Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) & The 10 Most Fuel Efficient Cars on the Road

One of the leaders in the niche of electric vehicles is Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), that’s no secret. Fuel efficient cars have become a major economic force to be reckoned with nowadays, partially as a result the world’s growing concern about air pollution combined with relatively high prices on fuel.

We talked about Elon Musk’s company quite a bit yesterday, and noted that it is partnering with Downtown Project for a project aptly called “Project 100,” where in Las Vegas, the “official roll out will bring together the ultimate in collaborative consumption: 100+ on-demand drivers, 100+ shared cars, 100+ shared bikes, and 100+ shared shuttle bus stops — all under one single monthly membership.”

But what cars are more efficient than those that do not need gasoline at all?

Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) became popular for being the first company to introduce a fully electric sports car, Tesla Roadster. However, a very important part of its business is manufacturing electric powertrain components. For example, recently, Mercedes-Benz introduced the Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric drive, a fully electric car which is powered by a drivetrain produced by Tesla.

But Let’s try to look deeper inside an electric vehicle and try to figure out how it works.

Basically, an electric car–let’s take one produced by Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) as an example–is the same as a regular car with a internal combustion engine, but it generates power to move forward from an electric engine (or in some cases several engines) that is powered by rechargeable batteries. It has many advantages like no tailpipe emissions, and energy efficiency (EVs convert about 60% of energy to power the wheels, while other cars convert only about 17%-21%).

However, having a car that is powered only by batteries is a bit challenging because they are usually capable to move the car for about 100-200 miles, and charging, even though it can be done in your own house, requires at least 4 hours.

Even though the aforementioned Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) produces great electric vehicles, we should not forget about other big automobile manufacturers who have also launched several models of electric cars. Consequently, we would like to present a top ten most fuel efficient cars based on the rating by fueleconomy.org, and yes, Tesla is on it not once but twice.

SEE THE FULL LIST —>

No.10 2013 Toyota RAV4 EV

No.9 2013 Tesla Model S (85 kW-hr battery pack)

No.8 2013 Tesla Model S (60 kW-hr battery pack)

No.7 2013 Ford Focus Electric

No.5(tie) smart fortwo EV coupe

No.5(tie) 2013 smart fortwo EV cabriolet

No.4 2013 Mitsubishi i-MiEV

No.3 2013 Fiat 500e

No.2 2013 Honda Fit EV

No.1 2013 Scion iQ EV