According to The Environmental Protection Agency annual report, the average fuel economy of 2006 remained at 21 miles per gallon, which is the same as last year. This revelation is more surprising as it has been shared by Charles Territo, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, that almost every new model offers fuel-saving technologies.
Few highlights of the report show that:
Honda Motor Co. had the highest fuel economy rating by manufacturer, 24.2 mpg.
Toyota Motor Corp., with a 23.8 mpg average notches second place.
General Motors Corp. also showed improvements, posting a 20.5 mpg.
Ford Motor Co., which improved 0.5 mpg to reach 19.7 mpg, is second last.
DaimlerChrysler AG had the lowest fuel economy rating with 19.1 mpg.
Vehicle type fuel-efficiency report:
Passenger cars averaged 24.6 mpg in 2006, down from 25 mpg in 2005.
Sport utility vehicles averaged 18.5 mpg, an increase of 0.2 mpg
Pickups rose by 0.1 mpg to average 17 mpg.
In spite of more than 100 models with 30 mpg and 40 alternate fuel vehicles such as hybrids, diesels or ethanol models to choose from it seems consumers have not really taken well to these gas saving vehicles.
In contrary to what we read these days, the report also says that consumers have bought more SUVs and pickup trucks leading to fall in miles per gallon of gas. Increase in vehicle weight and acceleration from 3,220 pounds in 1987 to 4,142 today, and the average 0-to-60 acceleration time from 13.1 seconds in 1987 to 9.7 seconds in 2006 has also led to this unexpected result.
It looks as if we have headed towards what David Friedman, research director for the Clean Vehicles Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists says, though not fully:
The more things seem to change in the world in terms gas prices and energy crises, the more things seem to stay the same in the auto industry.
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