Australia's most fuel-efficient cars in 2024: Petrol, diesel and hybrid

What are Australia's best cars for good fuel efficiency?

Plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) often steal the spotlight regarding fuel-efficient internal-combustion cars, but other relatively green vehicles are available in Australia today.

While Toyota Australia has retired the pioneering Prius hatchback after 21 years on sale, the 'regular' hybrid powertrain – with no need to plug in – has become an increasingly popular, mainstream choice.

The most popular variants of Australia’s best-selling crossover, the Toyota RAV4 midsize SUV, now feature a hybrid powertrain, while other brands such as Honda, Kia, Hyundai and Lexus also offer petrol-electric options.

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WhichCar has compiled data revealing each non-PHEV vehicle currently available in Australia with a combined fuel efficiency rated at five litres per 100 kilometres or less.

How is fuel consumption measured?

'Litres per 100km' is exactly as stated, relating to the distance you can travel on an amount of fuel. A lower number demonstrates better fuel-efficiency.

For example, a vehicle with a 40-litre fuel tank with a claimed fuel consumption of 5.0L/100km will travel 800 kilometres from full to empty.

However, this is in an ideal situation, as a vehicle's true fuel economy can differ based on various driving conditions and your own approach to driving – including vehicle and occupant weight, acceleration, the weather, air-conditioning, windows up or down, tyre pressures, and the route.

(Then, of course, there's the 'fuel reserve light'...)

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Firstly, which car uses the least fuel of all cars in Australia?

The tiny Toyota Yaris Hybrid, powered by a low-capacity 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine with an electric motor, is currently the champ for using only a little fuel, claimed at just 3.3L/100km. In our most recent testing, we achieved an impressive 4.1L/100km in regular 'daily driver' activity.

The Yaris hybrid is followed by over 40 variants from 10 brands that lightly sip their fuel.

Those include...

Most of the vehicles featured include a hybrid powertrain; however, some pure petrol and diesel internal-combustion vehicles – including the Audi A3, Mazda CX-60 and Volkswagen Caddy – also feature on the interactive graph below.

A more-comprehensive table detailing each vehicle’s engine, transmission, fuel and drive type, variant and combined fuel consumption (L/100km) is available below:

UPDATED: June 2024

Note: Table scrolls horizontally to reveal more columns

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What is good fuel consumption per 100km?

There's no simple answer here, because the fuel efficiency of a vehicle can vary widely depending on a number of factors – including the size and type of the vehicle, the type of fuel it uses, and the way it is driven.

As a general rule, smaller vehicles tend to have lower fuel consumption numbers than larger and less efficient vehicles. Likewise, performance-focused cars will consumer more fuel than 'regular' cars, although many have moved to very small turbocharged engines in a bid to keep fuel consumptions and carbon emissions as low as possible.

As a rough guideline, for petrol-powered vehicles, a fuel consumption of around 6-8 L/100km could be considered good for a small or medium passenger car, while a fuel consumption of around 9-11 L/100km could be considered good for a larger vehicle such as a large SUV. However, these numbers can vary depending on the specific make and model of the vehicle.

Want to read our reviews of the cars above? See the links below

• Audi A3
• Audi A4
• Audi Q5
• Fiat 500
• Honda Accord
• Honda Civic
• Honda HR-V
• Honda ZR-V
• Hyundai i30 Sedan
• Hyundai Kona
• Kia Niro
• Kia Sportage
• Lexus ES
• Lexus LBX
• Lexus NX
• Lexus RX
• Lexus UX
• Mazda 2
• Mazda CX-60
• MG3
• Suzuki Ignis
• Suzuki Swift
• Toyota Camry
• Toyota C-HR
• Toyota Corolla
• Toyota Corolla Cross
• Toyota RAV4
• Toyota Yaris
• Toyota Yaris Cross
• Volkswagen Caddy
• Volkswagen Polo