Stylish fuel efficiency on display at New York Auto Show

With gasoline prices remaining stubbornly elevated and heading into the usual season of summer increases, interest in fuel-efficient automobiles remains high, and car manufacturers are coming up with new ways to help their customers reduce gasoline consumption.

Plus, the auto companies are up against rising federally mandated fuel-efficiency standards that call for corporate fleet averages of 54.5 mpg by 2025. No wonder they're introducing so many radically new technologies with the intention of honing them and adding ever-more-novel ways of moving a vehicle further on less fuel.

The drive for ever-higher mpg ratings is on full display at the current New York International Auto Show, and Tim Stevens, editor-at-large for CNET, highlights some of the new fuel-efficient models there in this video. His picks:

BMW i8. It will be available later this year for about $135,000. It's a performance hybrid combining both gasoline engines and electric motors to get about 90 miles per gallon.

BMW i3. It's a fully-electric, battery-powered car that has a 100-mile range. BMW says it'll take just 3.5 hours for a full recharge and is priced at just $42,000.

Volkswagon XL1. This limited-production model will be available only in Europe at a cost of more than $100,000. It seats only two, but it gets a whopping 260 miles per gallon.

Cadillac ELR. This is kind of like a Chevy Volt with a luxurious interior, said Stevens. The price is about $75,000 and it gets 90 miles per gallon.

Toyota FCV. It's a car powered by fuel cells, which means it runs on hydrogen and can go up to 300 miles on a single charge. And its only tailpipe emission is water. The FCV will go into production next year, but there's no word yet on how much it's going to cost, said Stevens.