Fuel economy record set by new cars, trucks

DETROIT – Gas mileage for new cars and trucks in the U.S. averaged a record 24.1 miles per gallon last year, but gains in fuel economy are slowing.

The Environmental Protection Agency says fuel economy last year rose one-half mile per gallon over the 2012 model year, mainly because automakers have improved gas engines and transmissions and added turbochargers to give smaller motors more power.

Although last year’s gain fell short of the 1.2 mpg improvement from 2011 to 2012, fuel economy is up almost 5 mpg since 2004, according to an annual report released by the agency on Wednesday.

The EPA is predicting slower growth for this year, but officials still expect the industry to meet government standards that require the fleet to average 54.5 mpg by 2025.

The EPA, which bases its calculations on cars and trucks produced for sale in the U.S., is only predicting a 0.1 mpg increase from 2013 to 2014 as pickup truck and SUV production rises 2 percent.

This year’s slower pace of improvement should reflect rising truck and SUV sales. Sales of light trucks are up 16.5 percent over last year, while car sales have risen only 2.3 percent, according to Autodata Corp.

Trucks accounted for 49.3 percent of U.S. sales last year, but that has risen to 51.3 percent through September of this year.

The change is largely due to fairly steady gasoline prices through much of the year. Plus, trucks and SUVs boast improved gas mileage, although still well below that of cars. The EPA says the gas mileage of truck-based SUVs rose 27 percent from 2004 through last year, the biggest increase of any market segment. Cars and car-based SUVs each saw a 23 percent improvement.

Chris Grundler, head of the EPA’s office of transportation and air quality, said the shift to trucks this year is not a surprise because people who need pickups for work have kept their old ones for a long time.

Still, he said, the auto industry is ahead of what the EPA expected at this point, and he expects improvements to vary from year to year depending on the new models that are introduced.

“Some years there will be bigger redesigns than others,” he said. “Two years does not a trend make.”

For example, the aluminum-body Ford F-150 pickup, due out later this year, could raise the average mileage by itself because the F-150 is the top-selling vehicle in the nation, Grundler said.

The truck’s reduction in mass is likely to yield significantly better mileage and reduced emissions over the current trucks, he said.