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 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 for 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.
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 - The car's transmission is one place where 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 here and provide a list of the top fuel efficient cars on the road today - 2007 / 2008 models. Later we will talk briefly about some of the 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 mostly in the subcompact size. There is no doubt that weight of materials and the size of the cars 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:
Overall Most Fuel Efficient Car
- Toyota Prius - 48 MPG city and 45 MPG on the highway using a 1.5 liter, four cylinder engine and a user-selectable continuously variable transmission.
Most Fuel Efficient 2 Seaters
- Audi TT Roadster - 22 MPG city and 29 MPG on the highway using a 2.0 liter, four cylinder engine and a six speed automatic transmission.
- Mazda MX-5 - 22 MPG city and 27 MPG on the highway using a 2.0 liter, four cylinder engine and a five speed automatic transmission.
Most Fuel Efficient Mini-Compacts
- MINI Cooper - 22 MPG city and 30 MPG on the highway using a 1.6liter, four cylinder engine and a five speed manual transmission.
- MINI Cooper - a second version of the Mini at 23 MGP city and 32 MPG highway using that same 1.6liter, four cylinder engine and an automatic transmission.
Most Fuel Efficient Subcompact Cars
- Toyota Yaris - 29 MPG city and 36 MPG on the highway using a 1.5 liter, four cylinder engine and a five speed manual transmission.
- Toyota Yaris - a second version of the Yaris at 29 MPG city and 35 MPG on the highway using a 1.5 liter, four cylinder engine and a five speed automatic transmission.
Most Fuel Efficient Compact Cars
- Honda Civic Hybrid - 40 MPG city and 45 MGP on the highway using a 1.3 liter, four cylinder engine with an automatic transmission.
- Toyota Corolla - 28 MPG city and 37 MPG on the highway using a 1.8 liter, four cylinder engine and a five speed manual transmission.
Most Fuel Efficient Midsize Cars
- Toyota Prius (Hybrid) - 48 MPG city and 45 MPG on the highway using a 1.5 liter, four cylinder engine and an automatic transmission.
- Nissan Versa - 26 MPG city and 31 MPG on the highway using a 1.8 liter, four cylinder engine and a six speed manual transmission.
Most Fuel Efficient Large Cars
- Honda Accord - 22 MPG city and 31 MPG on the highway using a 2.4 liter, four cylinder engine and a five speed manual transmission.
- Honda Accord - a second version of the Accord at 21 MPG city and 31 MPG on the highway using a 2.4 liter, four cylinder engine and a five speed automatic transmission.
Most Fuel Efficient Small Station Wagons
- Honda Fit - 28 MPG city and 34 MPG on the highway using a 1.5 liter, four cylinder engine and a five speed manual transmission.
- Honda Fit - a second version of the Fit at 27 MPG city and 34 MPG on the highway using a 1.5 liter, four cylinder engine and a five speed automatic transmission.
Most Fuel Efficient Midsize Station Wagons
- Volkswagen Passat Wagon - 21 MPG city and 29 MPG on the highway using a 2.0 liter, four cylinder engine and a six speed manual transmission.
- Volkswagen Passat Wagon - a second version of the Passat at 20 MPG city and 28 MPG on the highway using a 2.0 liter, four cylinder engine and a six speed automatic transmission.
Fuel Efficient Cars of the Future
Fuel efficient cars of the future are going to introduce an important new technology - fuel cells. Right now, fuel cell vehicles (FCV) are not expected to reach the mass market until 2010, but this new technology has got some manufacturers and environmentalists pretty excited.
In a nutshell, FCV bring to the market such benefits as reducing emissions, lowering our dependence of 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.
And 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 via 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.
About the Author - Fuel Efficient Cars
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