Generally expressed as liters per 100 kilometers (L/100 km), used in most European countries, China, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. British, Irish and Canadian law allow for the use of either liters per 100 kilometers or miles per imperial gallon.2.3.4.5. The window sticker on new US cars displays the vehicle's fuel consumption in US gallons per 100 miles, in addition to the traditional MPG number.6. A lower number means more efficient, while a higher number meansMiles per gallon (mpg) is commonly used in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada (alongside L/100 km). Kilometers per liter (km/L) is more commonly used elsewhere in the Americas, Asia, parts of Africa and Oceania. In Arab countries km/20 L, which is known as kilometers per tanaka (or Tanakeh) is used, where tanaka is a metal container which has a volume of twenty liters. When the mpg unit is used, it is necessary to identify the type of gallon used: the imperial gallon is 4.54609 liters, and the U.S. gallon is 3.785 liters. When using a measure expressed as distance per fuel unit, a higher number means more efficient, while a lower number means less efficient..Consumption can be expressed in terms of volume of fuel to travel a distance, or the distance travelled per unit volume of fuel consumed. Since fuel consumption of vehicles is a significant factor in air pollution, and since importation of motor fuel can be a large part of a nation's foreign trade, many countries impose requirements for fuel economy. Different methods are used to approximate the actual performance of the vehicle. The energy in fuel is required to overcome various losses (wind resistance, tire drag, and others) encountered while propelling the vehicle, and in providing power to vehicle systems such as ignition or air conditioning. Various strategies can be employed to reduce losses at each of the conversions between the chemical energy in the fuel and the kinetic energy of the vehicle. Driver behavior can affect fuel economy; maneuvers such as sudden acceleration and heavy braking waste energy. While the thermal efficiency (mechanical output to chemical energy in fuel) of petroleum engines has increased since the beginning of the automotive era, this is not the only factor in fuel economy. The design of automobile as a whole and usage pattern affects the fuel economy. Published fuel economy is subject to variation between jurisdiction due to variations in testing protocols.
One of the first studies to determine fuel economy in the United States was the Mobil Economy Run, which was an event that took place every year from 1936 (except during World War II) to 1968. It was designed to provide real fuel efficiency numbers during a coast to coast test on real roads and with regular traffic and weather conditions. The Mobil Oil Corporation sponsored it and the United States Auto Club (USAC) sanctioned and operated the run. In more recent studies, the average fuel economy for new passenger car in the United States improved from 17 mpg (13.8 L/100 km) in 1978 to more than 22 mpg (10.7 L/100 km) in 1982.7. The average[a] fuel economy for new 2017 model year cars, light trucks and SUVs in the United States was 24.9 mpgUS (9.4 L/100 km).8. 2019 model year cars (ex. EVs) classified as "midsize" by the US EPA ranged from 12 to 56 mpgUS (20 to 4.2 L/100 km)9. However, due to environmental concerns caused by CO2 emissions, new EU regulations are being introduced to reduce the average emissions of cars sold beginning in 2012, to 130 g/km of CO2, equivalent to 4.5 L/100 km (52 mpgUS, 63 mpgimp) for a diesel-fueled car, and 5.0 L/100 km (47 mpgUS, 56 mpgimp) for a gasoline (petrol)-fueled car.10.
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The fuel economy of an automobile relates distance traveled by a vehicle and the amount of fuel consumed.
