Seven years after its North American debut and rapid rise to the top of the subcompact class, the Honda Fit has a new title — most fuel efficient vehicle in the United States.
Reclassified in 2011 to the compact classification, the 2013 Fit EV will soon be marketed with its recently announced EPA rating of 118 MPGe. It's the highest number ever awarded by the EPA. The 2012 gas-powered Fit has mpg averages of 27 in the city and 33 on the highway.
The gas powered Fit, promoted as "Small is the New Big," has received numerous accolades. Some car industry writers described the car's spacious interior as wagon-like and recommended the car without reservation despite its high price.
The current highest mileage cars include the Mitsubishi i-MEV (1112 MPGe), Ford Focus Electric (105 MPGe) and Nissan Leaf (99 MPGe).
The Fit EV, according to Honda, consumes 29 kWh of electricity per 100 miles driven, which will cost the average driver about $500 per year.
The EPA’s MPGe rating is determined based on the energy present in a gallon of gasoline and converting it from BTUs to kWh — which comes out to 33.7 kWh of electricity. Otherwise, the simulated highway and city driving dynamometer tests required by the EPA are the same for EVs and cars that run on gasoline or diesel.
In addition to its miserliness, the Fit EV’s 20 kWh lithium-ion battery pack also gives it a total range of 82 miles, according to the EPA’s combined city and highway test cycle. That’s nine more miles than the Leaf and 20 more miles than the i-MiEV.
Article Last Updated: June 8, 2012.
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A sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004.
In addition to founding this site in 2004, James writes a Sunday automotive column for The San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., and monthly auto review and wellness columns for Gulfshore Business, a magazine in Southwest Florida.
An author and contributor to many newspapers, magazines and online publications, co-hosted The Weekly Driver Podcast from 2017 to 2024.
