The Efficiency & Range grade, explained

Efficiency & Range is the most measured subject on the site — nearly every criterion is arithmetic over a published EPA figure — and the one with the most important footnote: it is graded within powertrain class. A gas car’s grade was drawn from the gas bands, an EV’s from the EV bands, and the two are not comparable. That rule has its own guide, Efficiency is graded within powertrain class; this one is about the criteria themselves and what the fleet posts on them.

What the criteria measure

Fuel economy is combined (×3), city and highway economy — MPG for gas and hybrid, MPGe for plug-ins and EVs — each normalized against a band for the vehicle’s segment and class. Range and charging is driving range (×3) for everyone, plus the class-specific criteria: electric-only range for plug-in hybrids, and for EVs the DC fast-charge peak rate and the 10–80% charge time. The charge-time criterion exists only once the car reports a non-zero fast-charge rate — an EV with no DC hardware has a rate of zero, which is scored, but no charge time, which would be undefined. Energy cost is the EPA’s estimated annual fuel or electricity cost, inverted so cheaper scores higher, and a judged criterion for fuel requirements — premium-only engines score lower.

How the fleet grades

This is the subject where the median car does worst: 49.5 points, a 1.31 (D). That is a property of the bands rather than of the cars. They are drawn to the real spread of each class and segment, and a large share of the fleet — the luxury SUVs and performance cars that make up much of the catalog — sits in the bottom half of its band by design. The grade is telling the truth; it is just a harsh truth about what most of the market buys. The calibration is a known open question and is discussed in Why the median car fails Ownership Cost, which covers both subjects with the problem.

Who leads, and why

By class, the medians say how well each kind of car fills its own band, not which kind is more efficient. Hybrids fill theirs best: the class is small and dominated by the nameplates that defined it, so most of them sit high in a band drawn around them. By body type the pattern is the inverse of size and power — hatchbacks and sedans lead, trucks and the performance body types trail, and Why sports cars grade so badly on Efficiency explains why coupes and convertibles sit where they do.

How to read the grade

Read the class label first. Efficiency (EV) and Efficiency (Gas) are different exams. Within a class the grade is a fair ranking; across classes only the raw figures are, and the car page prints them under the grade — the economy, the range, and the annual energy cost in dollars, which is the one number that is comparable across everything.

Range is weighted as heavily as combined economy on purpose. For a gas car it is a proxy for tank size and matters little; for an EV it is the whole ownership experience, and the band for EVs is drawn accordingly.