If a hybrid is a bit out of your league, you can still save lots of gas...

[Matsubara]

Toyota Yaris
34 mpg city / 40 mpg highway


Honda Fit
31 mpg city / 38 mpg highway


Toyota Corolla
32 mpg city / 41 mpg highway


Or if you're broke like me, you could consider some of the even MORE fuel-efficient cars from past years:



Geo Metro

Better than 50 mpg highway

(I used to drive the earlier incarnation of this one, the 1987 Chevy Sprint. It was an AWESOME fun little car with plenty of cargo space.



ALL of these cars are standard combustion engine vehicles.

If the industry wanted to, and more buyers gave a damn, they could put tons of cars getting better than 45 mpg on the road and make a HUGE difference, and without all the problems associated with huge, toxic battery packs.

That's not to say I'm anti-hybrid, but aside from the price tag, the hybrids do have drawbacks, and these cars are excellent options for people on a budget who would still like to reduce their fuel consumption.