This Is the Slowest Car in America

By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Jan 25, 7:33AM EST · Published Jan 24, 5:00PM EST

Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

This Is the Slowest Car in America — © hroe / iStock via Getty Images

Stories about cars are so popular that several media outlets have been supported by writing about them for years. At the head of this list are Motor Trend and Car and Driver, but hundreds more websites and magazines cover cars. Among the most written about aspects of individual models is how fast they are. Usually, this is measured by an old but arbitrary yardstick. How fast can a car travel from 0 to 60 miles per hour?

One subject the car media rarely covers is which are the slowest cars people can buy in America. Motor Trend’s slowest cars list includes every car it tested from the 2020 model year. According to the list, the slowest car is the 2020 Nissan Kicks SR, with a 0-60 time of 10.5 seconds.

Nissan markets the Kicks as a “fuel-efficient compact crossover.” Crossovers have become a large part of the U.S. car market as buyers drop sedans to buy crossovers and sport utility vehicles. The Kicks’ high fuel efficiency is another marketed advantage. The 2021 model gets 31 miles per gallon in the city and 36 on the highway. The primary reason is its small 122 horsepower engine. On the other hand, these new cars have the worst fuel efficiency on the market.

Overall, the Kicks gets mediocre reviews from car media and research firms. U.S. News rates it 7.4 out of 10. So does Edmunds. Car and Driver gives it a slightly better 7.5 out of 10. These are the most and least dependable car brands in 2021.

The Kicks has a very low price point of $19,600, based on its manufacturer’s suggested retail price. Higher-end models of the car have prices approaching $25,000.

At the other end of the spectrum, most lists of fastest cars are dominated by highly expensive models from companies like Porsche and Ferrari. The American-built Chevy Corvette often makes these lists. Some of these can travel from 0-60 mph in less than 3 seconds. They all have gasoline-driven engines.

These lists have been partially upended by extremely fast electric cars. The new Tesla Model S Plaid can go from 0 to 60 mph in 1.98 seconds, which arguably makes it the fastest car for sale in the United States. Meanwhile, the 15 slowest cars on this list go from 0-60 mph in 8.3 second or more.

Click here to see the slowest car in America

15. Kia Seltos S (FWD)
>0-60 mph: 8.3 seconds

[in-text-ad]

14. Toyota Highlander Hybrid AWD Platinum
>0-60 mph: 8.4 seconds

[recirclink id=896672]

13. Hyundai Ioniq Limited EV
>0-60 mph: 8.4 seconds

12. Nissan Sentra SV
>0-60 mph: 8.6 seconds

[in-text-ad-2]

11. Hyundai Venue SEL
>0-60 mph: 8.8 seconds

10. Nissan Sentra 2.0 SR
>0-60 mph: 8.8 seconds

[in-text-ad]

9. Toyota Corolla APEX XSE
>0-60 mph: 8.8 seconds

[recirclink id=962310]

8. Kia Niro Eco Hybrid EX Premium
>0-60 mph: 9.2 seconds

7. Buick Encore GX AWD ST Essence
>0-60 mph: 9.3 seconds

[in-text-ad-2]

6. Chevrolet Trailblazer RS AWD
>0-60 mph: 9.3 seconds

5. Hyundai Venue Denim
>0-60 mph: 9.4 seconds

[in-text-ad]

4. Toyota Yaris XLE
>0-60 mph: 9.4 seconds

[recirclink id=908376]

3. Nissan Rogue Sport SL
>0-60 mph: 9.8 seconds

2. Toyota C-HR Limited
>0-60 mph: 10.2 seconds

[in-text-ad-2]

1. Nissan Kicks SR
>0-60 mph: 10.5 seconds

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.