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 he average fuel economy of new model year 2000 vehicles
is 24.0 miles per gallon (mpg), as low as it has been since 1980.
The most recent EPA annual technical report is available at:
www.epa.gov/otaq/fetrends.htm.
 The
fuel economy remains at a 20-year low because light trucks (sport
utility vehicles, vans, minivans and pickup trucks) are less
fuel efficient and make up almost half of the US light vehicle
market.
Model year
2000 sport utility vehicles average 20.0 mpg, pickup trucks average
20.1 mpg, and vans and minivans average 22.5 mpg. Model year
2000 cars average 28.1 mpg. If all manufacturers were to increase
average fuel economy by three miles per gallon, consumers would
save as much as $25 billion a year in fuel costs; carbon dioxide
emissions would be reduced 140 million metric tons annually;
and the United States would save a million barrels of oil every
day. The reported laboratory data and actual fuel economy are
typically lower.
EPA and the
Department of Energy recently released the 2001 Model Year
Fuel Economy Guide, which provides real world fuel economy
estimates for new vehicles. The guide is available at: www.fueleconomy.gov. 
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