NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The average fuel economy of the nation's cars and light trucks rose last year but still trails that of the late 1980s, the Environmental Protection Agency said Friday.
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The average fuel economy for 2003 model year cars and light trucks rose to 20.8 miles per gallon from 20.4 mpg last year, the agency said in a new report. Fuel economy peaked at 22.1 mpg in 1987 and 1988 but has been falling since.
According to the study, increased sales of sport/utility vehicles and other light trucks have hurt fuel economy. Light trucks, which include SUVs, minivans and pickups, get more than 6 mpg less than cars on average, and have doubled their market share over the past 20 years to about half of total light vehicle sales.
Cars and light trucks account for roughly 40 percent of all U.S. oil consumption.
Automakers have been experimenting with hybrids that run on gasoline and electricity in order to boost fuel economy, and have been offering more diesel models as well.
The fuel economy numbers were based on laboratory tests and have been lowered by 15 percent to account for "real world estimates." The report also noted that the adjusted figures are substantially lower than those used by the Department of Transportation to evaluate compliance with the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards.
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