5 Hybrid Sedans With Better MPG Than The Toyota RAV4

Although sales are slightly down from 2025, the Toyota RAV4 remains one of the most popular and best-selling vehicles in the United States. The compact crossover SUV has steadily become one of the pillars of the Toyota brand, and starting with the 2026 model year, it underwent quite a massive change. Now, the Toyota RAV4 is only available as either a hybrid or a plug-in hybrid. By our estimation at SlashGear, this hybrid gamble paid off for the RAV4.

A standard 2026 Toyota RAV4 is estimated by the Environmental Protection Agency to get a combined 43 mpg, with 47 city mpg and 40 highway mpg. This average can vary by trim, as the AWD Woodland Edition brings the combined average down to 38 mpg. Among hybrid SUVs, these are pretty outstanding numbers. Only various trims of the 2026 and 2027 Kia Niro have better fuel economy ratings from the EPA. That being said, there are a lot more hybrid cars on the road that are far more fuel efficient than the RAV4, particularly when it comes to sedans.

One may be enchanted by the prospect of an SUV with great fuel economy, but especially in a time where gas is at a premium, we want to be able to get the most bang for our buck at the pump. So, we're going to look at five different hybrid sedan models, coming from both mass-market and luxury brands, that are able to get more miles per gallon than the RAV4. To be fair, this is going to be a strict comparison between hybrid and hybrid models, as the plug-in hybrid side of things is its own whole other thing.

There's no denying that the Toyota Prius is one of the most important hybrid vehicles. While it wasn't the first hybrid, it's the one that shot it into the mainstream and was actually a viable option on the market, despite being one of many hybrid cars subject to undeserved hate. Even though so many hybrid sedans have introduced since the Prius, it manages to handily take first place among them when it comes to fuel economy.

The current 2027 Toyota Prius has a combined fuel economy of 55 mpg. Notably, that is a step down from the combined 57 mpg that the 2026 model could get, but it's still enough to easily top the list of all hybrid sedans. The reason for this step down has to do with the highway miles. The 2026 model was able to get 57 city mpg and 56 highway mpg. The 2027 model actually increases its city capabilities with 59 mpg, but the highway economy goes down to 50 mpg, which is still outpaces what the current RAV4 can do by 10 mpg. On a full tank, you can get 622 miles range before needing to refuel.

These figures are for the standard FWD models. If you want an AWD 2027 Prius, the fuel economy does go down a bit to a combined 53 mpg. It goes down even further if you get one of the upper-tier trims like the XTE or Limited, whether they're FWD or AWD. The AWD versions of those is the lowest with a combined 48 mpg, which still bests the RAV4.

The Toyota RAV4 shifted entirely to hybrid drivetrains for the 2026 model year, which is also what the Camry did the previous model year, where it went all-in on being a hybrid. This shift has certainly been a success for the Camry, as it currently stands as the fifth best-selling vehicle in the United States in 2026 and the highest-ranking of any Toyota model. What certainly isn't hurting its popularity is its fuel economy, which ties with the Prius for second best of any hybrid sedan on the market tested by the EPA.

A standard FWD 2026 Toyota Camry is estimated to get a combined 51 mpg, with 52 city mpg and 49 highway mpg. On a full tank of gas, you'll be able to get a whopping 663 miles of range before refueling, outdoing the maximum 624-mile range that the RAV4 can reach. There's barely a difference if you decide to go for an AWD Camry instead — 50 combined mpg with a full range of 650 miles. As expected, going into the upper tier trims like the SE, XLE, and XSE trims does drop the fuel economy down somewhat, but it's still a perfectly strong 46 combined mpg, beating out the RAV4's highest figure by 3 mpg.

All of these numbers are for the 2026 model year. While some Toyota models have their newer 2027 models available, that isn't the case yet with the Camry, at least at time of writing. Based on the trends with other Toyota models, these fuel economy numbers should either stay steady or go down ever so slightly for 2027. We'll know once the 2027 Toyota Camry hits the streets.

