Top U.S. MPG's for 2012

[DocM]

Detroit News....

Chevy Volt, Mitsubishi i-MiEV top fuel efficiency list

Washington -- The Obama administration's fueleconomy.gov website on Friday named the extended-range Chevrolet Volt as the most fuel efficient vehicle with a gasoline engine and the 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV as the most efficient electric vehicle.

The government's fueleconomy.gov website -- funded by the Energy Department and operated with the help of the Environmental Protection Agency -- has named its most fuel efficiency vehicles built between 1984 and the present.

Many of the most efficient models have gone out of the production -- and even some hybrid models have been beaten by older non-hybrid models.

"What's new this year is that half the vehicles on the all-time list are 2012 model year vehicles currently available for purchase. Older, low-tech vehicles are being replaced by newer, high-tech models," said Bo Saulsbury of the National Transportation Research Center.

The Volt -- which travels on about the first 35 miles on a single electric charge before switching to the gasoline engine -- has an overall combined EPA rating of 60 mpg, including 58 city and 62 highway.

In second, is the 2000 Honda Insight with a 53 mpg combined EPA rating.

The 2010-2012 Toyota Prius is third at 50 mpg combined, followed by the manual 1986 Chevrolet Sprint ER at 48 mpg and then the manual 1986 Geo Metro at 47 mpg.

In sixth, the 1986-87 Honda Civic CRX HF was rated at 46 mpg combined.

That model beat the 2012 2Honda Civic Hybrid, which is ranked seventh at 44 mpg. Eighth is the manual 1994-1995 Honda Civic Hybrid at 43 mpg.

In ninth, the 2012 Toyota Prius V at 42 mpg combined followed by the 2011-2012 Lexus CT 200h at 42 mpg.

Among electric vehicles, more new models dominate.

The i-MiEV has an EPA rating of 112 miles per gallon equivalent, with 126 mpg in the city and 99 on the highway. The Nissan Leaf is second with a 99 mpg equivalent combined rating, including 106 in the city and 92 on the highway.

The 2008 Mini E was third with a 98 mpg equivalent rating, followed by the Smart ForTwo electric with a 87 mpg rating.

The 2000 Nissan Altra EV and 1999 GM EV1 followed behind with 85 mpg equivalent ratings. Next was the 2002-03 Toyota RAV-4 EV at 78 mpg, followed by the Nissan Hyper-Mini at 75 mpg. The 2001 Ford Think was ninth at 65 mpg followed by the 2012 Azure Dynamics Transit Connect Wagon at 62 mpg.

EPA measures miles per gallon equivalent assuming 33.7 kwh equals the amount of energy in one gallon of gasoline.

[Snoopy2005uk]

lol iv had a 14 year old Peugeot 306 1.4 petrol car that can do 45 mpg combined fairly easy. I really don't understand why these brand new hybrid cars are only doing ~25% better

[DocM]

Because the modern vehicles must meet modern safety & emissions standards and are heavier because of it.

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

The Volt has a hefty price tag.

[chconline Veteran]

lol iv had a 14 year old Peugeot 306 1.4 petrol car that can do 45 mpg combined fairly easy. I really don't understand why these brand new hybrid cars are only doing ~25% better

1. A US gallon and imperial gallon is not the same thing. (1 Imp. Gallon = 4.545L, 1 US Gallon = 3.785L)

2. Your car wouldn't even get a single star in a modern crash test rating. :p

[Teebor]

lol iv had a 14 year old Peugeot 306 1.4 petrol car that can do 45 mpg combined fairly easy. I really don't understand why these brand new hybrid cars are only doing ~25% better

[123456789A]

lol Robocop!

[Teebor]

lol Robocop!

You know your Avatar looks a lot like the one from Robocop ;) (Y)

[DocM]

The Volt has a hefty price tag.

And a $7,500 Federal rebate, plus whatever state rebates are applicable.Same as any other EV or PHEV with a large enough battery.

[anthdci]

For comparison US-UK my 2008 Toyota Aygo gets 61MPG(UK) which is about 50MPG(US) It is a euro NCAP 4* (out of 5 for the US who don't have this system) for safety.

[threetonesun]

MPG is not nearly as important as GPM either, yet it's such a wonderful selling point that everyone insists on making a fuss about it.

For reference, if you drive, say, 15,000 miles a year (normal for a US driver)

10 MPG = 1500 gallons

20 MPG = 750 gallons

30 MPG = 500 gallons

40 MPG = 375 gallons

50 MPG = 300 gallons

That is to say, the 10 mpg difference between 10 and 20 results in 750 gallons of gas savings, while the 10 MPG difference between 40 and 50 results in a relatively insignificant 75 gallons, or ~$300 a year. When you start looking at it like this, it makes the premium of an electric motor versus an efficient gas engine hard to justify, unless you're getting a generous tax credit.

[zeta_immersion]

I don't believe those numbers, as I get into arguments with any idiot salesman about the combined or city mileage ...

those numbers are obtained in lab environment, monitored and extrapolated, not real life human driven city populated area ....

the rule of thumb is, real mileage is at best the highest given MPG and it goes up from there