EPA Fuel Economy Report - Hyundai MPG and CO2 Leader for 2010 Model Year
By John O'Dell November 19, 2010Toyota, Last Year's Fuel Economy Leader, Drops to 5th Place
By Danny King, Contributor
Average U.S. passenger vehicle fuel economy appears to have increased for the fifth consecutive model year for 2010 as more hybrid-electric vehicle sales and improved powertrain technologies appeared to offset the effect of heavier cars and fewer four-cylinder engines, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in a preliminary report this week.
Additionally, South Korean automaker Hyundai topped the 2010 model-year list for best fleetwide fuel economy - 25.9 miles per gallon, barely beating out Honda - at 25.6 mpg - for the title. Chrysler had a 19.2 mpg average, the worst among 2010 model-year car makers, according to the EPA report.
Honda was the most improved of the 14 automakers tracked, with a full 1 mpg increase in its overall fuel economy and a 15 grams per mile decline in its fleet average CO2 emissions.
EPA's preliminary report for 2010 model year fuel economy and CO2 emissions shows Hyundai in the lead while Toyota, Mazda and Daimler all have fuel economy declines from 2009.
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The average 2010 model year car across all makes got 22.5 miles per gallon, up slightly from the 22.4 mpg average for the 2009 model year and about 17 percent higher than the 2004 model year average, the EPA said in its 108-page report. Figures for 2010 are preliminary and will be finalized in next year's report.
CO2 emissions, according to the report, are expected to drop just slightly for the 2010 model year, to an average of 395 grams per mile from 397 g/mi. the previous year.
The results indicate that hybrids and technologies such as direct injection are pulling up the average.
Direct-injection engines made up 8.5 percent of 2010 light-duty vehicle engines, up from 4.2 percent for 2009 and 2.3 percent for 2008. Use of 6-speed automatic transmissions, turbochargers and and other fuel-efficiency technologies also is on the rise.
Such powertrain improvements appear to be offsetting the effect of heavier cars and larger engines. The 2010 models, at an average of 4,009 pounds, were 2.3 percent heavier than 2009 models and are about 7 percent heavier than cars made a decade ago, according to the report.
Additionally, the percentage of four cylinder engines for 2010 fell about 5 percent from a year earlier, while the number of V8 engines rose almost 30 percent.
The figures show a steady march by automakers to attempt to meet progressively more stringent fuel-economy and greenhouse-gas emissions standards - in part by improvements to conventional internal combustion engines - the reasons the number of V8s can rise at the same time overall fuel efficiency is up.
Earlier this year, the Obama Administration hiked fuel-efficiency standards for 2016 for passenger cars and light-duty trucks by 40 percent to a fleetwide average of 34.1 mpg.
And last month, the EPA and Transportation Department (DOT) proposed that tractor-trailers be required to cut their greenhouse-gas emissions and boost fuel economy by 20 percent between 2014 and 2018. Gasoline-powered heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans would need to boost fuel economy over the same time period by 10 percent, while their diesel-powered counterparts would need to improve fuel economy by 15 percent, under the proposal.
Combined with those new standards, the truck-targeted proposal will help Americans save $41 billion in fuel costs, EPA administrator Lisa Jackson said last month.
Fuel efficiency figures surged about 70 percent between 1975 and 1985 as car makers switched from predominantly V-8 engines to six- and four-cylinder engines and cut the average vehicle weight by about 20 percent, according to the EPA report.
For the two decades after that, though, light-duty vehicle fuel economy figures steadily worsened from about 22 miles per gallon to about 19 miles per gallon in 2004 as more people bought SUVs. Since then, that trend has reversed again as the market share for trucks fell to 41 percent for 2010, down from 47 percent in 2008.
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Can we stop looking at fleet averages already? These numbers don't help if you're looking for a particular vehicle. It only serves to make the domestics "look" bad when they may not actually be.
Unfortunately it is the way the feds have decided to score the game, and the fleet average - for CAFE at any rate - is the number the automakers have to hit.
But we do offer - all over Edmunds.com, Green Car Advisor, Inside Line and Auto Observer - EPA numbers for specific vehicles. All you gotta do is a quick search for the make and model.
Can we stop looking at fleet averages already? They're making GM/Chrysler/Ford look bad!
Tell me what is a better (and fairer) indicator of how fuel efficient a manufacturer's cars are if not CAFE?? It's a great way to show who is paying attention to efficiency and who is paying lip service.
Let me illustrate:
The PT Cruiser compared to the Corolla.
The fuel consumption of the PTC is about 10 mpg **worse** than the Corolla. We owned both. The Corolla went about 100 miles further for the same amount of fuel.
Look through the forums. People love the Cruiser but the way the thing drinks fuel is unforgivable.
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