With the declining price of fuel helping slowing the trends towards more fuel efficient vehicles, the emission of greenhouse gasses from light-duty vehicles has continued to decline, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA also said in its most recent Light Duty Fuel Economy Trends report that Mazda Motor Corp. is the most fuel-efficient auto manufacturer in the U.S. With the highest fleet-wide adjusted fuel economy performance of 29.4 miles per gallon, and the lowest carbon dioxide emissions of 328, Mazda led the chart for model year 2014.
For the third consecutive year, Mazda has achieved the highest fuel efficiency of any other mainstream automotive manufacturer in the industry, without offering a hybrid or electric vehicle, noted James O’Sullivan, president and chief executive officer of Mazda’s North American Operations, who credited the company’s SkyActiv technology for the strong fuel-economy numbers.
Overall, the EPA reported that manufacturers have surpassed the more stringent 2014 standards for greenhouse gas emissions, while model year 2014 fuel economy remains steady at the highest level ever recorded. The EPA has not yet completed data collection from the 2015 model year, which ended Sept. 30.
The findings were included in two reports in the agency’s annual report on fuel economy trends and a separate report on the auto industry’s progress toward meeting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for cars and light trucks.
The Greenhouse Gas Manufacturer Performance Report concludes that for model year 2014, manufacturers are over-complying with the GHG standards by 13 grams of carbon dioxide per mile, or about 1.4 miles per gallon.
The agency’s annual “Light-Duty Automotive Technology, Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Fuel Economy Trends: 1975 through 2015” report shows that fleet-wide model year 2014 fuel economy remained steady at the highest recorded level, 24.3 mpg, with truck fuel economy reaching a record high of 20.4 mpg label average. In the last 10 years, fuel economy has increased significantly, improving 5 mpg or 26% overall.
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“For the third year in a row, manufacturers have exceeded the GHG emissions standards by a wide margin,” said EPA’s director of the Office of Air Quality and Transportation, Christopher Grundler. “It’s clear that our standards are working, spurring technology and innovation, and we are on track to achieve significant greenhouse gas reductions.”
EPA estimates that, through 2014, the GHG emissions standards have resulted in reducing cumulative emissions by roughly 60 million metric tons of carbon dioxide – roughly the amount of GHGs emitted from electricity use from over 8 million homes in a single year.
In 2012, EPA and the Department of Transportation began implementing standards projected to double new vehicle fuel economy by 2025 and cut new vehicle GHG emissions by half. Because of this program, consumers have many more choices when shopping for vehicles with higher fuel economy and lower carbon dioxide emissions compared to just five years ago.
The Fuel Economy Trends report tracks average fuel economy of new cars and SUVs sold in the United States. While overall GHG emissions continued downward due to improvements in air conditioning and other advancements, this year’s report finds that overall fuel economy remains steady at 24.3 mpg in model year 2014. Truck fuel economy reached a record high of 20.4 mpg label average, a 0.6 mpg increase from last year and the second largest increase in 30 years.
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However, on a fleet-wide basis, this higher truck fuel economy was offset by a 5% increase in truck market share. In addition, the report finds that the market is adopting fuel-efficient technologies such as turbocharging and advanced transmissions at a faster pace than EPA projected when the standards were finalized.
EPA’s Manufacturer Performance Report assesses the automobile industry’s progress toward meeting GHG emissions standards for cars and light trucks in the 2014 model year – the third year of this 14-year program.
For model year 2014, manufacturers are over-complying with the GHG standards, which means consumers continue to buy vehicles with lower GHG emissions than required by the EPA standards. However, new reports from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute indicate that progress on fuel-economy has slowed this year for the first time since the 2008-2009 recession.
Mazda’s SkyActiv technology can be found throughout its vehicle line up including the Mazda3, Mazda6, CX-5 and in the all-new MX-5 Miata and CX-3. The Mazda CX-3 crossover utility vehicle has been rated with an EPA-estimated fuel economy as high as 29 mpg city/35 mpg highway, which positions CX-3’s fuel economy as class-leading among all 2015 and 2016 subcompact crossover utility vehicles.
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Arriving in 2016, the all-new Mazda CX-9 will feature a new SkyActiv 2.5-liter direct injection turbocharged gasoline engine. The CX-9 aims to offer customers a combination of great performance in everyday driving situations and excellent fuel economy.
Compare the Toyota 29.4 mpg to the absurd EPA / Obama mandated 54.5 mpg CAFE for 2025. As has been known since the meritless mandate became law, no major auto maker can achieve the 54.5 mpg CAFE requirement without selling EVs, bicycles and using “credits” for other perceived environmentally friendly tech. The pie-in-the-sky 54.5 mpg CAFE requirement is costing consumers dearly with thousands of dollars in increases in sticker prices yearly.
Plug in hybrids like the Chevy Volt will become the norm. Most manufacturers are moving in this direction.
NOT if consumers have a choice – and they still do. As noted most mfgs. are being forced to sell EV’s because no major auto maker can meet the 54.5 mpg CAFE mandate which is a meritless figure and not based on any science. I’ll bet used car sales will force a change in the exploitation of consumers by Obama and the EPA.
GT, there’s a fundamental flaw in much of what you say about battery-based technology, at least from a business sense. If the 54.5 CAFE law were to go away tomorrow, odds are that Toyota would still make the Mirai, Porsche would still make the Mission E, Ford would still plan to expand its e- line-up, and so on. You are forming your opinion focusing solely on the American market. I’ll debate the issue of whether we should or shouldn’t go for higher CAFE at another time, but the reality is that the U.S. is no longer in the driver’s seat here.
Europe’s CO2 rules make the 54.5 mpg standard seem simple, by comparison. And China is pushing for a rapid changeover to electric propulsion. Even Saudi Arabia is enacting new mileage standards. Economies of scale suggest that manufacturers would still need to market alternative power vehicles in the States even if we were to eliminate mileage standards all together.
Oh, and a couple things about the 2025 CAFE rules: first, they really won’t require any vehicle to hit 54.5 mpg. With credits and adjustments, the average is in the low-mid 40s; and the standard is adjusted for the footprint of each individual vehicle, so pickups will need far less. That said, you ARE right that a number of vehicles will need to have some form of electrification to get there, whether “mild” hybrids with stop-start, or full battery-electrics.
Paul E.