WASHINGTON—Passenger vehicles in the U.S. achieved record fuel economy of 24.8 miles per gallon in Model Year 2015 while outperforming government greenhouse gas emissions standards, according to the 2016 Fuel Economy Trends Report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
This marks the fourth year in a row that U.S. auto makers have exceeding government GHG standards, according to the EPA.
The report shows that U.S. auto makers went beyond the MY 2015 carbon dioxide standards by an average of 7 grams per miles, according to an EPA news release.
This is equivalent to 0.9 mpg, even as the fleet-wide carbon dioxide standard became more stringent in 2015 by 13 grams per mile, the agency said.
Through today, the GHG emissions standards already have eliminated almost 130 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, equivalent to the annual electricity use of 20 million homes, the EPA said. More than 100 vehicles on the market today meet the 2020 GHG standards, it said.
Turbocharging, engine downsizing, more sophisticated transmissions, vehicle weight reduction, aerodynamics, idle stop-start and other innovative technologies are largely responsible for the GHG improvements, according to the agency.
The 2016 Fuel Economy Trends Report can be found here.