Top 10 Most Fuel-Efficient Wagons and Hatchbacks for 2012

Hatchbacks are the go-to segment for car shoppers seeking choices with the most budget-friendly fuel economy. These days, the range of thrifty hatchbacks and wagons is more diverse than ever. It includes hybrids, electric cars and plug-in hybrids, in addition to good, old-fashioned gas-only models.

The 10 hatchbacks and wagons listed below are the most frugal models on the market. Our rankings were determined using the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) miles-per-gallon ratings for city and highway travel. We used the EPA's combined fuel economy formula: 55 percent of city mpg rating plus 45 percent of highway mpg rating. The rating for each vehicle below is expressed in mpg as a city/highway/combined ratio.

The top three cars on our list (the Mitsubishi i-Miev, Ford Focus Electric and Nissan Leaf) are electric cars, and the model in 4th place (Chevrolet Volt) is a plug-in hybrid. The ratios shown for these models reflect the EPA's "mpg equivalent" figures, which assume that 33.7 kilowatt-hours of electricity is equivalent to one gallon of gasoline energy.

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   1. Mitsubishi i-MiEV — 126/99/112