The rising cost of fuel shows no signs of getting higher, with the current Russia-Ukraine crisis promising to push up prices even further. But what can the conscientious car buyer do to lessen the impact of spiralling prices?

One option might be to go electric, but that is often an expensive up-front outlay and there are obvious additional concerns about finding a charger and how far you can drive in one.

Another solution might be to opt for a car which has a great fuel efficiency, and thanks to a report in the Daily Telegraph we now know which cars provide the best mile to the gallon ration according their official WLTP fuel consumption figures.

Unsurprisingly, the smaller the car, the better it is when it comes to being fuel-efficient. So don’t go looking for any chunky SUVs if you want to save on your fuel bill.

With an impressive fuel economy of 68.8mpg, the Toyota Yaris, the 2021 European Car of the Year, certainly fits the bill when we think smaller, and though it might a tight squeeze if you are thinking family it certainly looks great.

The Yaris comes third in the Daily Telegraph’s rankings, just behind the Vauhall Corsa, with the 1.5 Turbo D 102 SE Edition achieving a fuel economy of 70.6mpg.

The big winner for economy however isn’t actually that small, but hats off to the engineering boffins at Peugeot who are squeezing 73.6mpg out of their latest 208 model.

“The most fuel-efficient car on sale today (plug-in hybrids excluded, of course),” says the Telegraph report. “But the 208 isn’t the automotive equivalent of a hair shirt; in fact, it’s great to drive, it rides well and it’s nicely finished inside. The only downside is that it doesn’t come cheap – indeed, if you factor in cost of purchase, the slightly less economical Corsa might actually make a cheaper all-round ownership proposition. But if list price is irrelevant and fuel economy is paramount, the 208 sits at the top of the tree.”

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