When considering gas mileage, vehicles are spread all across the board. Some go extremely far on a tank of gas; Others crawl a few thousand feet. A single good gas mileage number for all vehicles can’t be determined, however, because all automobiles serve different purposes. Cars, trucks, and SUVs are used for plenty of different things. Not all vehicles have the same capabilities as other types. Obviously, everything the vehicle is used for affects gas mileage, but good fuel economy for each type can be generalized.
Cars
Typically used to transport only one to four people, cars generally get the best gas mileage because they aren’t really meant to haul trailers, off-road, or transport tons of people and weight. 20 to 25 miles per gallon in the city and 30 to 35 miles on the highway are great numbers for a car. Aside from sports cars, most cars do achieve fuel economy numbers similar to or better than this. For instance, the Toyota Prius attains 45 mpg and 50 mpg for the city and highway respectively. A car that runs at less than 20 mpg isn’t very fuel efficient and shouldn’t be considered when looking for a car with good gas mileage.
Trucks
On the more heavy-duty side, trucks are normally meant for hauling trailers and other things, so they built with a ton of horsepower and torque to be capable of towing. Therefore, trucks typically get poorer gas mileage than cars. For small and large trucks alike, anything above 18 mpg on the city and highway is desirable. Older model trucks used to get as low as 7 mpg years ago, but they are much better now. Many smaller trucks – the Ford Ranger, Dodge Dakota, Chevy Colorado, etc – get over 20 mpg. Even a handful of larger trucks have fuel economies over 20 mpg. Anything around 15 mpg or lower for a truck isn’t acceptable, unless it’s an extremely powerful truck that only people with the biggest of towing requirements need.
SUVs
Sport Utility Vehicles are the middleman in comparison to trucks and cars. They are capable of carrying more passengers and items than cars; They can tow a reasonable amount of weight like trucks. Due to these capabilities, SUVs are usually in between cars and trucks with respect to gas mileage. An ideal fuel economy for an SUV would be around 20 – 25 mpg for city and highway combined. Newer SUVs – the Hyundai Santa Fe, Toyota Highlander, Chevy Equinox, etc. – can run 30 mpg or more. However, some SUVs, like the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Dodge Durango, and Chevy Tahoe, all get poor gas mileage under a combined 17 mpg.
In Conclusion
The best vehicles should have certain gas mileage ratings that depend on their vehicle type. Cars should reach over 25 – 30 mpg, trucks over 18 mpg, and SUVs over 20 mpg. Different factors affect each vehicle type, but target fuel economies are general suggestions for good gas mileage.
- What Car Gets the Best Gas Mileage?
- What Truck Gets the Best Gas Mileage?
- What SUV gets the best gas mileage?
- What Car Has The Best Gas Mileage?
- What Cars Get the Best Gas Mileage?
