In 2023, U.S. vehicle fuel economy reached a record high while greenhouse gas emissions dropped to record low levels, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 50th annual Automotive Trends Report.

The report also shows that all 14 large automotive manufacturers in the U.S. are in compliance with EPA's light-duty GHG program requirements through the MY 2023 reporting period. It is estimated that the new MY 2023 electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles on the road have led to 11 percent lower CO2 emissions.

Despite these significant improvements in local air pollution that have benefited Americans, passenger cars and light trucks still accounted for nearly 17 percent of total U.S. GHG emissions in 2022, indicating the importance of further reductions in GHG emissions and improvements in fuel economy.

For Model Year 2023, new vehicle fuel economy increased by 1.1 mpg reaching a record high 27.1 miles mpg.

During this period, new vehicle real-world CO2 emissions decreased to a record low of 319 grams per mile. By saving an additional 18 grams per mile of CO2 on each vehicle produced in the United States in MY 2023, the impact on climate change is reduced.

The report says that in the last two decades, CO2 emissions have decreased 31 percent in the United States, and fuel economy has increased 40 percent.

In MY 2023, the production of combined category of battery-electric vehicles, PHEVs, and fuel cell vehicles increased from 6.7 percent in MY 2022 to 11.5 percent in MY 2023 and are projected to reach 14.8 percent of production in model year 2024.

This accelerating trend will likely continue as EV production is expected to grow across the industry in coming years, EPA's report says.

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