Gas Mileage

  • 2014 Honda Accord Plug-In Hybrid

    With two dozen hybrid models now on the market, and several mass-market plug-in hybrids as well, weighing costs and benefits can get a lot more complicated. Take, for instance, our reader Catherine Chan-Smith, who wrote to ask for advice: I've read your article on the 2014 Honda Accord Plug-In Hybrid, and was hoping you could help shed some light on the car. My husband and I are looking for a fuel-efficient and comfortable car; we test-drove the Toyota Prius and Camry Hybrid, Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, and the Accord Plug-in. We're ruling out the Prius at this point, because we didn't love how it...

  • 2013 Dodge Dart Limited, road test, Catskill Mountains, NY, April 2013
    2013 Dodge Dart Limited: Gas-Mileage Drive Report

    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...

  • 2013 Ford Escape EcoBoost 2.0-liter, Pennsylvania, April 2013
    2013 Ford Escape 2.0-Liter EcoBoost: Gas Mileage Drive Report

    The Ford Escape is one of the most popular compact crossovers on the market today, and its all-new 2013 model goes head-to-head with the Honda CRV and Toyota RAV4. Both of those vehicles were redesigned in 2012 or 2013, so crossover competition is now fierce. We spent six days with a pale green...

  • 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid, production version road test, San Diego, CA, Jan 2012
    Consumers DO Want High-MPG Vehicles: Not Such A Hard Sell After All

    The 54.5 mpg Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards set for 2025 have caused much wailing and gnashing of teeth from some quarters, but automakers haven't been among them. The automakers have been quite supportive in fact--perhaps knowing all along what a new analysis has discovered: That...

  • 2014 Nissan Versa Sedan
    2014 Nissan Versa Sedan: Pricing And Specification Revealed

    It may not be fast, it may not be pretty, but the Nissan Versa Sedan has one overriding virtue--it's cheap. That continues for the 2014 model year, as pricing remains unchanged from the 2013 Versa Sedan. A standard Versa S starts at $11,990--plus a $750 destination and handling fee--making it the...

  • 54.5 MPG CAFE standard for 2025
    Tougher Gas Mileage Rules: Some Makers Are Way Ahead

    Several Japanese automakers are off to a great start meeting future emissions and gas mileage targets, according to the latest EPA data. As rules become ever more stringent requiring automakers to build cleaner, lower-consumption cars, Toyota, Honda and Nissan already build cars that meet targets...

  • Bob Lutz

    You most likely know by now that fuel efficiency is slated to double in new vehicles by 2025. What you may not know is how much that will cost you when you buy a new car in future years. Thousands of real dollars The EPA has long estimated that a new vehicle will cost about $3,000 more in real (inflation-adjusted) dollars in 2025 than the same vehicle would in 2012. Now former GM product czar Bob Lutz has weighed in, saying at the Society of Automotive Engineers 2013 World Congress that he thinks the real cost is "on the way to" $5,000. In his keynote speech, quoted in The Detroit News, Lutz...

  • 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage
    2014 Mitsubishi Mirage: EPA Gas Mileage For Manual Car Revealed

    The 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage is due to arrive in U.S. dealers this fall, but until now we've only known the EPA gas mileage of the CVT automatic variant. At 37 mpg city, 44 highway and 40 mpg combined it's one of the most efficient subcompacts on the market, and thanks to Mitsubishi Canada announcing...

  • 2000 Toyota Prius
    5 Million Toyota Hybrids Sold, Near 2 Million Of Them In U.S.

    Say the word "hybrid" and then ask drivers, anywhere in the world, to name a car brand. They'll likely say "Toyota," a testimony to that brand's launch of the first Prius in 1997 and its tenacious pursuit of improvement in hybrid-electric powertrain technology since then. Today, Toyota announced it...

  • 2013 Hyundai Sonata
    2013 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid: Minor Updates For Better Mileage

    The 2013 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid is the third year for the carmaker's first hybrid-electric vehicle. And Hyundai's made some minor updates to the mid-size hybrid sedan that competes head-to-head with the Toyota Camry Hybrid (which pioneered the segment), the Ford Fusion Hybrid, and later this year...

  • Fuel gauge
    Fuel Economy Keeps Rising: 24.6 MPG In March

    If you're used to driving around in a Prius then average miles per gallon of 24.6 will sound a little poor in comparison. But that's the average economy of all cars, light trucks, minivans and SUVs purchased in the U.S. in March--and it's an all-time high. 24.6 mpg is 0.2 mpg higher than January...

  • 2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI Six-Month Road Test
    Diesel Vs Small Turbo Gas Engines: Does Real-World MPG Matter?

    As fuel efficiency standards tighten continuously between now and 2025, buyers will have more powertrain options to chose from. And many have suggested there's a battle coming among smaller gasoline engines, diesels, and hybrids. If so, we hope that buyers will do the research to look at the...

