U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Vehicle Technologies Program
Fact #21: March 3, 1997
The Fuel Savings Benefits of Increasing Fuel Economy
The graph below illustrates percent savings in fuel use due to improved fuel economy. A 50% increase (1.5X) achieves a reduction of fuel use of 33%, while a doubling of fuel economy (2X) achieves a 50% decrease in fuel use.
As fuel economy increases as a multiple of original fuel economy, gains in fuel savings decline significantly. For example, a doubling of fuel economy (2X) achieves 75% of the fuel savings as a tripling (3X) of fuel economy. Fuel economy increases past a tripling of fuel economy result in relatively small gains in fuel savings.
Supporting Information
Percent Fuel Savings Due to
Increased Fuel Economy
| Increase in Fuel Economy |
Reduction of Fuel Use |
| 1.5X (50%) |
33% |
| 2X (100%) |
50% |
| 3X (200%) |
66% |
| 4X (300%) |
75% |
| 5X (400%) |
80% |
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