For those following fuel efficient and alternative fuel vehicles, two news items came out this past week that were worth paying attention to. Fuel economy ratings on new vehicles sold are increasing again after dropping for two months. The corporate average fuel economy rating reached 24.8 mpg in November – still down from the all-time high of 24.9 mpg recorded with August new vehicle sales in the US. Given that gasoline prices have softened this year, it is impressive to see the fuel efficiency rate go back to increasing.
The fuel economy numbers are being tracked by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), which has been keeping score on CAFÉ numbers since October 2007. Fuel economy is up 4.7 mpg since that time, and improvements in greenhouse gas emission reductions is also being noticed in the study.
In still more analysis of fuel economy and emissions, the US Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy have updated their annual rating for most fuel-efficient cars with 2014 model year vehicles now included. Every single one of the top 10 is powered by electricity or a hybrid version with electric and gasoline power. The Chevrolet Spark EV, which gets the equivalent of 119 mpg, topped the list. The Nissan Leaf moved back to number four, and the Chevrolet Volt was number nine. The list of plug-in electric vehicles is getting longer in the US.
