Filed under: MPG, USA



With US gas prices approaching levels likely to give Americans the summertime blues, both automakers and prospective consumers appear to be trying to minimize the damage by driving fleetwide fuel economy up to unprecedented levels. This year will be the first model year ever in which more than half of the new US vehicles sold will get more than 23 miles per gallon, the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) says. And if that number doesn't seem particularly unimpressive, consider that fewer than one in five new vehicles were that fuel efficient five years ago.

The CFA culled data on purchases of almost 1.1 million new vehicles and figured out that almost 12 percent of new cars and light-duty trucks get at least 30 mpg while, for the first time ever, no production vehicle got less than 13 mpg. Much of these fuel-efficiency gains have taken place since the passage of the Energy Security and Independence Act (EISA) in 2007, meaning that there's a fair amount of fuel-efficiency momentum going on out there.

The results are consistent with those of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), which said in February that January's new cars got an average fuel economy of 24.9 mpg. That was up 0.1 mpg from December and approached the all-time monthly record set last October (and repeated in November) of 25.0 mpg. The results may be reflecting the steady upward march of US gas prices, which have risen about 35 cents a gallon since the beginning of the year to about $3.65 a gallon, according to AAA. Check out the CFA's press release below.Continue reading Median US new-car fuel-efficiency of 23 mpg may be highest ever

Median US new-car fuel-efficiency of 23 mpg may be highest ever originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Thu, 01 May 2014 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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It's still ridiculous that most new car buyers will spend a few thousand extra to get a bigger engine or a fancier trim level, but won't spend a few thousand extra to get a hybrid.