump-voting states reject green cars, which surge in Western states

    If you're a journalist, it's almost impossible to ignore political news these days. So if readers can resolutely avoid national and local coverage of politics, consider yourselves lucky. That said, sometimes a new political angle can make a dry story on car-buyer data more interesting than...

  • 2017 Mercedes-Benz E300 4Matic, Finger Lakes region, NY, April 2017
    2017 Mercedes-Benz E300: gas mileage review

    The Mercedes-Benz E-Class luxury sedan is hardly viewed as green, even if it'll soon have a plug-in hybrid version offered in small numbers. But driving the most recent generation provides a nice case study of the improvement in gas mileage over three decades of updates to the core product that...

  • 2017 Hyundai Elantra IIHS crash test
    Lighter, more fuel-efficient cars are safer, study says, ignoring safety rules

    It was one of several common tropes used 10 years ago against proposed regulations to boost average fuel economy. "More efficient cars will have to be lighter-weight, and they'll be unsafe because in accidents, they'll crumple up like Kleenex." Logical conclusion: if you require higher fuel economy...

  • 2016 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, Catskill Mountains, NY, Feb 2016

    We've driven a lot of compact crossover utility vehicles in recent months. It's a hot category in the new-car market, with all light trucks getting better fuel economy than in past years—and gasoline prices continuing below $3 per gallon in most of the U.S. So we wondered what readers felt would be acceptable fuel economy in a compact SUV. DON'T MISS: After Tesla, which automaker is best in electric cars? Poll results Well, never let it be said that our Twitter followers aren't aggressive in expecting greater efficiency from all categories of vehicle. We asked what the "lowest...

  • Gas pump
    Extra fuel used if 2022-2025 CAFE rules delayed would be low: here's the math

    Barbie never said "Math is hard!" The talking doll did, notoriously, say "Math class is tough!" in 1989, sparking a media firestorm over gender roles in childrens' toys and then a voluntary recall by Mattel for offended parents. Reworded, however, the point remains accurate: many people don't...

  • 2017 Kia Niro Touring, Catskill Mountains, NY, March 2017
    Six things to know about new hybrid cars (if you haven't paid much attention lately)

    For the past few years, plug-in electric cars have gotten more publicity than their small share of the market deserved. That's exactly what had happened to hybrids a decade earlier—and hybrids still outsell cars with plugs, even if they're no longer getting outsize publicity. We've been...

  • Chrome exhaust pipe
    Automakers seek deal to delay EPA's 2022-2025 emission rules

    Despite some alarmist reporting, President Donald Trump hasn't abolished the EPA's vehicle emission limits. Nor has he wiped out corporate average fuel-economy rules, set by the NHTSA. So far, he's done two things: signed an executive order reopening the comment period for 2022-2025 EPA emission...

  • 2017 Toyota Prius
    Toyota Prius One: stripped-down hybrid added at lower price

    It hasn't been the greatest of years for the Toyota Prius hybrid, the Japanese carmaker's flagship product. The fourth generation hybrid hatchback debuted as a 2016 model into the teeth of continued low gasoline prices, and its radical design language apparently turned off at least some potential...

  • 2017 Kia Optima Hybrid, Catskill Mountains, NY, April 2017
    2017 Kia Optima Hybrid: gas mileage review of mid-size sedan

    The 2017 Kia Optima Hybrid is one of a pair of hybrid mid-size sedans from the Korean maker Hyundai-Kia. It shares its underpinnings, though not a single body panel or styling flourish, with the higher-volume Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. We found it to be a comfortable, stylish sedan that gave us good...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel

    When the first Chevrolet Cruze Diesel was launched back in 2014, it made a lot of sense. Diesel was in vogue. German manufacturers were pushing diesel power in a huge way, with Volkswagen's "Clean Diesel" leading the charge. Oh, how things have changed. DON'T MISS: Volkswagen diesel scandal - all our stories Diesel for passenger cars today is, for lack of a better word, despised. Governments in Europe, long a paradise of diesel power, are actively trying to ban the technology, while millions of Volkswagen owners are facing buybacks—the unlucky ones are facing questionable repairs and...

  • Mercedes-Benz integrated starter generator (ISG)
    Don't start-stop systems wear out your car's starter?

    Some are almost unnoticeable, others make the car shudder each time they activate—but start-stop systems are here to stay. First rolled out in Europe and Asia, where crowded city driving requires cars to spend more time at a standstill, they switch off the engine when the car's not moving...

  • 2017 Toyota Prius
    How to curb climate change yourself: drive a more efficient car

    Given the current political landscape in Washington, it's not unreasonable to worry about the future of U.S. efforts to combat climate change. The Trump Administration has embarked on an explicit mission to undo all Obama Administration efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Climate-science deniers in...

  • Gas pump
    Costs to meet fuel-economy standards even lower than EPA says: analysis

    The auto industry tends to oppose, viscerally and viciously, all attempts to regulate any aspect of its products or business operations for any reason. With President Trump in the White House, the industry has succeeded in getting the comment period reopened for the EPA emission standards finalized...

  • Production line at GM’s Orion Assembly plant in Michigan
    Ignore politicians: lower fuel-economy rules don't create jobs, analyst says

    A common refrain among critics of current and future fuel-economy standards is that the need to comply with them produces job cuts in the auto industry. It's a theme picked up by President Donald Trump during a much-publicized visit to Detroit last week. In the hometown of the Big Three U.S...

  • 2017 Honda Accord Hybrid
    2017 hybrid mid-size sedans: all the entries, plus what's due for 2018

    The mid-size sedan was once the default for a majority of U.S. car buyers. While the segment's position has been eroded by the rise of crossover utility vehicles of many sizes, these sedans still remain quite popular. Given the number of options available among hybrid mid-size sedans, that should...

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