US car manufacturers meet emissions targets for third straight year

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that US car manufacturers have surpassed ramped-up 2014 greenhouse gas emissions standards for new vehicles, and that the fuel economy of cars made in the US in 2014 remains the highest ever recorded.

The news marks the third year in a row that US manufacturers have complied with ever-stricter emissions limits.

The findings were included in two reports released by the EPA – one on fuel economy trends and one on progress towards emission standards for cars and light trucks. The Greenhouse Gas Manufacturer Performance Report concludes that for model year 2014, manufacturers are over-complying with the greenhouse gas standards by 13 grams of carbon dioxide per mile, or about 1.4 miles per gallon (mpg).

The EPA’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 average. The report finds that in the last 10 years, fuel economy has increased by 5 mpg, or 26% overall.

The Fuel Economy Trends report tracks the average fuel economy of new cars and SUVs sold in the US. It finds that while overall fuel economy remained static in 2014, emission levels continued their downward trend due to improvements in air conditioning and other advancements.

It also finds that, while truck fuel economy reached a record high of 20.4 mpg – a 0.6 mpg increase from 2013 and the second largest increase in 30 years – on a fleet-wide basis this was offset by a 5% increase in truck market share.

The report also finds that the market is adopting fuel-efficient technologies such as turbocharging and advanced transmissions at a faster pace than the EPA projected when the standards were finalised in 2012.

The EPA says that since 2012 these emissions standards have resulted in reducing cumulative emissions by around 60mn tonnes of carbon dioxide. It predicts that the programme – which has an aim of doubling fuel economy and reducing emissions by 50% by 2025 – will save the US $1.7tn in fuel costs, reduce fuel use by 12bn barrels of oil, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 6bn tonnes.

‘For the third year in a row, manufacturers have exceeded the greenhouse gas 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.’