| The Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Program in the United States
The Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Program in the
United States was created in 1975 to determine whether vehicle manufacturers were
complying with the fuel economy standards set by the federal government.
For each manufacturer’s fleet of vehicles, the minimum
levels of performance each year became increasingly more stringent. In 1990 the CAFE
standard for the new passenger car fleet stabilized at 27.5 miles-per-U.S. gallon.
Between
1996 and 2004 the CAFE standard for the new light-duty truck fleet stabilized at 20.7
miles-per-U.S. gallon. The standards are set annually by the National Highway Traffic
and Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The current CAFE standards are:
- New passenger car fleet: 27.5 miles/U.S. gallon
- New light-duty truck fleet (2005): 21.0 miles/U.S. gallon
- New light-duty truck fleet (2006): 21.6 miles/U.S. gallon
- New light-duty truck fleet (2007): 22.2 miles/U.S. gallon
The manufacturers’ CAFE values are sales-weighted
averages of combined fuel economy test results.
For more information on the U.S. CAFE Program visit the
website at:
www.epa.gov/fueleconomy/
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