So many acronyms for an article title. EV = Electric Vehicle. EPA = Environmental Protection Agency. MPG-e = Miles Per Gallon Equivalent.

The MPGe rating is used to compare energy efficiency in vehicles that use energy sources other than petroleum as a way for consumers to gauge exactly what their hybrid or electric vehicle gets per precious gallon of gas (in the event that the driver was driving a car that ran on petroleum, of course).

The EPA calculates that one gallon of gas is equivalent to 33.7 kilowatt hours of electric energy stored in an EV’s battery pack. If you know how far in miles (on average) your electric car can run per battery charge, and you know the size of your battery pack (in kilowatts), you can determine your MPGe. This also assumes you know how to do math.

(The EPA takes into account city and highway efficiency differences when they assign MPGe ratings to cars. The following MPGe figures are based on a combination of city and highway driving.)

Last week, the Honda Fit EV was conferred a 118 MPGe rating, with a range (the more important number here) of 82 miles per battery charge. Both the MPGe rating and the range are industry tops for electric vehicles (though Tesla claims to have an MPGe of 119 on its Roadster).

Honda is planning a very limited initial distribution, beginning with California and Oregon this summer (hoping to cash in on the hipster meccas of San Francisco and Portland), before rolling the Fit EV out to the East Coast in 2013. Right now, there are only 1,100 Fits scheduled for production; early guesstimates of price are $399 monthly, with an all-in ticket charge of $36,625 if you don’t want to lease.

In order to garner the EPA’s rating, Honda engineers made the Fit smaller than all of its competitors except for the Mitsubishi i-MiEV (which only gets a MPGe of 112).

Honda Environmental Business Office VP Steve Center says the new Fit will be “a real kick to drive.”

Want one? Click it to kick it.