Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Follow up: 40 (MPG) really is the new 30 (MPG)

Back in November, I posed the question, "Is 40 (MPG) the new 30 (MPG)?" After seeing the small cars from the 2011 New York Auto Show, you can believe it is.

Hyundai's Accent and Kia's Rio both joined the 40 MPG club. That means the 2011 Ford Fiesta, 2011 Ford Focus, Chevrolet Cruze ECO, Smart ForTwo Hyundai Elantra, Hyundai Accent, and Kia Rio are all among the 40 MPG club. Of course, the Volkswagen TDI is there, too, but on diesel. Yes, there are a number of hybrid models here, too.

The next-generation Nissan Versa has been announced, and its mileage is only 34 on the highway, which might prove too little for fuel-thrifty buyers (assuming gas prices continue skyward). and it gets 37 mpg on the highway. The new Yaris is due for its debut soon, as is the Toyota iQ, so we'll see how many MPGs they'll get. Ditto that for the upcoming Chevrolet Sonic. Until then, we've got the elite bar-raising 40 MPG club. We'll see who's inducted next.

6 comments:

Zoe Muzak said...

Well it's about time. When are we going to get 50mpg?

Andy Lilienthal said...

These days, you'll have to go all electric (or drive a Prius in the City; it's rated at 51 mpg city).

However, there were several vehicles rated at 50+ MPG.

1. 2000 Honda Insight (61 highway)
2. 2010 Toyota Prius (51 city)
3. 1986 Chevy Sprint (53 highway)
4. 90-94 Geo Metro XFI (52 highway)
5. 86-87 Honda CRX XF (51 highway)
6. 94-95 Honda Civic VX (50 highway)

nlpnt said...

Remember, the Yaris got 40 highway on the pre-2007 EPA standards.

But it does look like 40 on the new test (i.e., with AC on) is the new standard for B-segment cars and every C-segment up-and-comer will have to offer a high-efficiency model that reaches it without expensive tech like hybrid or diesel.
----
Now where are the low(ish)-cost high-mileage C-segment hatches and wagons? Ford's only offering the Focus SFE package on the sedan, Chevy isn't offering the Cruze hatch in the US at all becasue someone in Product Planning thinks it's still 1996, and Hyundai's still using their old engine in the Elantra Touring.

Andy Lilienthal said...

All valid points, nlpnt.

I do believe the Elantra Touring is getting a facelift, since it is currently still on the old Elantra tooling. We'll see.

I wonder if 1) Suzuki will introduce a fuel sipper 2) What the Mazda 2 will do in the next year or so.

Anonymous said...

Andy, the data you list (34 mpg highway) is for the 2011 Nissan Versa 1.8. For the 2012 Versa Sedan, FE is estimated at 30 mpg City, 37 mpg Highway and 33 mpg Combined with the CVT transmission (27/36/30 mpg with the 5-speed manual transmission) (preliminary estimates).

Andy Lilienthal said...

I stand corrected. You are right. For some reason I thought the 2012 was lower in mpg. My mistake.