I bought a Mercury Mariner a couple of years ago. It's a four wheel drive SUV. It's small but it's all I needed. I wanted an SUV for commuting because of the visibility. I would have purchased a Mercury Mountaineer, if they hadn't had the Mariner.
I can easily get 30 mpg on the highway, and have achieved over 32 mpg per tank on occasion. Tell you what folks, I'm not feeling sad about the choice these days.
You don't have to be an environmental whack job to prefer to use less gas. Frankly, I was willing to pay a bit more to cut down on my gas consumption, because I want us less dependent on oil from the Middle East. I consider it a strategic decision to help us be less beholding to those nations whose populace would do us harm.
I highly recommend the vehicle. As for force fields or the need for tin foil to protect yourself, I don't have any ringing in my years and there haven't been any unusual growths poping up LOL.
Later...