Fuel Efficient Cars

Although gas prices are down from their highs earlier last summer, energy prices are still likely to fluctuate as the global economy recovers. While the onus of $4 per gallon gasoline no longer triggers an immediate shift to better fuel mileage in cars, it's important to consider that shifts in the world market could increase the price of oil back to that level (as inflation begins to return to the US dollar, as a product of increased Treasury spending) and there are a number of larger benefits beyond the pure economic reasons for choosing cars with better fuel mileage.

While the focus today is on hybrid and electric cars, there is a more basic step you can take to improve the fuel efficiency of your next car: smaller, more nimble cars tend to use less fuel than larger models, even in conventional fuel delivery systems. In fact, the difference between traditional models can be even greater than that between conventional models and their hybrid replacements.

Consider that most sport utility vehicles obtain fuel mileage efficiency close to 15 miles per gallon while a small sedan can achieve nearly double that, which represents a 100% improvement in efficiency. On the other hand, upgrading from a small sedan to a hybrid small sedan will often help one realize only a 25% marginal improvement - as a result, the choice of the basic model is the most important decision relative to fuel mileage.

For those who are focused on minimizing their carbon footprint by way of improving fuel efficiency in their cars, there are also several steps that you can take beyond upgrading your car. Ensuring that you tires are filled to the proper capacity can often help you realize a 5% improvement in your fuel efficiency with minimal effort. Another way that you can improve your miles per gallon is by driving more efficiently by limiting your highway speed and making fewer drastic starts and stops - the manner in which you drive can further improve the mileage you get from each gallon no matter what type of vehicle you drive.