U.S. Cars More Fuel Efficient Than Ever, Says EPA

by Steve Rousseau
Popular Mechanics
March 18, 2013

f it were possible to sum up in a single number the auto industry’s response to all of the slings and arrows of its recent fortune‚Äîan economic recession, subsequent bailouts, and spiking gas prices ‚Äî that number would be 23.8. According to a recent annual EPA report on carbon dioxide emissions and fuel economy trends, 23.8 mpg is the average fuel economy of all the cars on U.S. roads. It’s the highest collective mileage figure to date. While the EPA points out that these are preliminary projections, cars on U.S roads are, as a whole, more efficient by 1.4 mpg compared to 2011. If those projections prove to be true, then that margin would mark the biggest year-to-year improvement since the federal agency started tracking fuel economy data in 1975.