Fuel Efficiency

Wind back the clock to September 2011, and one car in particular was making headlines at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show: The Volkswagen Up. VW devoted a huge area of its stand to the simple, fuel-efficient minicar, as well as the range of Up-based concept vehicles it was launched alongside. One of...

Two drivers have set a new Guinness World Record for achieving the lowest fuel consumption in the lower 48 states in a non-hybrid car. Wayne Gerdes and co-driver Bob Winger returned an amazing 78 mpg around the 48 contiguous states in a 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI, the highest-mpg diesel on sale in...

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...

Many green car enthusiasts love a hypermiling challenge. They'll eagerly drive in the slow lane, forego air-conditioning, and take different routes to and from work to make the most of downhill traffic, just to boost fuel economy by a couple of miles per gallon. But as hard as those folks try...

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...

Visit any European city, and you'll be struck by an unfamiliar sound: That of engines, previously silent, re-starting on every green light. A large number of cars in Europe now feature stop-start technology as standard, and while EPA mileage figures aren't favorable to its effects, they're starting...

Show us someone who actively enjoys getting stuck in heavy traffic and we'll show you someone with nothing better to do. But if you have little choice but to sit in that traffic on your way to work, a new study shows you'd be best off with a hybrid vehicle. You probably didn't need a study to tell...

Smaller, more efficient engines better matched to more complex transmissions will have some of the biggest effects in making tomorrow's cars more fuel-efficient. The 2025 corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) level of 54.5 mpg translates to about 42 mpg on the EPA window sticker. And while Toyota...

No, we won't all be driving golf carts. In fact, as cars change over the next 12 years to meet much tougher fuel-economy rules, automakers will likely do their best to keep the changes invisible. Your next vehicles will deliver better gas mileage than ever before, no matter how large or small they...

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...

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...

A great many people were disappointed--though perhaps not surprised--when green automaker Aptera closed its doors in late 2011. Its project, the Aptera 2e, promised to be one of the most efficient vehicles on the road, but the company suffered the usual startup automaker pitfalls and disappeared...

"We're proud the Audi A3 e-tron doesn't look like an electric car." Ouch. If Audi is truly serious about electric vehicles, that probably isn't the phrase we'd have chosen to prove it, while showing off its new plug-in hybrid A3 model. But then, the Ingolstadt automaker might be on to...

While the assembled hoardes drooled over Ferraris, Porsches and McLarens at March's Geneva Motor Show, those of a greener disposition were more interested in another vehicle. Launched alongside the hybrid hypercars was a true hybrid supercar in its own right--the plug-in diesel hybrid Volkswagen...

You don't need us to tell you that the Japanese car market is about as far-removed from the U.S. market as it's possible to get. Where big trucks still dominate in North America, vehicles that almost fit in the average truck's pickup bed make up almost half of all Japanese car sales. Those cars are...

The Toyota Corolla has been the most popular compact car in the U.S. for more years than we can count. But this year's model is the oldest model in a category that has seen every one of its competitors refreshed in the last three years. The new 2014 Toyota Corolla, the 11th generation of a...

Name one car convenience feature you absolutely couldn't live without, and it'd probably be air conditioning. Whether you live in a hot or cold climate its cooling and demisting benefits can't be understated--it has safety benefits as much as comfort and convenience ones. It also has an effect on...

It just keeps rising: Average gas mileage for new cars has once again hit a new high in the U.S. Statistics kept by the University of Michigan's Transport Research Institute (UMTRI) show sales-weighted MPG of 24.8 mpg in May. That contrasts with 24.6 mpg in March, and a rise from 24.5 mpg in...

Slowly, the economic recession is winding down and consumer moods are improving. Plus, today's new cars get better gas mileage than they did just a few years ago. Is this year the best time to buy a new car? According to several industry analysts quoted in The Detroit News, the answer is...

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...