Report: New US Vehicle Fuel Economy Increasing to Highest Level Yet
31 August 2007
Detroit Free Press. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the owner of the CAFE program, estimates that 2007 model year fuel economy in the US will increase to 26.4 mpg US, surpassing the previous high of 26.2 mpg in 1987.
The increase of 1 mile per gallon, or 3.9%, from the 2006 models follows two years of no change in the fleet average.
The NHTSA says the average fuel economy of cars is expected to rise by 1.2 to 31 mpg, while the light truck average is expected to rise by 0.7 to 22.9. Among cars, domestically built models are expected to increase their fuel economy by 0.4 to 30.5 mpg, while imported cars are expected to post the largest gain of 1.2 mpg to 31.7 mpg.
The numbers exclude the largest models and could be revised once automakers and the NHTSA collect actual sales data of 2007 models.
Wow, that last sentence is a killer. But, still, just 20 years to make any improvement? Let's pop open the champagne!
Posted by: MikeInBuilding7 | 01 September 2007 at 09:52 AM
Those numbers need to be taken with a grain of salt, since they include the ridiculous fuel economy inflation that's give to flex fuel vehicles.
Posted by: jack | 01 September 2007 at 12:58 PM
The biggest problem is that these guys won't be selling many cars for quite some time, and all the pigs they sold will stay in the fleet that is already on the road.
Posted by: John Schreiber | 03 September 2007 at 05:52 AM