NEW YORK, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- For decades, there's been a clear king of efficiency and environmental friendliness among U.S. cars: the sedan, but the reigning champion has been dethroned, and the cleanest car category in the United States is now the compact SUV, The Washington Post on Monday cited the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

"The reason for this sudden shake-up is the rapid rise of small, electric SUVs," noted the report. More than a third of new compact SUVs sold in the United States are now electric, compared with 15 percent of sedans. These electric SUVs offer American drivers the extra space they want while creating less air pollution and greenhouse emissions than gas-powered sedans.

Experts say small, electric SUVs could be the key to cleaning up the roads while keeping American car buyers happy. "This segment of SUVs is where the demand -- what people want -- and the efficiency of vehicles meet," said Gil Tal, who heads the Electric Vehicle Research Center at the University of California at Davis.

Last year, smaller SUVs, which go by the name "car SUVs" in EPA jargon, emitted less carbon pollution per mile than the average sedan for the first time since government records began in 1975, it added. Enditem

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