by James Raia

Created on: October 28, 2009

It's no surprise. The Toyota Prius is again the leader in fuel efficiency among 2010 cars, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy.

The Prius debuted in Japan in 1997 and worldwide in 2001, making it the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle. It's available in more than 40 countries and in recent years has repeatedly been designated as the highest gas mileage vehicle in the United States.

Toyota redesigned the Prius, which means "to go before" in Latin, for 2010. And while it continues to dominate U.S. hybrid car sales, several additional manufacturers have increasingly popular hybrid models. Which is why nine of the top-10 most fuel efficient vehicles in the U.S. are now hybrids.

And while the Prius is steadily moving into the the top-10 selling cars in the United States and continues to receive vast media and consumer attention, not so much is said nor do owners seem to care that EPA also annually announces cars with dubious honors the lowest gas mileage averages.

The Lamborghini Murcielago, the Italian Luxury vehicle, has two of the country's top-three most inefficient cars for 2010.

Introduced in 2001, the The Murcielago is a two-door, two-seat coupe. It's the successor to the Lamborghini Diablo, the manufacturer's previous flagship supercar.

Lamborghini was founded in 1963 by Ferruccio Lamborghini. The company had has several different owners, including its current status (since 1998) as a subsidiary of Audi, which is owned by Volkswagen. Lamborghini offers only four models and manufacturers less than 3,000 cars per year in SantAgata, Bolognese, Italy.

Here are lists of the top-10 best and worst gas mileage 2010 cars in the United States:

Top 10 best gas mileage averages:

1. Toyota Prius, 51 mpg city/48 mpg highway; 2. Ford Fusion/Mercury Milan, 41/36; 3. Honda Civic Hybrid, 40/45; 4. Honda Insight (hybrid), 40/43; 5. Lexus HS250h (hybrid), 35/34; 6. Nissan Altima Hybrid, 35/33; 7. Ford Escape Hybrid FWD, Mazda Tribute Hybrid 2WD, Mercury Mariner Hybrid FWD, 34/31; 8. Smart fortwo Cabriolet (automatic) Smart fortwo Coupe (automatic), 33/41; 9. Toyota Camry Hybrid, 33/34
10. Lexus RX450h (hybrid, 2WD), 32/28.

Top 10 worst gas mileage averages:

1. Lamborghini Murcielago (manual) 8 mpg (city), 13 mpg (highway); 2. Bugatti Veyron 8/14; 3. Lamborghini Murcielago (automatic) 9/14; 4. Bentley Azure Bentley Brooklands 9/15; 5. Ferrari 612 Scaglietti (automatic) 10/17; 6. Ferrari 612 Scaglietti (manual) 10/16; 7. Maybach 57 10/15; 8. Bentley Continental Flying Spur Bentley Continental GTC 10/17; 9. Mercedes-Benz ML 63 AMG Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano 11/15; 10. Several BMW, Aston Martin and Porsche vehicles, 11/17.

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