Improving Fuel Efficiency: How to Go Farther on a Gallon of Gas
Improving the fuel efficiency of our vehicles offers the single greatest opportunity to reduce oil consumption and put us on a path to cut projected U.S. oil use in half in 20 years. It's also critical to our efforts to curb global warming pollution and save consumers billions of dollars at the pump.
The historic new fuel economy and global warming emissions standards finalized in August 2012 have the potential to reduce our oil use by more than 4 million barrels per day by 2035, a key step toward implementing the Half the Oil Plan.
We have the technology to meet or exceed the recently finalized vehicle standards, deliver a wide range of clean transportation options that meet consumers’ needs, and position the United Sates as a global leader in transportation technology.
Fuel Economy Basics
Fuel economy is a measure of a vehicle’s efficiency, usually expressed in miles per gallon. The U.S. Department of Transportation and Environmental Protection Agency work together to establish national standards that set the average fuel economy and global warming pollution standards that an auto manufacturer's fleet must achieve.
Learn more:
- Clean Car Standards Resource Center
- Fuel Economy Basics
- Fixing the EPA's Fuel Economy Tests
- Working Truck Fuel Economy: The Facts
Benefits of Increased Fuel Efficiency
Fuel-efficient vehicles require less gas to go a given distance. When we burn less gas, we need less oil. When we use less oil, we reduce global warming emissions, improve air quality, and protect public health. Plus we spend less at the pump, saving money that can far surpass any additional costs associated with buying a more fuel-efficient vehicle in the first place.
Learn more:
- Protecting Consumers from Pain at the Gas Pump
- Jobs, Energy, and Fuel Economy 2007
- 21st Century Solutions to High Gas Prices (2004)
In-depth reports
Where Your Gas Money Goes: How Oil Companies Profit From Your Pain at the Pump (2013)- Delivering Jobs: Economic Costs and Benefits of Improving the Fuel Economy of Heavy-Duty Vehicles (2010)
- Setting the Standard (2008)
- Reducing Global Warming Pollution: Technology Options for Tractor-Trailers (2008)
- Delivering the Green: Reducing Trucks' Climate Impact While Saving at the Pump (2008)
- Drilling in Detroit (2001)
Improving U.S. Fuel Economy
Smart government policy provides the most effective means to improve the fuel economy of our nation’s cars and trucks. In August 2012, the federal government enacted strong new standards for vehicles produced through 2025. If correctly implemented, these standards could nearly double the average new vehicle fuel economy to about 50 miles per gallon.
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How to Maximize Your Vehicle’s Fuel Economy
A few simple things can noticeably increase your car’s mileage, including regular maintenance and fuel-efficient driving habits.
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Tires and Fuel Economy
Reducing the rolling resistance of tires could reduce U.S. fuel consumption by one to two percent and save the nation one to two billion gallons of gasoline annually.
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Roadblocks to Improved Fuel Economy
The technology has existed for years to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles. Although automakers have generally agreed to support recent efforts to increase fuel efficiency, this hasn’t always been the case. If history is any guide, automakers must be closely held to their recent commitments for bringing clean car technologies to market—or the considerable oil, global warming, and consumer benefits could be undermined in the future.
