Another calculator lets you type in your weekly mileage, the cost of gas near you and the make of your car to find out how your monthly petrol tab compares with that of ten particularly fuel-efficient cars.
It's a tool that has limited use, but its bar graph and little car icons drive home how monstrously extravagant it is to drive something like a GMC (GM) Yukon truck. If you drive 300 miles a week in it, and pay $4.25 at the pump, you pay $395 a month in gas, versus $251 for a Chevrolet Tahoe hybrid or $221 for a Toyota Highlander hybrid -- or, to really go in the other direction, just under $149 for a Mini Cooper.
The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy puts out lists of the 10 overall best and 10 worst autos, as well as a list of best-in-class. There is some crossover with KBB's list. The Prius, of course, is on both, as are the Honda (HMC) Civic, the Nissan (NSANY) Altima, Smart car and Mini Cooper.
These lists make for good quick hits, if you want to narrow your search to the most fuel-efficient cars overall or in a particular category.
But the Department of Energy provides a wider view of the auto market, listing mileage, greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution score and annual fuel costs for most cars on the market. And, it lets you search by class or car maker within a given model year (from 2000 through 2009).
While each of these round-ups is good for general comparison purposes, most rely on the mileage stats that the manufacturers generate, usually under the most ideal conditions.
Consumer Reports does its own road testing of popular cars, and its real-world mileage is usually a little less rosy than the auto makers' numbers. For example, Consumer Reports says the Prius gets 34 miles per gallon in the city and 47 on the highway, where the DOE reports 48 and 45, respectively. Though, by any measure, the Prius' efficiency is nothing to sneeze at.
