ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A new study puts Rochester near the top of a listing of cities with the most fuel-efficient cars. We rank 18th out of 157 metro areas.
Just over 6% of the cars on Rochester roads are electric or hybrids, which is on par with the national average. But analysis by iSeeCars.com indicates that from 2019 to 2024, fuel efficiency increased from just over 24 miles per gallon to more than 28, an improvement of almost 15%. Nationally, the improvement is only 11%.
“It looks like Rochester is keeping pace with the national level of kind of green car adoption, if you want to say that, the hybrid and electric vehicle marketshare in Rochester, but they’re also buying smaller sedans and cars with smaller engines and more turbo charged engines. So we’re getting an across the board fuel efficiency improvement in Rochester and they’re beating the national average in fuel efficiency improvement as a result,” said Karl Brauer an executive analyst with iSeeCars.
Of those of us who buy electric and hybrids, here are the most popular:
- Toyota Sienna (hybrid)
- Toyota Prius Prime (hybrid)
- Toyota RAV4 Hybrid
- Tesla Model 3
- Chevy Bolt (almost 12% of the electric-hybrid market in Rochester)
“The Chevrolet Bolt continues to be a really strong value in electric vehicles. The transaction price you’re paying for them in the used market versus the range they offer, I mean they’ll give you give or take a 250 mile range. You can get them for below $20,000,” said Karl Brauer of iSeeCars.
Anything on that list surprise you? It doesn’t surprise our Deanna Dewberry on the hybrid side to see so many Toyotas. That’s where they’ve really put a lot of energy. We’ve seen a lot of electric vehicle development and launching by other brands. But Toyota they put their money on the hybrid horse instead of the EV horse a few years ago and it’s paying off.
Nationally, the average miles per gallon of one to five-year-old cars is 27.5. So if you’re in the hunt for another car, you should aim for an MPG of at least that.
Both iSeeCars and Consumer Reports have published rankings of the best used cars on the market.
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