Fact #868: April 13, 2015 Automotive Technology Has Improved Performance and Fuel Economy of New Light Vehicles

Despite a 124% increase in horsepower and 47% decrease in 0-60 time from 1980 to 2014, the fuel economy of vehicles improved 27%. All of these data series are sales-weighted averages. The weight of the vehicle appears to have an inverse relationship with fuel economy thus many manufacturers are working to reduce vehicle weight.

Characteristics of Light Vehicles Sold, Model Years 1980-2014

Note: Data are sales-weighted.

Fact #868 Dataset

Supporting Information

Characteristics of Light Vehicles Sold, Model Years 1980-2014 (Index: 1980=100)
Model Year	Fuel Economy	Weight	Horsepower	0-60 Time
1980	100	100	100	100
1981	107	99	98	100
1982	110	99	99	107
1983	109	101	103	96
1984	110	101	105	95
1985	111	101	110	90
1986	114	100	110	86
1987	115	100	113	86
1988	114	102	118	85
1989	112	104	124	80
1990	110	106	130	74
1991	111	106	133	74
1992	108	109	139	71
1993	109	109	141	66
1994	106	112	146	65
1995	107	112	152	65
1996	107	113	158	66
1997	105	115	163	66
1998	105	116	164	67
1999	103	119	172	66
2000	103	118	174	63
2001	102	120	180	61
2002	102	122	188	61
2003	102	124	191	60
2004	101	127	203	58
2005	104	126	201	58
2006	105	126	205	57
2007	108	127	209	57
2008	109	127	211	57
2009	117	121	200	57
2010	118	124	206	56
2011	117	128	221	55
2012	123	123	213	55
2013	126	124	218	54
Source: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 2014 Vehicle Technologies Market Report, ORNL/TM-2015/85, March 2015.

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