EPA Report: Automakers Surpassing Light-Duty Greenhouse Gas Standards

(US Environmental Protection Agency) For the second consecutive model year, the automotive industry outperformed the national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards by a wide margin. Overall industry compliance in model year 2013 was 12 grams/mile – or 1.4 miles per gallon – better than required by the 2013 standard.

These were among the top findings released today in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) second annual “Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Light Duty Vehicles: Manufacturer’s Performance Report." The report presents detailed information about how individual firms are complying with GHG emissions standards for cars and light trucks.

“These findings are a terrific early success story for President Obama’s historic effort to reduce the pollution that contributes to climate change,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “Automakers are racing to meet our goals. The American auto industry has never been stronger, we’re creating jobs here in the U.S., selling cleaner cars here and overseas, and consumers are really benefiting from the innovations spurred by these standards.”

The report found:
• Overall industry compliance in model year 2013 was 12 grams/mile better than required by the 2013 standard. This marks the second consecutive model year of industry outperforming the standards by a wide margin.

• The majority of manufacturers (representing more than 99% of sales) met both the 2012 and 2013 standards. The remaining manufacturers have several more years to come into compliance.

• Automakers are using the optional flexibilities built into the standards such as improved air conditioning systems and the use of fleet averaging. These flexibilities continue to increase consumer choice, spur technology innovation and decrease compliance costs all while providing manufacturers with options on how and when to make reductions.

According to EPA’s most recent CO2 Emissions and Fuel Economy Trends Report, model year 2013 vehicles achieved an all-time record average of 24.1 miles per gallon (mpg) – a 0.5 mpg increase over the previous year and an increase of nearly 5 mpg since 2004. Average carbon dioxide emissions from cars and light trucks are also at a record low. Fuel economy has increased in eight of the last nine years. There are more than three times as many 30 mpg vehicles than just five years ago, and fuel economy for SUVs has been increasing faster than for any other vehicle types

EPA’s GHG emissions standards cover light-duty vehicles from model year 2012 to 2025. The standards are projected to save 12 billion barrels of oil, and cut 6 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases over the lifetimes of vehicles sold in these years. The standards are also projected to save consumers who purchase a new MY 2025 vehicle more than $8,000 in fuel costs over that vehicle’s lifetime.