Gains in gas mileage in automobiles are being somewhat overstated, as re-ported by a study recently authored by an MIT economist. Modern engines are far better, but vehicles are much heavier and more powerful, throwing gains in efficiency out the window Article resource:
Study from MIT finds fuel efficiency has not improved much
Advertisements sometimes lie
An econ-omist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology showed that car compa-nies are not gaining nearly as much gas mileage as they have been boasting. The advertisements would suggest that there have been enormous leaps and bounds in fuel economy when, in reality, there have only been small gains. Almost every car producer is boasting higher numbers for fuel economy than are there. However, some lies are unbelievable and will not appear, such as Bugatti saying that it has the fuel economy as the Veyron when it really does not.
Reading the statistics
Even though the average engine gas mileage increase from 1980 to 2006 was 60 percent, there was really only a 15 percent in-crease in the average fuel mileage, as reported by a report done by Christopher Knittel, as reported by USA Today. The paper, “Automobiles on Steroids,” was published in the academic journal, the American Economic Review.
The average gas mileage in 1980 was 23 miles per gallon, which had im-proved to only 27 miles per gallon by 2006.
Average weight increasing
The reason behind the modest gain in fuel mileage is that automobiles have become heavier and have gained more horsepower. As reported by the New York Times, the average car, excluding body styles such as vans, trucks or SUVs, weighed in at 3,041 pounds in 1980. By 2006, the average car had ballooned to 3,455 pounds. The average curb weight across all vehicles, including trucks, etc., in the study in 2006, was 26 percent heavier and 107 percent more powerful than the average automobile in 1980, according to the Washington Post.
For instance, the Honda Accord was achieving fuel mileage of more than 34 miles per gallon by 1983, declined to less than 29 mpg after 1990 and crept back up to slightly over 30 mpg by 2005. The Accord also gained almost 1,000 pounds in weight and more than 100 horsepower in that time.
Weight and power cancels efficiency
All that engine technology, as reported by Knittel, has gone into compensating for the excess horsepower and weight. If cars were the same average weight and power of vehicles in 1980, the average mileage would be 37 miles per gal-lon.
The New York Times reports that Knittel wants the government to increase gasoline taxes instead of CAFÉ standards. He believes that would give car makers a reason to boost fuel mileage and individuals would not drive as much.
Sources
USA Today
Washington Post
New York Times
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