The Highest Gas Mileage Cars Available

Evaluating fuel efficiency is an extremely smart thing to do when considering the lease or purchase of a car. Dealerships and auto salesmen will sell you on all the wonderful interior and exterior features of one car over the next. However, if you aren't factoring the miles per gallon into the purchase or lease equation, you could be throwing hundreds of dollars out the window each year.

Toyota Prius

The U.S. Department of Energy in its "2010 Fuel Economy Guide," gives the Toyota Prius the highest fuel efficiency rating of any car with 48 mpg on the highway and 51 mpg in the city. This is a full hybrid electric motor vehicle manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation. "U.S. News and World Report's" Rankings & Reviews ranks the 2010 Toyota Prius 4 out of 21 in the Affordable Midsize Cars category. It is also noted as having one of the smallest carbon footprints in its class and comes with seven airbags.

Honda Civic Hybrid

In the compact cars category, the Honda Civic Hybrid received a 45 mpg highway rating and a 40 mpg city rating in the U.S. Department of Energy's "2010 Fuel Economy Guide." It ranks 10 out of 32 on "U.S. News and World Report's" Rankings and Review's list of Affordable Small Cars. Features such as heated seats, leather and a voice recognition navigation system are available depending on the year and model. The 2010 model comes with four airbags.

Volkswagen Jetta and Volkswagen Golf

With an estimated 41 mpg on the highway and 30 mpg in the city, the Volkswagen Jetta and Volkswagen Golf with TDI Clean Diesel engines both rank right behind the Honda Civic Hybrid in fuel efficiency. The Volkswagen Jetta ranks 11 out of 32 in the Affordable Small Cars category, according to "U.S. News and World Report's Rankings and Reviews, and the Volkswagen Golf ranks 5 out of 32 in the same category. Apart from being high-torque vehicles, the Jetta and Golf models with a TDI Clean Diesel engine also reduce sooty emissions by up to 95 percent.

Hyundai Elantra Blue

The Hyundai Elantra Blue falls right behind the Toyota Prius in the most efficient midsized vehicle category with a 35 mpg highway rating and a 26 mpg city rating. The Elantra Blue also meets demanding Ultra-Low-Emission vehicle standards, and some models even meet the Partial Zero Emission Vehicle standard, putting it in the same emissions category as the Toyota Prius. The 2010 Elantra Blue comes with six airbags: two advanced airbags in the front, two side-impact airbags mounted to the front seat and two side-curtain airbags.