Why Everyone Should Be Driving Hatchbacks

Inspired by Peter Adeney, also known as Mr. Money Mustache, let me offer you a few reasons why everyone should be driving hatchback cars.

Practically speaking, if you have a family of considerable size, it's understandable for you to opt for midsized SUVs, or even vans. And that's totally fine. You're entitled to your own preferences. But have you ever as much lingered to wonder about your own impact to the environment?

Maybe you have, but outside of factoring in the fuel cost, maintenance cost, and the cost of the car itself—it's likely that environmental costs, when framed from a lone rider's perspective is difficult to quantify. High and mighty as we may have become with our data, thinking about these things still feels ambiguous.

Modern, Western man made the poorer choice when he favored personally owning a car over commuting; but you can't fault him for his instinctive need for convenience and his Hollywood-induced fantasy of driving up to the coast with his convertible while singing 80's rock anthems. He wants to be free and autonomous; and he wants to feel the wind on his hair as he rests his left forearm on the car window, the stereo blasting Guns n' Roses or AC/DC.

Cars are wonderful things, but we often don't make the most practical decision of picking just the right car to drive. My argument here is simple—we should strongly consider driving hatchback cars over anything else, and here are a few reasons why.

Not every car on the planet is like the Toyota Prius, which on average drives 50 miles on one gallon for city driving, and drives 60 miles on the highway. In comparison, the Mitsubishi Montero Sport uses up one gallon for every 25 miles, which is half that of the Prius. Well, you could also argue that the Montero can carry in almost twice as many passengers (maybe not); but the Montero itself is considered one of the most fuel efficient SUVs in the market and it's troubling how it consumes twice as much fuel as the Prius.

Here are some fuel-efficient SUVs with their corresponding highway fuel economy:

• Toyota Highlander - 25 mpg
• Subaru Forester - 29 mpg
• Ford Explorer - 24 mpg
• Kia Sorento - 29 mpg

And here are some fuel-efficient hatchbacks:

• Lexus CT 200h - 42 mpg
• Mitsubishi Mirage - 40 mpg
• Ford C-Max - 40 mpg
• Scion iQ - 37 mpg

If you're living around the city as opposed to living around underdeveloped country roads, the hatchback over the SUV is a no-brainer choice.

With parking space becoming scarce around cities, it becomes clear that the easiest type of car to park is the hatchback. In some cities in the Philippines, the situation is so terrible that you need to have a personal driver - to drive you to your destination, drop you off, and then run around in circles within the city before picking you up again because of the lack of parking space. The minimized length of the hatchback will help you take advantage of very narrow spaces and make it easier for you to move around.

OPEC predicts that by 2040, only 1 percent of all cars will be electric. Do you believe that? With the Tesla brand becoming a household name sounding almost as mythical as the iPhone did in its early days and with General Motors ramping up its electric car manufacturing, electric cars will start replacing our gas guzzlers on the street. Electric cars will most likely come in hatchback form because of the hatchback's light weight design and minimalism.

The only issue that electric cars really have is people's anxiety with low mileage per charge. Tesla and General Motors are working with cars that travel over 200 miles with just one charge! The Chevrolet Bolt is a product of GM that will take advantage of the hatchback's economical design.

If people chose hatchbacks over sedans and SUVs, traffic would perhaps be a lot less tight and environmental pollution would be reduced. All I'm asking is that if you're reading this article, make sure you at least think about the environmental and financial impact your car of choice is going to have as a whole.

Maybe you will opt for the more aesthetic choice, or the more braggy one. Nobody can fault you for that. But in the end, those enjoying the money saved from fuel costs and fulfilled by releasing a lot less pollution into the air are driving their favorite hatchbacks. Japanese and Korean hatchback cars are generally cheap as well. A brand new Hyundai Eon costs about $25,000. In comparison, a brand new Mitsubishi Montero costs about $80,000 and it burns almost twice as much fuel.

Take a look at what Mr. Money Mustache did with his own hatchback. This was obviously not an aesthetic choice, but he somewhat turned his hatchback into an SUV: