UMTRI: Average fuel economy of new vehicles sold in July matches the record high of earlier months
05 August 2013
The average fuel-economy (window-sticker) value of new vehicles sold in the US in July was 24.8 mpg (9.49 l/100 km)—up 0.1 mpg from June and tying the record high reached in March, April, and May, according to the monthly analysis from Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI).
New vehicle fuel economy is up 4.7 mpg since October 2007 (the first month of monitoring). The average fuel economy of model year 2013 vehicles sold thus far (October 2012 through July 2013) is 24.7 mpg (9.52 l/100 km). This is up 1.2 mpg from model year 2012 vehicles.
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| Average sales-weighted fuel-economy rating (window sticker) of purchased new vehicles for October 2007 through July 2013. Source: UMTRI. Click to enlarge. |
The University of Michigan Eco-Driving Index (EDI)—an index that estimates the average monthly emissions of greenhouse gases generated by an individual US driver—stood at 0.81 in April (the lower the value the better). This value indicates an improvement of 19% since October 2007. The EDI takes into account both the fuel used per distance driven and the amount of driving (the latter relying on data that are published with a two-month lag).
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| Eco-Driving Index (EDI) and the two sub-indexes—EDId (distance driven) and EDIf (fuel used per distance driven)—for October 2007 through May 2013. Source: UMTRI. Click to enlarge. |
Nothing to write home about?
Posted by: HarveyD | 05 August 2013 at 11:41 AM
I'm averaging better than 5 times that figure. Do I get a cookie?
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 05 August 2013 at 02:20 PM
Considering how strong truck sales have been, it is no surprise that the average new vehicle fuel economy is in the mid-twenties. As local economies improve, truck sales will continue to rise as well.
http://fleetowner.com/blog/are-strong-pickup-sales-recovery-signal
The biggest jump in the fleet average fuel economy will come from either fewer miles driven by trucks (worsening national economy) or improvements in fuel economy from a large number of new trucks (growing economy).
Posted by: Trevor Carlson | 09 August 2013 at 01:46 PM
How would YOU design a real work truck that could also achieve over 30 MPGe for under $50k? It would need to compete with the performance of the current full-size trucks but the model year would be 7 years from now.
The mileage rating would be attained per standard guidelines and drive usage profiles. (no towing, no payload)
Real-life mileage however would include towing and payload capabilities with competitive energy economy to its peers.
Posted by: Trevor Carlson | 09 August 2013 at 02:51 PM
Well, the 3-liter diesel Jeep is selling would be a good start.
Co-fueling with natural gas would help a lot too.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 09 August 2013 at 09:41 PM