Good Magazine is out with its list of the 15 most fuel efficient cars on the road. And the most remarkable thing about it? After over 100 years of US automotive engineering since the 1908 Model T, things haven't gotten that much better.

A couple of years ago we wrote about the fact that the terribly inefficient Model T in 1908 got 21 miles a gallon while then-current industry-wide statistics show average fuel economy for a new car was 17.2 mpg and in 1979 it was 16 mpg. And a couple of years before that we also wrote about how gas mileage in 2005 was the same as 1982. And the 2009 mpg average? The EPA reports it to be just a lousy 21.1 miles per gallon.

While average miles per gallon on the most fuel efficient vehicles on the Good Magazine list are far more than the average car on US roads, when you look at the numbers, there have to be some real gas hogs out there for the overall average to be pulled down to 21.1 mpg.

Here's the Good Magazine list:
15. The Hyundai Elantra Blue (manual)Miles per gallon: 26 city, 35 highwayManufacturer's Suggested Retail Price: $14,145
14. Mini Cooper (manual)MPG: 28 city, 37 highwayMSRP: $19,500
13. Toyota Yaris (manual)MPG: 29 city, 36 highwayMSRP: $12,905
12. Volkswagen Jetta TDI (manual)MPG: 30 city, 41 highwayMSRP: $22,830
12. Volkswagen Golf TDI (manual)MPG: 30 city, 41 highwayMSRP: $22,354 for Golf
10. Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI (automatic)MPG: 30 city, 42 highwayMSRP: $24,615
9. Audi A3 (automatic)MPG: 30 city, 42 highwayMSRP: $27,270
8. Smart For-Two Coupe or Convertible (both automatic)MPG: 33 city, 41 highwayMSRP: $11,990
7. Ford Escape (and Mazda Tribute) Hybrid (both automatic, and both SUVs!)MPG: 34 city, 31 highwayMSRP: $29,175
6. Nissan Altima Hybrid (automatic)MPG: 35 city, 34 highwayMSRP: $26,650
5. 2010 Lexus HS 250h (automatic)MPG: 35 city, 34 highwayMSRP: $34,650
4. Honda Insight Hybrid (automatic)MPG: 40 city, 43 highwayMSRP: $19,800
3. Honda Civic Hybrid (automatic)MPG: 40 city, 45 highwayMSRP: $23,800
2. Ford Fusion (and Mercury Milan) Hybrid (automatic)MPG: 41 city, 36 highwayMSRP: $27,950
1. Toyota Prius (automatic)MPG: 51 city, 48 highwayMSRP: $22,800

Read more: http://www.good.is/post/the-15-most-fuel-efficient-cars-for-2010/#ixzz0hG4k0uW9

Of course, that Prius may be the recalled one with brakes that don't work when you first hit them, giving you that extra thrill of terror while you get those really good mpg's.

The reason the overall average mpg for US cars being so low is that there are an awful lot of fuel inefficient vehicles on the road and very fuel efficient ones. I guess that clunker program didn't work so good after all.

What is going on? Motor vehicles are built better, more luxuries, a/c is everywhere, computers are stuck in practically every corner of a new car or truck and the miles per gallon? It's the same now as it was 23 years ago. What is going on?

The EPA documented the "no change" numbers in a report called "Light Duty Automotive Technology and Fuel Economy Trends 1975 through 2006." The result? Practically everything about motor vehicles has been improved by technology except for one thing --- miles per gallon.

Mileage was dramatically improved from 1975 to 1980 (recall the Arab oil embargo?), slowed down in the 1980's, actually decreased in the 1990's, and has been pretty much the same ever since. In 1982 it was 21 mpg. Same thing in 2005. What's going on?

The high point on the scale was back in 1987, according to an article in the Washington Post.

Engine technology has improved dramatically, but it apparently had no effect on miles per gallon. The reason? Some say it's the increased weight of motor vehicles. After all, when mpg was going up between 1975 and 1980, average vehicle weight was going down. Others say the engine advances were aimed at juicing up speed so that the "0 to 60" accelleration time would dramatically drop (which it has).

Okay, so the thrill of that big engine roar is directly related to lousy gas mileage. Shock, shock. The simple fact is that if you want better gas mileage, the first step is don't buy a big vehicle with a huge engine. We buy cars that give poor mpg because that's what Detroit (and the imports) build and sell us. If they built a good looking car that got good looking mileage numbers, most people would probably buy it.

Still you have to wonder if there isn't some correlation between the CAFE mileage standards mandated by Congress and the oil companies political donations (nearly half a billion dollars in 6 years, with 73% going to Republican coffers while nearly 900 US fuel subsidiaries are located in foreign-based tax havens with Congress' blessings).

Robin Williams was right ... "politicians are like diapers ... they need to be changed regularly, and for the same reason."