Fuel Efficient Cars

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Fuel Efficient Cars

When gasoline prices first jumped in the summer of 2005, you started to hear more information about fuel efficient cars. That's because consumers that were used to paying around $20 to fill up their cars were suddenly paying over $50. That summer was a wake up call for everyone that thought paying $3.00 or more for a gallon of gasoline would never happen.

Fuel Efficient Technologies

We've already talked about some of the technologies that make cars more fuel efficient. But as a reminder, fuel efficiency is a function of the car's weight, friction, and the efficiency of the engine itself. Producing a fuel efficient car means attacking all three of these areas.

Additional Resources

That being said, we can expect the automobiles that would be considered the top fuel efficient cars on the market today to exhibit these types of characteristics:

Low Drag Coefficient - Streamlined in appearance to reduce the car's wind drag.
Low Curb Weight - Lighter cars simply take less energy to move around.
Advanced Engines - This can include engine technologies and utilizing different fuel sources such as alcohol, natural gas, and electricity.
Advanced Transmissions and Braking Systems - In a car's transmission a lot of friction takes place, and some advanced braking systems can actually be used to recover energy.

Top Fuel Efficient Cars

We're going to get right to the point, and provide a list of the top fuel-efficient cars on the road today (2010 / 2011 models). Later, we will talk briefly about some of the new fuel efficient cars that are going to hit the market in the next several years. You're going to see the top cars are subcompacts. There is no doubt that weight of materials, and the size of the car matters.

The list below contains the make and model of the car as well as the Miles per Gallon (MPG) rating for both city and highway driving:

Two-Seater Cars

Honda CR-Z: Continuously Variable Transmission 7 Speeds, 1.5 Liter / 4 Cylinder Engine, 35 MPG City, 39 MPG Highway, 37 MPG Combined.
Honda CR-Z: Manual 6-Speed Transmission, 1.5 Liter 4 Cylinder Engine, 31 MPG City, 37 MPG Highway, 34 MPG Combined.

Minicompact Cars

Mini Cooper: Manual 6-Speed Transmission, 1.6 Liter 4 Cylinder Engine, 29 MPG City, 37 MPG Highway, 32 MPG Combined.
Mini Cooper: Automatic Select Shift 6 Speed, 1.6 Liter 4 Cylinder Engine 28 MPG City, 36 MPG Highway, 31 MPG Combined.

Subcompact Cars

Ford Fiesta SFE AM-6 1.6 Liter 4 Cylinder Engine 29 MPG City, 40 MPG Highway, 33 MPG Combined.
Toyota Yaris: Manual 5-Speed Transmission, 1.5 Liter 4 Cylinder Engine, 29 MPG City, 36 MPG Highway, 32 MPG Combined.

Compact Cars

Lexus CT 200h: Continuously Variable Transmission, 1.8 Liter 4 Cylinder Engine, 43 MPG City, 40 MPG Highway, 42 MPG Combined.
Volkswagen Golf (Diesel): Manual 6-Speed Transmission, 2.0 Liter 4 Cylinder Engine, 30 MPG City, 42 MPG Highway, 34 MPG Combined.
Jetta (Diesel): Manual 6-Speed Transmission, 2.0 Liter 4 Cylinder Engine, 30 MPG City, 42 MPG Highway, 34 MPG Combined.

Midsize Cars

Toyota Prius: Continuously Variable Transmission, 1.8 Liter 4 Cylinder Engine, 51MPG City, 48 MPG Highway, 50 MPG Combined.
Hyundai Elantra: Manual 6-Speed Transmission, 1.8 Liter 4 Cylinder Engine, 29 MPG City, 40 MPG Highway, 33 MPG Combined.

Large Cars

Hyundai Sonata: Manual 6-Speed Transmission, 2.4 Liter 4 Cylinder Engine, 24 MPG City, 35 MPG Highway, 28 MPG Combined.
Honda Accord: Automatic 5-Speed Transmission, 4 Liter 4 Cylinder Engine, 23 MPG City, 34 MPG Highway, 27 MPG Combined.

Small Station Wagons

Audi A3 (Diesel): Automatic Select Shift 6-Speed, 2.0 Liter 4 Cylinder Engine, 30 MPG City, 42 MPG Highway, 34 MPG Combined.
Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen (Diesel): Manual 6-Speed Transmission, 2.0 Liter 4 Cylinder Engine, 30 MPG City, 42 MPG Highway, 34 MPG Combined.

Midsize Station Wagons

Kia Rondo: Automatic 4-Speed Transmission, 2.4 Liter 4 Cylinder Engine, 20 MPG City, 27 MPG Highway, 22 MPG Combined.

Small Pickup Trucks

Ford Ranger Two Wheel Drive: Manual 5-Speed Transmission 2.3 Liter 4 Cylinder Engine, 22 MPG City, 27 MPG Highway, 24 MPG Combined.
Toyota Tacoma Two Wheel Drive: Automatic 4-Speed Transmission, 2.7 Liter 4 Cylinder Engine, 19 MPG City, 25 MPG Highway, 21 MPG Combined.

