What is considered good gas mileage for a car?

In general, a good rule of thumb for gasoline mileage today is to make sure you get at least 23 MPG combined city and highway. However, there are all kinds of factors that will affect the mileage you earn and the efficiency of your vehicle. When determining what is good gasoline performance, there are several factors to consider. Look at the type of vehicle, the octane rating of the fuel and the type of fuel.

Hybrid and electric vehicles achieve the best fuel economy, although many gasoline vehicles get more than 30 miles per gallon (mpg). Vehicles that are built on the chassis of a passenger car tend to have better fuel consumption than vehicles built on the chassis of a truck. In the late 20th century, sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and minivans became extremely popular with the American public. However, while many typical cars had ratings of 20 to 25 MPG, SUVs during the same period often had ratings of less than 20 or 15 MPG.

At the beginning of the 21st century, many small cars and SUVs have announced a combined rating of 20 to 25 MPG or higher, with even higher numbers for MPG on the road. When talking about hybrid cars, it is somewhat unfair, because they are designed around the idea of obtaining great gasoline efficiency by being electric and gasoline, where the electric motor is deactivated after a few kilometers and a small gasoline generator is activated. For example, if a car gets “good gas mileage,” then it has a fuel-efficient engine, but if it gets “poor petrol performance,” then its engine isn't enough. For example, if you drove 100 miles with a full tank and filled five gallons of gas, you got 10 mpg.

Hybrid cars also have the advantage of running cleaner or emitting lower carbon emissions than most conventional cars that run on gasoline. A well-maintained car will get higher fuel consumption than the same car model that uses the same octane gasoline, so the owner neglects maintenance, such as oil changes and tire pressure. At the beginning of the 21st century, car mileage on the road ranged from less than 20 MPG to more than 40 MPG. Ultimately, good gasoline performance is relative to the category of vehicles you are examining.

While this is a decent way to get a good idea of your gas mileage, the absolute best way to calculate the type of mileage you're getting is to drive the car a decent amount of miles (100 is a good number) with a full tank and then fill up whatever you've used. In this case, paying a little more at the gas station can result in definitive savings due to increased fuel consumption. Since most of the above vehicles listed are electric, take a look at the best fuel-efficient hybrid or gasoline vehicles. GPM may be more useful in determining the true fuel efficiency of a car relative to other considerations, such as its cost.

When it comes to gasoline mileage, it's important to know how much your vehicle costs you each time you drive. There are many other vehicles that get better mileage than those SUVs, but they probably don't have a capacity of seven or eight people and have ample cargo areas.

Bethany Pesch
Bethany Pesch

Amateur music geek. Lifelong gamer. Incurable music trailblazer. Subtly charming organizer. Extreme internet evangelist.