The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) thinks Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards earmarked for 2025 can be met by the world's automakers. This despite the group losing a little faith in the progress the OEMs are making. That's because year-over-year fuel-economy results are a mixed bag of sorts.
After measuring almost 1,200 new vehicles, the Consumer Federation gauged that the percentage of vehicles with an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rating of at least 23 miles per gallon rose 1.5 percentage points this year to 52 percent. In fact, the share of cars getting at least 23 mpg has jumped almost 40 percent within the past decade. Looking at that number, CFA says that the 2025 CAFE standards are "achievable."
More impressively, the percentage of vehicles that got 16 mpg or less fell to 6.1 percent from 8.5 percent. And companies like Volvo, Honda, and Mercedes-Benz are making substantial strides towards meeting the 54.5 mpg CAFE standards, which translate to a real-world MPG level of about 40 mpg.
Still, fuel-economy figures at Kia, Subaru and General Motors have declined from last year. And while 58 percent of 2015 model-year cars meet the current CAFE standards, just 35 percent of light-duty trucks and SUVs did so.
Earlier this month, the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute's (UMTRI) Michael Sivak, who tracks these things monthly, said new cars in April averaged 25.2 mpg, marking a slight decline from 25.4 mpg in March and a further drop from last August's peak of 25.8 mpg. Check out the Consumer Federation's findings here.
After measuring almost 1,200 new vehicles, the Consumer Federation gauged that the percentage of vehicles with an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rating of at least 23 miles per gallon rose 1.5 percentage points this year to 52 percent. In fact, the share of cars getting at least 23 mpg has jumped almost 40 percent within the past decade. Looking at that number, CFA says that the 2025 CAFE standards are "achievable."
More impressively, the percentage of vehicles that got 16 mpg or less fell to 6.1 percent from 8.5 percent. And companies like Volvo, Honda, and Mercedes-Benz are making substantial strides towards meeting the 54.5 mpg CAFE standards, which translate to a real-world MPG level of about 40 mpg.
Still, fuel-economy figures at Kia, Subaru and General Motors have declined from last year. And while 58 percent of 2015 model-year cars meet the current CAFE standards, just 35 percent of light-duty trucks and SUVs did so.
Earlier this month, the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute's (UMTRI) Michael Sivak, who tracks these things monthly, said new cars in April averaged 25.2 mpg, marking a slight decline from 25.4 mpg in March and a further drop from last August's peak of 25.8 mpg. Check out the Consumer Federation's findings here.
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