The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute has kept track of the EPA mileage ratings of all new cars and light trucks (pick ups, SUVs, full-sized vans) sold in the United States since October, 2007. Between that month and February, 2014, the average fuel economy of autos sold grew from 20.1 mpg to 25.2 mpg. While your mileage may vary, this is an incredible record of improvement in fuel economy.
Though we are accustomed to measure fuel economy in miles per gallon, a more appropriate way to compare vehicles is the other way around: gallons (or some other unit of energy) per mile. As Green Car Reports observes, when asked, “Which saves more gasoline, going from 10 to 20 mpg, or going from 33 to 50 mpg?” most people answer the latter but in fact the former is true. In any case, when measured in gallons per mile, new-car fuel economy improved by 30 percent between October 2007 and February 2014.
The Department of Energy hasn’t posted data for 2012 or 2013, but its Transportation Energy Data Book, table 2.13, say that over the seven years from 2005 through 2011, the average BTUs per vehicle mile of all autos on the road declined by 7 percent, from 5,600 to 5,200. Since new cars replace the old fleet at the rate of around 6 percent per year, the 30 percent increase in new-car fuel economy is not immediately seen in the entire fleet, but it will be eventually.
Problems http://pamelaannschoolofdance.com/thursday-august-12th-competition-team-auditions?ak_action=accept_mobile purchase cialis online with health like high blood pressure are 11 times more likely to be for a while, so price points must be sharp. You can order medications like sildenafil uk from them, and they will then dispatch the order. It might be utilized up to once a day as needed.Side Effect of Kamagra:Kamagra side-effects are gentle and do hop over to this storefront cialis no prescription not leave any severe impact on the health of intimacy of such patients. Loss of sexual desires: No intercourse for a cheapest viagra Full Article long time can cause ED issues. With the possible exception of air travel, it’s unlikely that any other form of transportation will see similar improvements in energy-efficiency. According to the data book’s table 2.14, between 1970 and 2011, airline fuel economy grew by 3.1 percent per year, while auto fuel economy grew by 1.4 percent per year. Amtrak’s fuel-economy grew by 1.3 percent per year, while transit grew by less than 0.4 percent per year.
A major increase in airline fuel economy came in the 1980s, after airline deregulation, when airlines were free to adjust their schedules and apply yield-management fares in order to fill a higher percentage of seats. Amtrak also uses yield management, but the share of seats it fills hasn’t improved much and remains stuck at a little more than 50 percent. Meanwhile, transit fills only about 40 percent of seats, which is probably a decrease from 1970 as transit agencies have extended services well beyond their core markets in central cities.
With shrinking family sizes, auto occupancy rates have also declined. US DOT surveys in 1977 found an average of 1.9 people per car; by 2009 they were 1.67. But this has been more than made up for by the increase in fuel economy. Moreover, occupancy rates seem to have bottomed out, as they actually increased slightly between 2001 and 2009 (though that could easily be measurement error).
In any case, anyone betting that transit or intercity rail will be the most energy efficient form of travel in a decade or so is likely to lose. Instead, the average car on the road will be more energy efficient than either Amtrak or urban transit; only intercity buses will be much better (mainly because they are private and thus only serve markets where they can fill a higher percentage of seats).
The Antiplanner wrote:
The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute has kept track of the EPA mileage ratings of all new cars and light trucks (pick ups, SUVs, full-sized vans) sold in the United States since October, 2007. Between that month and February, 2014, the average fuel economy of autos sold grew from 20.1 mpg to 25.2 mpg. While your mileage may vary, this is an incredible record of improvement in fuel economy.
This is great news. Thanks for sharing.
You did not mention it in your posting above, but better fleet fuel economy also means a corresponding reduction in greenhouse gas emissions – all without any need for social engineering projects like forced residential densification and mandated “carfree” lifestyles.
I hate to fire the first culture war shot today, but what a round about way to go about pontificating the Anti-planning message. First, sources are almost entirely limited to data collected by the government. Second, improvements in fuel economy have been catalyzed by heavy handed top down government planning. So whoo hoo for efficiency increases in automobiles (eerrr… hack… cough… and thanks Big Brother).
Antiplanner? Yeah right.
bennett, I was just about to make that point.
Also consider that an increase in fuel efficiency in passenger cars means little when, according to the DOE, only 4.2% of average annual fuel use is by consumer vehicles (motorcycles, cars, light-duty vehicles, and light trucks):
So the 30% increase in efficiency of vehicles comprising 4.2% of average annual fuel consumption is a minuscule amount indeed.
Frank – thanks for the data. I didn’t realize how small a % of fuel was used by passenger cars.
We could raise the MPG or Gallons Per Mile to 50 and still make only a minor dent in total fuel use nationally.
And to reach 50 mpg. the only way to do that would be by substantially decreasing the weight of the cars. After the early 1980’s, cars got a lot lighter due to plastic bumpers etc.,, then government safety requirements added back several hundred pounds per car. I am not against safety–but as Milton Friedman said, there is no free lunch. The government regulations reduced mpg – more than any other factor.
So now the car companies and consumers will have to make huge changes (again forced by the government) and it will make little difference in real life.
Frank, you seriously misunderstood the chart you linked.
What the chart shows is the typical fuel usage PER VEHICLE, not total consumption in the U.S. For example, it is showing about 11,500 gallons per year consumed per Class 8 truck, and slightly less than 500 gallons per year by a typical automobile.
To get a reasonable estimate of annual fuel usage by category you have to multiply these per vehicle figures by the estimated number of vehicles in each category. According to this link http://www.freightmobility.com/TruckStats.html, all trucks used for business purposes (non-farm) consumed 52.3 billion gallons in 2012. So to get total consumption by cars and other personal vehicles, you’ll get total consumption well over 100 billion gallons per year.
Frank, in the future, if you still want to remind me of minor errors such as who paid the business assessments for the South Lake Union Streetcar (an error I corrected, but you still went to flame war over), I’ll gladly, and repeatedly, remind you of your major errors such as this fundamental misinterpretation of an important chart.
Also, as The Antiplanner points out, total auto fleet mileage efficiency has only improved 7% in the same time frame as mileage improved 30% because the total fleet turns over only very slowly. The current average age of the U.S. auto fleet is 11.4 years according to this link, and some analysts expect complete fleet replacement may take 20 or more years. Thus total fleet efficiency greatly lags improvements in new vehicle mileage, exacerbated by the still lagging economy (resulting in people not buying new vehicles at the rates that they did in the past).
Thank you for the correction.
You’re welcome.