On an ongoing basis, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calculates the fuel economy of every single vehicle sold in America, determining fuel economy for both city and highway driving. These numbers play a critical role in helping consumers determine which cars deliver the best fuel economy, something just about every driver is concerned about today.

For families with college students, particularly those whose sons and daughters must have access to a car while commuting to school or living on or near campus, choosing the best vehicle for the money is important to them. Most families settle on a quality, late model used car, but for some choosing a cost and fuel efficient new car is the best choice. With excellent cash back deals and low rate financing, opting for a new car now could be the way to go.

High MPG Cars For Every Family

For the 2009 model year, the EPA has published its list of the ten most fuel efficient passenger vehicles on the market. Five models are hybrids (gas-electric), three are gas powered, while two run exclusively on diesel fuel. As you might guess, the cars with the lowest sticker price are the gas models with diesel offerings starting in the low 20s. Finding a hybrid for less than $22,000 is difficult to do, with some models topping $30,000.

The following is the EPA list of the Top 10 most fuel efficient cars in America:

1. Toyota Prius (hybrid) — 48/45

2. Honda Civic Hybrid — 40/45

3. Nissan Altima Hybrid — 35/33

4. Ford Escape Hybrid FWD; Mazda Tribute Hybrid 2WD; Mercury Mariner Hybrid FWD — 34/31

5. Smart ForTwo convertible; Smart ForTwo coupe — 33/41

6. Toyota Camry Hybrid — 33/34

7. Volkswagen Jetta (manual, diesel); Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen (manual, diesel) — 30/41

8. Volkswagen Jetta (automatic, diesel); Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen (automatic, diesel) — 29/40

9. Toyota Yaris (manual) — 29/36

10. Toyota Yaris (automatic) – 29/35

The two passenger Smart ForTwo is the price leader, with a base sticker price of $11,590. A close second is the Toyota Yaris (manual) with a base price of $12,205.

Wait For The 2010 Honda Insight?

Families searching for an attractively priced hybrid model may want to wait until Spring 2009 when the Honda Insight returns after a three year absence. That car is expected to retail for about $18,500 with highway fuel economy approaching 60 mpg. Clearly, the Insight may end up being the most attractive car on the road when price and fuel economy are considered.

If you plan on shopping for a car for your student, compare prices as some of the best incentives in years are now being offered. In addition, some manufacturers offer an additional student discount of $300 to $500 on top of already great savings, making the purchase of a new car something families should weigh if looking for dependable transportation for their sons and daughters.

(Source: Environmental Protection Agency)

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Tags: Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, Honda Civic, Honda Insight, Smart Fortwo, Toyota Camry, Toyota Prius, Toyota Yaris, Volkswagen Jetta

The technology isn’t there yet, but in the next year or two the car that Mom and Dad plans to lend to you while you’re away at college may soon be rated PG — for Parental Guidance, that is. Thanks to a technological feature developed by the Ford Motor Company, all 2010 Ford Focus coupe models will feature MyKey, an innovative offering that will allow parents to control some of the features on the car.

Yes, the ultimate in nannyware is on its way as the technology will allow your parents to look over your shoulder even when you’re hundreds of miles away from home, at least figuratively. Specifically, MyKey will allow parents to limit your speed to 80 mph and control the volume on the car’s audio system in addition to providing other constraints that parents will love.

In addition, warnings to remind you to buckle up your seatbelt and to check your gas gauge are some of the other features planned for MyKey.  Yes, all of the little reminders you heard from your parents when they rode around with you while you learned to drive and more!

“Ford not only offers industry-leading crash protection and crash avoidance systems, we also are committed to developing new technologies such as MyKey that encourage safer driving behavior,” said Susan Cischke, Ford group vice president of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering. “MyKey can help promote safer driving, particularly among teens, by encouraging seat belt use, limiting speed and reducing distractions.”

Ford developed MyKey as a response to surveys from parents who were asked about which feature they would like to see implemented with the system. A full three-quarters of parents liked the speed limiting feature, while 72% like the safety belt reminder which emits chimes for six seconds every minute for the first five minutes of driving. Of course, when young drivers were surveyed, Ford learned that 67% of them don’t like the feature, but that number drops to 36% if it also means that leads to greater driving privileges from parents.

“We’ve upgraded an existing, proven technology – the SecuriLock passive anti-theft system – with some simple software upgrades to develop a new unique feature that we believe will resonate with customers,” said Jim Buczkowski, director, Electrical and Electronic Systems Engineering – the same team that developed SYNC in partnership with Microsoft.  ”We also developed MyKey’s functions in such a way to quickly spread it across multiple vehicle lines, giving us the ability to go mass market in the spirit of other Ford innovations such as safety belts, stability control and SYNC.”

Lest you think that your car won’t be effected by this technology, Ford promises to quickly expand MyKey across its entire line of Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles. And, where technology is embraced by one automaker and accepted by the driving public, you can expect that similar technology will be sold by other automakers soon thereafter.

MyKey may take some of the joy out of driving, but if it keeps young drivers safe and parents at peace, then you can expect that your parents will opt for this feature as well.

(Source: Ford Motor Company)

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Tags: Ford, Ford Focus, Lincoln, Mercury, MyKey, parental controls, parental guidance, PG