Best MPG SUVs of 2023

By the US Vehicle Safety Data Editorial Team
Last updated: October 2026

These tables are computed from the complete EPA FuelEconomy.gov dataset — every configuration rated for the 2023 model year — not just from our tracked model-years. Within each class, vehicles are ranked by the combined fuel-economy rating of their most efficient configuration. Electric vehicles are rated in MPGe and appear in the same tables where the EPA classifies them.

Small Sport Utility Vehicle 2WD

Small Sport Utility Vehicle 4WD

Standard Sport Utility Vehicle 2WD

Standard Sport Utility Vehicle 4WD

Class definitions are the EPA's own size classes, based on interior volume for cars and body type for trucks and SUVs. A vehicle's most efficient configuration is often a hybrid or a smaller engine option; the same model with a larger engine can rate far lower, which is why our model-year pages show the full configuration range rather than a single figure.

Small Sport Utility Vehicle 2WD — the 2021 leaders, for comparison

Small Sport Utility Vehicle 2WD

Two model years apart, the class ceiling moved from 129 to 120 combined MPG at the top of the table — progress at the frontier is incremental, a point or two of MPG per redesign cycle, and it comes mostly from hybridisation of mainstream models rather than from any single breakthrough model. The depth of each table matters more than its winner: in the stronger classes, ten or more distinct models now sit within a few MPG of the leader, so a buyer no longer has to choose between efficiency and the vehicle they actually want.