Gas shortages mean different thing to different people in the automotive industry. In the instance of Hurricane Sandy, great gas mileage didn’t matter much since there was a limited supply of fuel available. A full tank of gas in a car or trunk with a big tank and decent mileage, of course, meant a lot more.
Correspondingly, hybrid and electric vehicles are keen when gas is in short supply. But what if electricity isn’t available? That was another predicament during Hurricane Sandy and in the following week’s aftermath.
More relevant in times of need, therefore, how far the gas you have will take you. In other words, the range of a tank full of gas takes priority.
The Smart ForTwo and Toyota Prius C respectively have good mpg, but both have small gas tanks — less than 10-gallon capacity and therefore about 350-400 miles per tank.
The Volkswagen Passat TDI SE is a different story. It has a range of 690 miles, the best in the U.S. auto industry, according to Consumer Reports.
Considering just total range, here the top-10 total range cars (and truck) factoring the combination gas mileage and tank size.
MAKE/MODEL/OVERALL MPG/TANK SIZE/CRUISING RANGE Volkswagen Passat TDI SE, 50,18.5, 690 Toyota Camry Hybrid XLE, 38, 17.0, 650 Chevrolet Volt, 99 MPGe (electric)/32 mpg (gas), 9.3, 325 Hyundai Sonata hybrid, 33, 17.2, 560 Nissan Altima (4-cyl.), 31,18.0,560 Ford F-250 (6.7, turbodiesel), 16, 35.0, 560 Ford F-150 (V8), 15, 36.0, 555 Volkswagen Golf TDI, 38, 14.5, 545 Mercedes-Benz E350 BlueTec, 26, 21.1, 540 Volkswagen Touareg TDI, 24, 22.4, 540
To read the complete article, visit: Consumer Reports/Fuel Range
Article Last Updated: May 2, 2026.
James Raia
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.