Fuel saver

Hybrid electric vehicles have saved close to 230 million gallons of fuel in the US since 1999, according to a report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

‘Sales of hybrid electric vehicles have increased an average of 72 per cent a year for the past five years and in 2006 the average fuel economy based on new EPA estimates was 35 miles per gallon for new hybrid models sold in the US,’ said Kevin Bennion, an NREL vehicle systems analysis research engineer.

To estimate the total fuel saved by hybrid electric vehicles, NREL researchers combined hybrid electric vehicle sales and fuel economy data to determine fuel savings. The fuel economy data included new EPA mpg ratings, but old EPA mpg ratings and user-reported values were also reviewed.

VISION modelling software developed by Argonne National Laboratory was used to determine the total number of hybrid electric vehicles in use in a given year. The annual vehicle stock estimates and the vehicle sales data were combined to calculate fuel savings of replacing a conventional vehicle with a hybrid closely matched in terms of size, weight and performance.