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None of the light-duty vehicles produced in 1975 had fuel economy over 30 miles per gallon (mpg). In 1995, 4.4% had fuel economy over 30 mpg; by 2018, that share had grown to 27%. Engine and vehicle technologies have been developed to improve the fuel economies of cars and light trucks, so the share of vehicles with 30 mpg or more has been increasing since 2013. In 2018, 2.4% of light-duty vehicles produced were plug-in vehicles with fuel economies above 60 mpg.

Light-duty vehicle production by fuel economy for model years 1975-2018

Note: Data for 2018 are preliminary.

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, The 2018 EPA Automotive Trends Report: Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Fuel Economy, and Technology since 1975, EPA-420-R-19-002, March 2019.

Fact #1082 Dataset

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