Our Green Energy Future

Fuel Economy

Better fuel economy standards will save consumers money and increase vehicle choice.

Consumers Union Documents

• A Review of Consumer Benefits from Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards
  Posted 06/13/13 at 8:23 am

  New vehicle fuel economy standards will save consumers thousands of dollars while cutting back on pollution, creating jobs, and reducing oil consumption. Consumer Reports estimates that consumers will realize a savings of about $4,500 over the life of a vehicle when standards are fully implemented. The new standards have other benefits, including decreased carbon emissons, job creation, a boost to the economy, economic security and stabilization.

• FAQs on Fuel Economy
  Posted 01/03/12 at 12:49 pm

  Frequently Asked Questions on Fuel Economy Standards  How do fuel economy standards work? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set average mile-per-gallon targets and emissions targets for each car manufacturer’s fleet. The CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards are based on “footprint” curves, where each vehicle has a Continue Reading

• Better Fuel Economy by 2025 Will Deliver Great Value to Consumers
  Posted 12/30/11 at 12:18 pm

  Consumers will reap major savings from newly proposed higher fuel economy standards.

Press Releases

• CU: New Report Highlights the Consumer Benefits of Fuel Efficiency
  Posted 02/05/13 at 11:25 am

  Report gives further evidence that the ones really benefiting from gas sales are the oil companies

• Final Fuel Economy Standards Will Help Consumers Save at the Pump
  Posted 08/28/12 at 5:16 pm

  News Release Consumers Union – Policy and Advocacy Division of Consumer Reports For Immediate Release: Tuesday, August 28, 2012 Contact: Kara Kelber, kkelber@consumer.org, 202-462-6262 Final Fuel Economy Standards Will Help Consumers Save at the Pump WASHINGTON, DC – The Department of Transportation (DOT) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced the final details of new Continue Reading

• CONSUMER REPORTS SURVEY: AMERICANS SAY FUEL ECONOMY MOST IMPORTANT CAR BUYING FACTOR
  Posted 05/30/12 at 4:31 pm

  Nearly three-quarters of drivers would consider an alternative fuel vehicle for their next car  May 22, 2012 YONKERS, NY — With fuel prices at near record levels, consumers are driving less and contemplating a move to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, according to recent survey by Consumer Reports. The survey found that 37 percent said their leading consideration Continue Reading

• CU: New fuel standards would save consumers thousands in gasoline costs
  Posted 02/14/12 at 3:52 pm

  In a recent CR survey, consumers demonstrated strong support for fuel efficiency standards

Blog Posts

• Is Your State or City Among the Cleanest in the Nation?
  Posted 08/04/14 at 3:16 pm

  Clean Edge has released the results for its Clean Energy Leadership Index, comparing which states and major cities are leading the way in terms of clean energy technology usage.   Out of all the states, California was ranked first among all states by a “wide margin” according to the report. State performance was evaluated on Continue Reading

• How Do Energy Costs in Your State Compare to Other States?
  Posted 07/21/14 at 2:42 pm

    1 = lowest cost; 51 = highest cost green = low cost; red = highest cost Energy costs can spike in the summer time, when many people would probably rather sit inside and crank up the A/C. But for some states, that cost is significantly higher than others. Wallet Hub decided to compile data Continue Reading

• California state government rebates lead to more electric car purchases
  Posted 07/02/14 at 11:03 am

  In a surprising turn of events, it turns out when the government helps makes products more affordable, more people actually buy them. That would seem to be what the data regarding electric car purchases in California would support. The California Clean Vehicle Rebate Project set out in 2012 to provide subsidies to those who purchased Continue Reading

• Innovation and Open sourcing: the key to international business success and clean-energy technology is competition
  Posted at 10:45 am

  Tesla Motors has carved a very unique niche for their company, as they attempt to be the premier luxury all-electric sports car brand. Now however, anyone can access the technologies that use in their products. The motor company has open sourced the patents for their battery technology in the hopes that it will spur more Continue Reading

• New EPA Annual Report: 2012 Fuel Economy Hit Record High
  Posted 12/12/13 at 3:48 pm

  EPA’s annual report shows MY 2012 vehicle sales hit an all time record high for car and truck average fuel economy.   And the trend is likely to continue. Highlights from the report demonstrate many positive developments: MY 2012 fuel economy averaged 23.6 miles per gallon—a new record and 1.2 mpg higher than MY 2011. Fuel Continue Reading

• New MIT study: Pollution from U.S. Transportation Causing 53,000 Premature Deaths Each Year
  Posted 09/12/13 at 12:13 pm

  Conclusions from a recent MIT study provide yet more support for the need to move quickly on implementing stricter emissions standards: the cars and trucks we drive every day are shortening lives. According to MIT’s Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment, total ground-level emissions account for 200,000 early deaths annually, and transportation is the leading Continue Reading

• Highlights from #CleanAir4Kids
  Posted 06/19/13 at 1:09 pm

  Did you miss our Twitter chat yesterday on the EPA’s proposed clean car standards? We’ve pulled together the highlights: [View the story "Highlights from #CleanAir4Kids chat" on Storify] You can read the full chat overview here.

• Top 5 news stories from March on clean cars.
  Posted 04/03/13 at 8:49 am

  We saw some big things happen in the last few weeks on the road to cleaner cars. Here’s a taste: EPA announced average fuel economy hit a record high (23.8 mpg) in 2012 Hybrid sales jumped almost a third compared to the same period last year. EPA announced new tailpipe standards that will slash smog Continue Reading

• Where do we go from here on climate change?
  Posted 02/21/13 at 1:56 pm

  Super Storm Sandy forced climate change into the headlines, and the President highlighted its urgency in the State of the Union address. But most people have watched the figurative climate storm brewing for awhile. Last year was the hottest year on record in the United States, and from the near-record low levels on the Mississippi Continue Reading

• Historic Fuel Economy Standards Are Now Final
  Posted 08/28/12 at 5:11 pm

  It’s official: 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025 is the new fuel economy target for automakers. It’s an historic moment—consumers will save over $1.7 trillion in fuel costs, and more than a half-million auto-industry related jobs are expected to be created by 2030 when the standards are fully in place.   Even after accounting for investment in Continue Reading

News Articles

• New EPA Report: Initial Data Shows Significant Gains in Fuel Economy for 2012

  EPA Press Release / March 15, 2013 WASHINGTON – Today, EPA released its annual report that tracks the fuel economy of vehicles sold in the United States, underscoring the major increases made in the efficiency of the vehicles Americans drive, reducing oil consumption and cutting carbon emissions. According to the report, EPA estimates that between 2007 and Continue Reading