  • Cummins and Peterbilt 'SuperTruck'

    Consider this: The average semi truck is actually quite economical. No, really. A typical long-haul truck averages between 5.5 and 6.5 mpg. But it's also really, really heavy--up to 80,000 pounds, for a fully-loaded trailer. That's around 36 tons, which puts some perspective on how hard each of those gallons are working. When some pickup trucks manage barely double that with significantly less weight, long-haul trucks really are impressive. Not that there isn't room for improvement--such as the new 9.9 mpg Peterbilt and Cummins 'SuperTruck'. It represents a 54 percent improvement over the...

  • 2014 Kia Forte
    2014 Kia Forte Sedan: Pricing And Gas Mileage Details

    Kia has retained its talent for styling and nose for value with its 2014 Kia Forte Sedan, but the same can't be said of the new car's fuel efficiency. The company has released pricing details for the new sedan, which slots in as the lowest-priced car in the segment, starting at $15,900--excluding a...

  • Fuel gauge
    Gaming The EPA Gas-Mileage Tests: Well, Europeans Are Worse...

    A few recent, high-profile cases have brought fuel economy testing procedure into question. When Kia and Hyundai are being sued for inaccuracies in reported EPA figures and Ford hybrid drivers are missing out on official numbers by 20 percent, suggesting the designs of some vehicles may enable them...

  • 2014 Volkswagen XL1, 2013 Geneva Motor Show
    Volkswagen Wants 60 MPG Fleet Average In Europe By 2020

    The Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) target of 54.5 mpg by 2025 has caused cheers from some people, and jeers from others. In reality, that target won't be as difficult to hit as the numbers suggest, as the average on EPA window stickers will be lower--closer to 40 mpg in reality. For some...

  • 2013 Volkswagen Beetle TDI
    Downside Of More Diesels: Rising Depreciation?

    Diesel cars are quite appealing to some drivers, and it isn't hard to see why. The current choice of diesel vehicles may not be that varied, but those available mix good performance with impressive efficiency (particularly on the highway) and refinement unheard of from their counterparts of...

  • 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid, Los Angeles, August 2012
    Ford C-Max Does Not Beat Prius V Wagon In Real-World Use

    We've written quite a lot about the gas mileage of Ford's two new 2013 hybrid models, the C-Max and Fusion hybrids. That's because a lot of shoppers and buyers have been talking about it. Both cars are rated at 47 mpg combined, and neither car seems to achieve anything close to that rating in...

  • 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid, test drive, Catskill Mountains, NY, Mar 2013

    The 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid is the second of Ford's two hybrid models, both all-new for 2013. The Fusion Hybrid, unlike the C-Max Hybrid compact hatchback, is a four-door mid-size sedan aimed right at the heart of a high-volume market segment. Competitors for the Fusion lineup include the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata, Chevrolet Malibu, and Nissan Altima. The first three all offer hybrid models, the Malibu has its "Eco" mild-hybrid variant, and there's an Altima Hybrid coming in a year or two. 47-mpg EPA rating The EPA ratings for the 2013 Fusion Hybrid are 47 mpg combined, with...

  • 2011 Fuel Economy Labels
    Breast-Beating Over EPA Mileage Labels: Will Ratings Change?

    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...

  • 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid, Catskill Mountains, NY, Oct 2012
    Ford C-Max & Fusion Hybrid Gas Mileage Lawsuits Combined

    When journalists and buyers alike found they were struggling to hit Ford's gas mileage claims for the Fusion and C-Max hybrids, we knew it wouldn't take long for the situation to escalate. Ford now finds itself on the receiving end of a consolidated lawsuit from two Californian law firms, filing on...

  • 2013 Hyundai Elantra sedan
    Hyundai Will Settle Overstated Gas Mileage Lawsuits

    Last November, Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia found themselves in hot, and rather deep water. An EPA investigation found each manufacturer had overstated its gas mileage window stickers on 13 models--some by as much as 6 mpg. Hyundai has now agreed to settle lawsuits that followed the...

  • 2013 Nissan Sentra, short test drive, Los Angeles, Feb 2013
    2013 Nissan Sentra Quick Highway Fuel-Economy Test Drive

    We hadn't driven a 2013 Nissan Sentra, the all-new compact sedan, until last week. And our drive was hardly representative, since we spent the bulk of it in the peculiar world of freeway traffic in Los Angeles. That means traffic moving at average speeds of anywhere from 60 to 85 mph, with...

  • 2013 Honda Fit
    Comparing Subcompact Cars: Is Newer Better And More Fuel-Efficient?

    The choice of subcompact cars on the market has never been better. Not just better in terms of numbers either, but in quality, reliability, safety, equipment and every other factor the average buyer looks for in a car. Gas mileage isn't bad either, even if it doesn't match some of the paper-thin...

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