Standard Pickup Trucks

Chevrolet Silverado 15 Hybrid Two Wheel Drive: Continuously Variable Transmission, 6.0 Liter 8 Cylinder Engine, 20 MPG City, 23 MPG Highway, 21 MPG Combined.
Silverado 15 Hybrid Four Wheel Drive: Continuously Variable Transmission, 6.0 Liter 8 Cylinder Engine, 20 MPG City, 23 MPG Highway, 21 MPG Combined.
GMC Sierra 15 Hybrid Two Wheel Drive: Continuously Variable Transmission, 6.0 Liter 8 Cylinder Engine, 20 MPG City, 23 MPG Highway, 21 MPG Combined.
Sierra 15 Hybrid Four Wheel Drive: Continuously Variable Transmission, 6.0 Liter 8 Cylinder Engine, 20 MPG City, 23 MPG Highway, 21 MPG Combined.

Sport Utility Vehicles

Ford Escape Hybrid Front Wheel Drive: Continuously Variable Transmission, 2.5 Liter 4 Cylinder Engine, 34 MPG City, 31 MPG Highway, 32 MPG Combined.
Mazda Tribute Hybrid Two Wheel Drive: Continuously Variable Transmission, 2.5 Liter 4 Cylinder Engine, 34 MPG City, 31 MPG Highway, 32 MPG Combined.
Mercury Mariner Hybrid Front Wheel Drive: Continuously Variable Transmission, 2.5 Liter 4 Cylinder Engine, 34 MPG City, 31 MPG Highway, 32 MPG Combined.
Mitsubishi Outlander Sport Two Wheel Drive: Manual 5-Speed Transmission, 2.0 Liter 4 Cylinder Engine, 24 MPG City, 31 MPG Highway, 26 MPG Combined.

Minivans

Honda Odyssey: Automatic 6-Speed, 5 Liter 6 Cylinder Engine, 19 MPG City, 28 MPG Highway, 22 MPG Combined.

Cargo Vans

Chevrolet Express 1500 Two Wheel Drive: Automatic 4-Speed Transmission, 4.3 Liter 6 Cylinder Engine, 15 MPG City, 20 MPG Highway, 17 MPG Combined.
GMC Savana 1500 Two Wheel Drive: Automatic 4-Speed Transmission, 4.3 Liter 6 Cylinder Engine, 15 MPG City, 20 MPG Highway, 17 MPG Combined.

Passenger Vans

Chevrolet Express 1500 Two Wheel Drive: Automatic 4-Speed Transmission, 5.3 Liter 8 Cylinder Engine, 13 MPG City, 17 MPG Highway, 14 MPG Combined.
Express 1500 All Wheel Drive: Automatic 4-Speed Transmission, 5.3 Liter 8 Cylinder Engine, 13 MPG City, 17 MPG Highway, 14 MPG Combined.
GMC Savana 1500 Two Wheel Drive: Automatic 4-Speed Transmission, 5.3 Liter 8 Cylinder Engine, 13 MPG City, 17 MPG Highway, 14 MPG Combined.
Savana 1500 All Wheel Drive: Automatic 4-Speed Transmission, 5.3 Liter 8 Cylinder Engine, 13 MPG City, 17 MPG Highway, 14 MPG Combined.

Fuel Efficient Cars of the Future

Over the next several years, we are going to see an important new technology emerge: fuel cells. Right now, fuel cell vehicles (FCV) are not expected to reach the mass market until at least 2013, but this new technology has some manufacturers and environmentalists excited.

FCVs bring to the market such benefits as reduced emissions, lower dependence on foreign oil, as well as a fuel economy benefit. That means a FVC is not only environmentally friendly, but it's also cheap (actually inexpensive) to operate.

Just like battery powered electric vehicles, FCVs are driven by electric motors. But unlike electric vehicles with batteries, FCVs are able to generate their own electricity through a chemical process involving hydrogen gas and oxygen.

FCVs that are fueled by hydrogen gas will emit zero pollutants, only water and heat. If hydrogen rich fuel such as methanol or natural gas is used, a reformer is utilized to extract the hydrogen gas.

Fuel Cell Cars of the Future

These cars are so new that only prototypes are in development right now, but the results are encouraging. The current list of FCV cars includes:

Ford Focus - 48 miles per kilogram city and 53 miles per kilogram on the highway. Current cruising range is 200 miles.
Honda FCX - 62 miles per kilogram city and 51 miles per kilogram on the highway. Cruising range is currently 190 miles.
Mercedes Benz F-Cell - 55 miles per kilogram city and 59 miles per kilogram on the highway.

As with new technologies come new concepts too such as miles per kilogram of fuel. A kilogram is around 2.2 pounds of fuel, which is the way that hydrogen gas will be measured. Another challenge with these vehicles right now is cruising range, which should only get better with time.

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