Best gas mileage SUVs for 2022 – Hybrids and gas engines

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.

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

32 mpg combined

31 mpg combined

30 mpg combined

29 mpg combined

28 mpg combined

27 mpg combined

26 mpg combined

25 mpg combined

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