Fuel Efficiency, Consumers, and Income

The document asserts that federal fuel efficiency standards save American consumers money and reduce oil use and pollution. It highlights that low- and middle-income households benefit most because they spend a larger share of their income on transportation. The text refutes claims that these standards make vehicles unaffordable, attributing rising new vehicle prices to a shift toward luxury SUVs and pickup trucks. It also notes strong public support for these standards across political lines and warns that reevaluating them risks the goal of nearly doubling average fuel efficiency by 2025.

• Between 1980 and 2014, improvements in fuel efficiency saved low- to middle-income households an average of up to 2 percent of their income, while the highest earners saved an average of about 0.5 percent.
• The 2017–2025 federal fuel efficiency and global warming pollution standards are projected to save the average new car buyer approximately $6,000 over the life of a 2025 vehicle, accounting for the cost of fuel-saving technology. Total savings for Americans are forecast to reach about $50 billion by 2030.
• Low-income households are more heavily impacted by fuel costs because transportation consumes about 30 percent of their total income, and they typically spend more on fuel than on the purchase of the vehicle.
• The increase in the average transaction price of new vehicles is largely due to automakers focusing on luxury SUVs and expensive pickup trucks rather than fuel efficiency standards; the cost of the most affordable vehicles has remained effectively constant since 2005.
• Rural Americans are more dependent on personal vehicles and spend more of their income on vehicle-related costs than urban dwellers due to longer travel distances and limited public transportation options; only 11 percent of rural respondents in one survey had public transportation available to their homes.
• There is broad public support for stronger fuel efficiency standards across demographic and political lines, with 75 percent or more of Americans supporting them, including two-thirds of Donald Trump voters and four-fifths of Hillary Clinton voters in a December 2016 poll.
• The Trump administration's March 2017 decision to reevaluate the 2022–2025 federal fuel efficiency and global warming emissions standards threatens the goal of nearly doubling the average fuel efficiency of new cars and light trucks by 2025.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2017). Fuel Efficiency, Consumers, and Income. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/images/reports/vehicles/cv-factsheet-fuel-economy-income.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Fuel Efficiency, Consumers, and Income. 2017. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/images/reports/vehicles/cv-factsheet-fuel-economy-income.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Fuel Efficiency, Consumers, and Income |date=August 2017 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/images/reports/vehicles/cv-factsheet-fuel-economy-income.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2017fuel, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Fuel Efficiency, Consumers, and Income}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2017}, month = aug, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/images/reports/vehicles/cv-factsheet-fuel-economy-income.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }