Chevrolet Spark EV tops EPA's fuel-economy rankings for 2014

The 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV has been named the most fuel-efficient vehicle by the EPA and the Department of Energy in a new ranking for 2014. The Spark EV returns a combined 119 mpg equivalent, achieving 128 mpg in the city and 109 mpg on the highway. Chevrolet's pure-electric hatch displaced last year's chart topper, the Scion 2013 iQ EV, with its 121 mpg equivalent rating, but the Scion is not offered for the 2014 model year, so it didn't make the list for the U.S. market.

The runner-up was the 2014 Honda Fit EV, which returned 132 mpge in the city and 105 mpge on the highway, for a combined rating of 118 mpge -- just one mile per gallon shy of the Spark EV. The 2014 Fiat 500e was a very close third on the list, offering fuel-efficiency figures of 122 mpge in the city and 108 mpge on the highway, for a combined rating of 116 mpge. Further on down the line, the 2014 Smart fortwo EV cabrio and coupe shared the fourth and fifth spots, with identical combined figures of 107 mpge.

U.S. Department of Energy
A bit of a shakeup for this year as some models have departed and others are coming back for 2014.

We liked our 2014 Spark EV press fleet car, despite the hard plastics on the inside and the smaller-in-real-life exterior.The amount of electric torque on tap in the EV model even managed to make it more fun to drive than the gasoline model, and the regenerative brakes were far less fussy than in some other cars, but the steering was a bit too squirmy when coupled with the standard low rolling-resistance tires. In the price category, the Spark EV will barely lose out to the just-announced 2014 Mitsubishi i-MiEV, which is coming back for the 2014 model year with a gargantuan price cut. The i-MiEV boasted 112 mpge for the 2012 model year, when it was last available on our shores. But with a sticker of $27,820 for 2014, the Spark EV is still a good bet when it comes to pure-electrics, especially when combined with federal and state EV tax credits.

By Jay Ramey