5. Smart ForTwo
Available for a few years now in Europe, these itty-bitty cars went on sale in America earlier this year. Here, Smart Cars went from being looked down upon (from Humvee heights) to being looked at in curious awe. Chances are yours isn't going to get stolen because everyone in the neighborhood will be staring at it. Ideal for gridlocked city-dwellers and cash-strapped college students, this pint-sized vehicle starts around $12,000. It has a combined 36 MPG rating for 2008 models.
4. Honda Civic Hybrid
The non-hybrid version of the Civic replaced quite a few Yuppie-driven Volvos, so it's no surprise that the hybrid comes in high on the list. With 42 combined city and highway miles per gallon and a $23,000-range price tag, it regularly tops "small affordable car" lists.
3. Toyota Prius
It's sort of strange to see the Prius in the third slot, but this is perhaps the best known hybrid, as in "Prius Progressives." But it's not just the tree-huggers going for this popular ride, former CIA chief James Woolsey told Motor Trend, "I have a bumper sticker on the back of my Prius that reads, 'Bin Laden hates this car.'" As he would: The 2008 hybrid gets 46 combined city and highway miles per gallon and costs around $24,000. Congrats Toyota -- you dominated this list. Now please hurry up and produce an amazing plug-in hybrid.
2. Honda FCX Clarity
Just last month, Japan's third biggest automaker announced it was ready to lease a few dozen
units of its latest hydrogen-electric vehicle. The company claims that the car is two times more energy efficient than a gas-electric hybrid. With a combined city and highway estimate of 72 miles per gallon, it sounds pretty tantalizing. But adoption of these cars will depend on overcoming several obstacles, among them development costs and infrastructure -- hydrogen-electric cars require hydrogen fueling stations and so far these are few and far between. If you're ready to go down that road, though, you can lease one for around $600 per month.
1. Tesla Roadster
If money is no object, Tesla's electric Roadster is one sexy and efficient car. The sports car goes zero to 60 miles-per-hour in under four seconds, but costs nearly $100,000. Cha-ching! However, the 2007 model has an EPA rating of 135 miles per gallon equivalent and the 2008s in production are rated 256 MPG. That's some serious gas savings.
