I think we can all agree despite the ups and downs of gas prices that the overall trend is for them to continue upward. One of the most practical alternatives to fight back against this is to get a vehicle that reduces fuel costs.
Of course this is expensive and some would say that if you can afford to buy a new car you might not be concerned with the cost per gallon at the pump right now.
Although this is true no one knows what the future will bring and if you’re going to buy a car, new or used, why not get one that is thinking about the future world it will drive in. New federal rules requiring manufacturers to nearly double the average fuel economy of cars and trucks by 2025 are aimed at providing these options.
The fuel efficiency standards finalized and released by the Obama administration call for vehicles that reduce fuel cost. To be specific, automobiles built for the model year of 2025 will have an average fuel economy of 54 miles per gallon.
The current requirement is 29 mpg. Consider this, in 2016 the requirement will be 35 miles per gallon. Remember, this is the corporate average, meaning the vehicles that fall below this mark will have to be compensated by vehicles that reach above the goal to raise the average.So here’s my point. Car makers are hard at work developing automobiles that will get better fuel economy. Every year you can wait to replace an automobile the better off you’ll be in terms of average fuel economy. Let me take this a step further and apply this to used cars. One of the most important criteria of selecting a used car will be the model year of it.
How Important is the Year When Buying Cars
Here is an example of newer vehicles reducing fuel costs. I bought a 2004 Chevrolet Blazer with a V-6 engine. The highway miles per gallon where advertised at 17.
The real-world miles per gallon being a combination of city and highway driving came in somewhere around 14 miles to the gallon. My girlfriend bought a 2006 Chevrolet Impala with a V-6 engine and her full sized automobile averaged about 25 mpg in real world driving situations. Every year that passes you have a better chance of obtaining an automobile that gets higher miles per gallon. With all of the manufacturers on board for this fairly lofty goal of corporate average fuel economy meeting 54 miles per gallon by the year 2025, large investments are necessary for new technology and manufacturing methods to obtain this goal.
I read in the Wall Street Journal about how Ford intends to take a different route to meet the tough fuel standards. While most car makers are working on the engine and transmission side of the equation Ford is working on reducing the curb weight.
Since they sell a lot of trucks plans include building its popular F150 pickups with significantly lighter materials replacing steel with aluminum where ever possible. This trend of making lighter vehicles is nothing new but what is new is the technology and the materials used to build them has come a long way.
I realize you can only wait so long to go out and purchase a replacement for the one that you are driving today. Maybe you can figure out a way to keep that old auto going for another few months allowing you to reach another year forward when replacing it?
My points is that if you can put this off and wait for the next model year or if we are talking used cars push the model year forward as much as you can the benefits going forward could be larger than you expect.
People love to buy new cars but they don’t often consider the fact if they wait a few more months they can get the next model year and reap the benefits of a car or truck that reduces fuel costs thanks to developing technology that will get it done without sacrificing performance.
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I have a large section dedicated to my opinion on the car burning gas subject. Browse through some more articles about fuel economy and what you can do to increase it. Another good place to visit is the Auto-Facts.org Homepage there you’ll see what else is available here.