14 DAY TRIAL // The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States has released a new report documenting the ecological footprint of vehicles purchased by the country's residents in 2012.
The report says that, all things considered, the cars bought by people in this country back in 2012 are more fuel-efficient than all the other ones that hit roads in the previous years.
According to Environmental Leader, US' 2012 cars were found to have an overall fuel economy of 23.6 miles per gallon.
The EPA researchers who worked on this investigation explain that this represents a 1.2 miles per gallon increase when compared to fuel economy rates documented in 2011.
What's more, they say that, when compared to 2008 and 2004, fuel economy has increased by 2.6 miles per gallon (12%) and 4.3 miles per gallon (22%), respectively.
As was to be expected, this increase in fuel economy goes hand in hand with a decrease in the amount of greenhouse gas emissions – especially CO2 – that cars driven up and down roads in the US on a yearly basis release in the planet's atmosphere.
Specifically, the EPA researchers say that model year 2012 vehicles in the country average about 376 grams of carbon dioxide emissions per mile. This represents a 22 grams per mile reduction when compared to emissions documented in 2011.
Interestingly enough, the report says that the figures concerning the fuel economy and the carbon footprint of 2012 cars in the US both represent new records for the country.
“The final model year (MY) 2012 adjusted, real world CO2 emissions rate is 376g/mi, which is a 22g/mi decrease relative to MY 2011. MY 2012 adjusted fuel economy is 23.6 mpg, which is 1.2 mpg higher than MY 2011,” the Agency writes in an executive summary of its report.
“Both values represent all-time records since the database began in MY 1975, and the authors believe that these represent historical records as well,” it adds.
The US EPA predicts that, by the end of the year 2013, fuel economy will rise by another 0.4 miles per gallon, and that carbon dioxide emissions will drop by another 6 grams per mile. Should these predictions prove accurate, the resulting figures would represent a new record for the country.