Maybe you’re not ready for a vehicle with a plug, but still want to get the best gas mileage possible from your SUV or crossover. That means you’re looking at a traditional internal combustion vehicle or a standard hybrid. Generally speaking, all other things being equal, a hybrid will be more efficient than a car without an electric motor and battery that can be charged by the engine and regenerative braking. Of course, some smaller, lighter, more aerodynamic gas-only vehicles will be more efficient than a big, heavy hybrid. For instance, something like the Chevy Trailblazer gets better fuel economy than a Ford Explorer hybrid.
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Here, we’re compiling the most efficient SUVs that don’t have a plug, including crossovers which are SUVs that use car-like unibody construction rather than a truck-like body-on-frame. They are ranked based on fuel economy figures from the United Stated Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Let’s start with the hybrids. We list the available models in order of their combined fuel economy in miles per gallon, which is generally a good indication of what you can expect in real-world driving. We’re also including their city and highway ratings in parentheses.
Most-efficient hybrid SUVs and crossovers
- Kia Niro: 50 mpg (53 city / 48 highway)
- Kia Sportage Hybrid: 43 mpg (42 city / 44 highway)
- Lexus UX 250h: 42 mpg (43 city / 41 highway)
- Ford Escape Hybrid: 41 mpg (44 city / 37 highway)
- Toyota RAV4 Hybrid: 40 mpg (41 city / 38 highway)
- Lexus NX 350h: 39 mpg (41 city / 37 highway)
- Toyota Venza: 39 mpg (40 city / 37 highway)
- Honda CR-V Hybrid: 38 mpg (40 city / 35 highway)
- Hyundai Tucson Hybrid: 38 mpg (38 city / 38 highway)
- Kia Sorento Hybrid: 37 mpg (39 city / 35 highway)
- Toyota Highlander Hybrid: 36 mpg (36 city / 35 highway)
- Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid: 34 mpg (36 city / 31 highway)
- Lexus RX 450h: 30 mpg (31 city / 28 highway)
- Ford Explorer Hybrid: 27 mpg (27 city / 28 highway)
Most-efficient internal combustion SUVs and crossovers
Non-hybrid, gas-only (well, the diesel-powered Wrangler made the list) vehicles can still be relatively efficient. Here, using 25 mpg as the cutoff, we list the traditional internal-combustion utes by their combined fuel economy, with their city and highway mpg ratings in parentheses.
33 mpg combined
- Nissan Kicks: 31 city / 36 highway
- Nissan Rogue: 30 city / 37 highway
32 mpg combined
- Hyundai Kona: 30 city / 35 highway
- Toyota Corolla Cross: 31 city / 33 highway
31 mpg combined
- Chevrolet Trailblazer: 29 city / 33 highway
- Kia Seltos: 29 city / 35 highway
- Volkswagen Taos: 28 city / 36 highway
30 mpg combined
- Buick Encore: 29 city / 32 highway
- Ford Escape: 28 city / 34 highway
- Honda CR-V: 28 city / 34 highway
- Honda HR-V: 28 city / 34 highway
- Kia Soul: 28 city / 33 highway
- Subaru Crosstrek: 28 city / 33 highway
- Toyota RAV4: 27 city / 35 highway
29 mpg combined
- Hyundai Tucson: 26 city / 33 highway
- Subaru Forester: 26 city / 33 highway
- Subaru Outback: 26 city / 33 highway
- Toyota C-HR: 27 city / 31 highway
28 mpg combined
- Chevrolet Equinox: 26 city / 31 highway
- Lexus NX: 26 city / 33 highway
- Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class: 24 city / 34 highway
- Nissan Rogue Sport: 25 city / 32 highway
27 mpg combined
- BMW X1: 24 city / 33 highway
- BMW X2: 24 city / 32 highway
- Chevrolet Trax: 24 city / 32 highway
- GMC Terrain: 25 city / 30 highway
- Jeep Renegade: 24 city / 32 highway
- Mercedes Benz GLB-Class: 24 city / 32 highway
- Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross: 26 city / 29 highway
- Mitsubishi Outlander: 24 city / 31 highway
- Mitsubishi Outlander Sport: 24 city / 30 highway
26 mpg combined
- Audi Q3: 23 city / 30 highway
- Buick Envision: 24 city / 31 highway
- Cadillac XT4: 24 city / 30 highway
- Ford Bronco Sport: 25 city / 28 highway
- Fiat 500X: 24 city / 30 highway
- Hyundai Santa Fe: 25 city / 28 highway
- Infiniti QX50: 23 city / 29 highway
- Jeep Cherokee: 23 city / 31 highway
- Kia Sorento: 24 city / 29 highway
- Kia Sportage: 23 city / 30 highway
- Mazda CX-30: 24 city / 31 highway
- Mazda CX-5: 24 city / 30 highway
- Volkswagen Tiguan: 23 city / 30 highway
- Volvo XC40: 23 city / 32 highway
- Volvo XC60: 23 city / 30 highway
25 mpg combined
- Alfa Romeo Stelvio: 22 city / 29 highway
- Audi Q5: 23 city / 29 highway
- BMW X3: 23 city / 29 highway
- Chevrolet Blazer: 22 city / 29 highway
- GMC Acadia: 22 city / 29 highway
- Infiniti QX55: 22 city / 28 highway
- Jeep Compass: 22 city / 31 highway
- Jeep Wrangler EcoDiesel: 22 city / 29 highway
- Lincoln Corsair: 22 city / 29 highway
- Volvo XC90: 21 city / 30 highway
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