Who Else Wants the Most Fuel-Efficient Car on the Road Today?

Guess which top-selling car on the road today gets you 48 mpg in the city and 45 mpg on the highway? Hint: It’s a hybrid.

The Toyota Prius wins top honors as best-selling hybrid and most fuel-efficient. If you already drive a Prius, you have my congratulations. I long for the day I can zoom around town in a hybrid car, but until they make one large enough for my family of five to comfortably fit in, I’ll have to keep driving my gas-guzzling minivan (by the way, for anyone who’s waiting for the hybrid minivan to hit the market, there’s whispers on the horizon that one is coming, but which maker will be first?).

In these days, fuel-efficiency is a priority. Car dealers report people trading in their SUVs for smaller cars that are better on gas mileage. Who can blame them? Although summer’s peak driving season is over – and gas prices have “mysteriously” dropped now that kids and their parents aren’t traveling to vacation destinations as much – many of us still have to drive.

If you’re in the car-buying market, which cars should you look to for the best fuel-efficiency?

• Honda Civic Hybrid
• Toyota Corolla
• Nissan Versa
• Honda Accord
• Honda Fit station wagon
• Volkswagen Passat wagon

If you look at the rankings by the EPA, you can see just how much hybrids outperform gas-only cars in mileage.

But what about the wait? I often hear that people wanting new hybrids have a four-to-six month wait ahead of them, so if you’re impatient by nature, you may have a hard time with this. Still, it gives you plenty of time to say goodbye to your current car, which, even if you love it, must not be perfect if you’re even thinking of going the hybrid route.

With hybrids only becoming more popular, I wonder what the status car will be for this generation? Maybe not a Porsche, but a Prius.