USDOT recently updated federal fuel economy standards for Model Years 2027-2031, bringing light-duty vehicles to 50.4 miles per gallon and heavy-duty vehicles to 35 miles per gallon.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued new vehicle fuel economy standards that are projected to save Americans and local governments more than $23 billion in fuel costs while reducing pollution. This rule is in accordance with continuous energy security efforts that date back to the 1970s, when the average vehicle got about 13 miles to the gallon.
In this final rule, fuel economy will increase 2% per year for model years 2027-2031 for passenger cars, while light trucks will increase 2% per year for model years 2029-2031. These increases will bring the average light-duty vehicle fuel economy up to approximately 50.4 miles per gallon by model year 2031, saving passenger car and light truck owners more than $600 in fuel over the lifetime of their vehicles.
Heavy-duty pickup truck and van fuel efficiency will increase 10% per year for model years 2030-2032 and 8% per year for model years 2033-2035. This will result in a fleetwide average of approximately 35 miles per gallon by model year 2035, saving heavy-duty pickup and van owners more than $700 in fuel over the lifetime of their vehicles.
These improved standards will save almost 70 billion gallons of gasoline through 2050, preventing more than 710 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
Passenger cars are generally sedans, station wagons, and two-wheel drive crossovers and SUVs, while light trucks are generally four-wheel drive SUVs, pickups, minivans, and passenger/cargo vans. Heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans are generally Class 2b/3 work trucks, fleet SUVs, work vans, and cutaway chassis-cab vehicles.
