Fuel Economy of U.S. Cars Increases

The fuel efficiency of the U.S. vehicle fleet of cars, light trucks and SUVS rebounded slightly in 2006 and 2007, after years of steady deterioration, the Environmental Protection Agency said today. But fuel economy is still 8.5% worse than it was 20 years ago.

The 20.2 mpg average was 0.9 mpg higher than a year earlier, according to the EPA. Further, the new calculation relied on the EPA's revised system for estimating gas mileage, and experts generally agree that it yields results that are more realistic, and show vehicles were less efficient than old stickers showed. Fuel economy peaked in 1987 at 22.1 mpg and had steadily declined since then.

The slight reversal of that trend in the past two years was attributed to improving fuel economy of gas guzzling SUVs and light trucks, and declining sales of those vehicles in the marketplace. The minor milestone, however, falls far short of standards Congress is considering. The Senate has passed a new rule that would boost fuel economy to 35 mpg by 2020.

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