These Are The 2025 Hybrid Cars The EPA Says Are The Most Fuel-Efficient

As full-electric vehicle sales have dipped this year, new-car buyers are instead going all in on hybrids and it’s easy to see why. The best of them deliver peppy performance and stellar fuel economy that translates into low operating costs, with their operating range limited only by the amount of gas in the tank. Nearly ubiquitous gas stations all but prevent the so-called range anxiety that plagues many electric-car owners who can find themselves searching for a working and unoccupied public charging station when their vehicles’ batteries are becoming depleted.

For those still on the outside looking in, here’s how a hybrid gas/electric-powered vehicle works:

Hybrids use a conventional gasoline engine as the primary source of power, with one or more electric motors augmenting the it as needed to maximize acceleration and/or fuel economy. A hybrid’s battery pack is self-charging, recovering energy that would otherwise be lost via braking and decelerating by a process called regenerative braking, which means it never has to be plugged in. What’s more, like many new cars and trucks these days, a hybrid automatically powers down the engine at idle – when a car essentially gets zero miles per gallon – to further preserve fuel.

Unlike conventionally-powered vehicles that generally register the best fuel economy on the highway, hybrids typically get more miles per gallon in city driving, where the electric motor does most of the heavy lifting, aided by the auto stop-start function.

While most hybrid cars, trucks and SUVs still carry price premiums over standard-powered models, that gap has been shrinking steadily, with some mainstream models now at comparative levels. For example, the standard Toyota Corolla starts at $22,175, while the hybrid variant starts at $23,625, which is a markup of just $1,450.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says owning one of the top-rated hybrids in the list below would save a motorist between $3,000 and $4,250 in fuel costs over a five-year period, compared to the average new vehicle (which to be fair includes a fair number of thirsty large trucks and SUVs that help skew the numbers somewhat). Motorists living in parts of the country that suffer higher fuel costs (like California) can realize even greater savings at the pump by driving a hybrid.

There are also a number of plug-in hybrids on the market with larger battery packs that enable them to operate for varying periods solely on electric power, as a bridge between standard hybrids and full-electric cars. Unfortunately they’re considerably costlier and require being tethered to the power grid nightly to achieve their full potential.

Ratings for all vehicle types from the current and past model years, with customizable fuel cost estimates, can be found on the EPA’s website, fueleconomy.gov.

Highest-Mileage Hybrids For 2025

These are the most fuel-efficient hybrid cars and crossover SUVs for 2025, according to the EPA’s ratings. City/highway mileage estimates are noted, along with each model’s annual fuel costs,, based on current average gas prices and assuming 15,000 miles driven annually in a combination of city/highway operation, with gas at $3.05 per gallon.

1. Toyota Prius: 57/56 mpg; annual fuel cost $800
2. Hyundai Elantra Hybrid: 51/58 mpg; annual fuel cost $850
3. Kia Niro: 53/54 mpg; annual fuel cost $850
4. Toyota Camry Hybrid: 53/50 mpg; annual fuel cost $850
5. Toyota Corolla Hybrid: 53/46 mpg; annual fuel cost $900
6. Hyundai Elantra Hybrid: 49/52 mpg; annual fuel cost $900
7. Honda Civic Hybrid: 50/47 mpg; annual fuel cost $950
8. Honda Accord Hybrid: 51/44 mpg; annual fuel cost $950
9. Hyundai Sonata Hybrid: 44/51 mpg; annual fuel cost $950
10. Lexus ES 300h: 43/44 mpg; annual fuel cost $1,050
11. Lexus UX 300h: 45/41 mpg; annual fuel cost $1,050
12. Kia Sportage Hybrid: 42/44 mpg; annual fuel cost $1,050

Source: EPA.