While Toyotas have no gas-only option for the most part, the same is not true for the Hyundai Sonata. This is available as both a gas and hybrid car, and the starting price for a hybrid Sonata $29,200, plus a $1,295 freight fee – is just $1,750 more than the standard version. With that extra cost, you're getting a tremendous improvement on the sedan's fuel economy, which may end up saving you a good deal of money in the long run.

The Sonata ties with the Toyota Camry for having the second best fuel economy of any hybrid Sedan by the EPA, getting a combined 51 mpg. What separates the Sonata from so many other hybrid cars is that its impressive fuel economy comes mainly from its highway capabilities, rather than its city ones. A 2027 model manages 46 mpg, which is decent, but it's the 56 highway mpg that really stands out. Those numbers are only on the standard Blue trim for the Sonata. Beyond that, the combined figures drop down to 47 mpg, with 44 city and 51 highway. Still, it's impressive to get those kind of highway ratings. The range on a Blue model is 673 miles, while the other trims get 620 miles.

In terms of savings over a gas-only Hyundai Sonata, the difference is quite startling. The best a standard Sonata can get is a combined 29 mpg. The EPA estimates you'll spend about $1,000 more per year on a gas-only model compared to a hybrid. That $1,750 price difference between them upfront goes away in fewer than two years, thanks to fuel savings.

While there aren't anymore hybrid sedans that have an estimated combined mpg in the 50s, there are still a few in the high 40s. One of those is the Honda Accord, another sedan that offers both gas and hybrid drivetrains. With a 2026 Accord — 2027 models are not available at time of writing — the EPA estimates you can get a combined 48 mpg, with 51 city and 44 highway. There's one important caveat to these numbers though; they are only available on the EX-L trim, which is a higher end trim level.

The EX-L Hybrid has a starting price of $35,095, plus a $1,295 destination and handling fee. That's $1,300 more than the starting price of the baseline Sport trim. The Sport goes down a bit to a combined 44 mpg, with 46 city and 41 highway. This still outpaces the Toyota RAV4, but just barely. This lesser fuel economy is also what you can expect with the upper-tier Sport-L and Touring trims, both of which do cost more than an EX-L. So, while you aren't paying the absolute top dollar for the best fuel economy a Honda Accord Hybrid can offer, you do have to spend a bit more to get it.

That being said, the EPA estimates you'd only spend about $100 per year on fuel with a Sport model than an EX-L, so it's up to you whether the higher price of the EX-L is ultimately worth it to you. Regardless of the trim, the hybrid Honda Accord far outdoes the gas-only models, which top out at just 32 combined mpg.

There are even some luxury options that have better fuel economy than the Toyota RAV4. One of those comes from Toyota's own luxury brand, Lexus. The Lexus ES 350h is the only hybrid sedan that Lexus currently produces, and rather than have a gas-only alternative, it has an all-electric version, if you want to eliminate gas pumps entirely. The ES 350h also has the distinction of having the best fuel economy of any luxury hybrid sedan tested by the EPA.

2027 Lexus ES models aren't available yet, so we're looking at the most recent 2026 numbers for this one. The ES 350h can get a combined 46 mpg, with 48 city and 44 highway. This isn't tremendously more than a RAV4, but it's plenty good enough. These figures are for the FWD version of the sedan. The AWD model still gets you past the RAV4's fuel economy specs, but not by much — 44 combined mpg, with 47 city mpg and 42 highway mpg.

For comparison, the next highest luxury hybrid sedan in the EPA's ranking is the 2027 Mercedes-Benz CLA 220 hybrid. That car brings those fuel economy numbers all the way down to a combined 33 mpg, beating out the combined 31 mpg from the 2027 BMW 530i hybrid. Not only is that significantly below the Lexus ES 350h, but that's way below the Toyota RAV4. If you want the mixture of a luxury sedan and excellent hybrid fuel economy numbers, the EPA really thinks the Lexus is the only way to go, whether it's a FWD or an AWD model.