Family Life

04.01.10 | FL News Team

The Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Department will be announcing new fuel mileage standards for automakers on Thursday. The government effort is aimed at raising fleet averages each year beginning with the 2012 model year reaching 35-point-five-miles per gallon for 2016 models. That's a 42-percent increase from the current 25 mile per gallon fleet standard. The increased fuel mileage standard is expected to save one-point-eight-billion barrels of oil over the life of the vehicles built through 2016. That's equivalent to removing 58-million cars from the road for a year.

 To hit the new mark, the auto industry will begin adding cleaner-burning diesel cars, plug-in hybrids and more efficient gasoline engines to the inventory. There are already a few cars available that meet or exceed the 2016 standard. Toyota's Prius hybrid sedan is rated at 48 miles per gallon on the highway, Ford's Fusion hybrid is EPA rated at 36 miles per gallon highway and the Honda Civic hybrid hits the 45 mile per gallon mark at highway speeds.