Honda Fit EV gets top 118 MPGe rating from EPA, but you can't buy one

Honda released EPA ratings for its upcoming battery-powered Fit EV, and the little electric tops the charts. It's rated at the equivalent of 118 mpg (MPGe), with a listed range of 82 miles, even with a smaller battery pack than other similar electric cars.

The Fit EV uses a 20-kWh battery pack, which Honda says can be recharged in just 3 hours from the time the low-battery indicator lights up. (Other electric carmakers measure recharge times from empty, so the difference is not as great as it appears.) It generates 123 horsepower and 188 lbs.-ft. of torque--both measures are notably more than the conventional gasoline Fit.

Other electric cars on the market so far include the Nissan Leaf, rated at 99 MPGe and 73 miles of range; the Ford Focus EV, rated at 105 MPGe and 76 miles of range; and the Mitsubishi i, with an even smaller battery, rated at 116 MPGe and just 62 miles of range. These estimates fall into a similar range to our own testing, which returned 106 MPGe for the Leaf and an average of 75 miles of range. In preliminary testing, we've been getting about 59 miles out of our Mitsubishi i per charge.

The Fit EV will be available exclusively on a three-year lease to customers in California starting next month. In 2013, it will roll out in other select markets on the same lease plan. There is no purchase option at the end of the lease.

See our guides to alternative fuels and fuel economy.

—Eric Evarts