WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released its latest Automotive Trends Report, highlighting the progress the auto industry has made on improving fuel economy and reducing emissions for the 2022 model year. The results are mixed.
The report shows the biggest annual improvement in fleet-wide fuel economy in 9 years. However, it also shows that since 2016, nearly all net improvements in fleetwide fuel economy have come from increases in electric vehicle sales – battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs). While fuel economy has improved for gasoline powered vehicles of all types, those fuel economy improvements have been erased by increases in market share of larger, heavier, and less efficient vehicle classes.
“Overall the pace of improvement from the auto industry has been far too slow to deliver needed savings to consumers and address the climate crisis. This report highlights the degree to which loopholes have undermined the real world effectiveness of clean car standards,” said Chris Harto, Senior Sustainability Policy Analyst at Consumer Reports, “It highlights the urgency of finalizing stronger rules that eliminate loopholes and ensure that the industry delivers real savings for consumers.”
CR is asking the EPA and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) to finalize strong emissions and fuel economy rules in 2024 that combined have the potential to deliver over $1 trillion in consumer savings through 2050.
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Contact: David Butler, david.butler@consumer.org