There's a change afoot with the new Monroney label, aka a car's window sticker labels, for the 2013 model year. The aim of the revamped label, which is created jointly by the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, is to make the information more clear for car shoppers and to provide more effective ways to compare the fuel economy and its associated costs of multiple cars. Let's take a look at the specifics of the new label.

For gasoline-powered cars, the new car window stickers labels put the combined fuel economy number measured in miles per gallon in large type, minimizing both the city and highway mpg numbers that were previously very prominent. The switch in emphasis is an effort to help consumers set more realistic expectations on what fuel economy to expect.

For pure electric cars, the combined fuel economy number is also the most prominent, with the city and highway numbers secondary. These are mpge ratings, or "miles per gallon equivalent," so car buyers can easily compare an electric car to its gasoline counterpart regarding fuel economy. For plug-in hybrids, which have an electric-only mode as well as use gasoline, the label has mpg and mpge data.

While the annual fuel cost isn't new to the car window sticker labels, what is new is the additional information that shows the fuel cost of this particular car over five years as compared to the average new vehicle. This area of the label is the same for gasoline cars, plug-in hybrids and electric cars. For cars that will cost more in fuel than the average car, the window sticker says, "You will spend $XXX," with the figure noting the additional amount you will spend over the fuel costs of the average car, not the total amount to operate the car. For cars whose fuel costs are less than the average car, the label says, "You will save $XXX."