WASHINGTON -- Automakers saw slower progress toward achieving the U.S. government’s fleet-wide fuel economy target of 54.5 mpg by 2025 as cheap gasoline fueled surging demand for light trucks.
Yet tailpipe emissions of new cars and trucks continued to get cleaner and beat their U.S. targets for the third year in a row.
The EPA said in a report today that the average fuel economy of new cars and trucks was 24.3 mpg in the 2014 model year, unchanged from 2013, when fuel economy rose 0.6 mpg. The 2014 model year was also the first since 2011 in which fleet-wide fuel economy didn’t increase.
The fleet-wide efficiency gains were offset by growing consumer demand for pickups, crossovers and SUVs amid a sustained period of inexpensive gasoline, which averaged $2.01 per gallon in the U.S. today, according to AAA. According to the EPA, light trucks accounted for 41 percent of all new vehicle production in the 2014 model year, up from 36 percent in the 2013 model year.
At the same time, average carbon dioxide emissions of new vehicles were 13 grams per mile lower than the 2014 model year targets, the EPA said.
The U.S. government’s rules for fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions are designed to require each vehicle type to achieve target mpg and carbon dioxide values that improve each year.
Christopher Grundler, director of the EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, says he’s “not at all” concerned about the slowdown in fleet-wide mpg improvements caused by the market shift toward light trucks.
“The whole policy was designed explicitly to preserve consumer choice,” Grundler said in an interview. “In 2014, the mix shifted a little bit, but overall we are exactly where we expected to be with greenhouse gas reductions.”
Truck mpg better
