The new Volkswagen Atlas’ turbo-four manages better fuel economy than the old model.
At a time when gas prices have been teetering at record levels, it’s welcome news that the 2027 Volkswagen Atlas is just a bit thriftier than the old SUV. Today, VW announced official EPA ratings for its flagship SUV, driven by the latest iteration of its 2.0-liter EA888 turbocharged four-cylinder.
Not only is this new Atlas punchier than the 2026 model, putting out 282 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque, but it also does 2 mpg better in the ratings.
If you go for a front-wheel drive Atlas, the EPA numbers indicate you can expect up to 22 City / 29 Highway / 25 Combined mpg. Opt for 4Motion all-wheel drive instead, as many probably will, and that number drops to 20 City / 27 Highway / 23 Combined mpg. Those estimates are slightly better than the Chevrolet Traverse and Honda Pilot and match the four-cylinder Ford Explorer. However, thanks to their hybrid offerings, the Toyota Grand Highlander and Kia Telluride (or Sorento, for that matter) are still the best-in-class for fuel consumption.
At this point, we still don’t yet have official pricing for the 2027 Volkswagen Atlas just yet. We should know more before its official launch in the fall, but the current (2026) Atlas starts at $40,785. From there, MSRPs rise to about $56,105 for the SEL Premium R-Line. It’s likely we’ll see pricing at both ends increase at least a little bit, but we’ll have to wait at least a couple more months to know for sure.
