More efficient vehicles that run on lower carbon-emitting fuels are

critical to meeting energy security and climate protection goals. EESI

promotes improvements in vehicle fuel economy, while working to
accelerate a transition from petroleum-based fuels to other liquid and
non-liquid “fuels” derived from renewable sources.

Improvements in materials, aerodynamic design, and drive train

(engine/transmission) efficiency have the potential to substantially
increase the average fuel economy of the U.S. vehicle fleet. Full
deployment of currently available technology could achieve gains of 40
percent, according to several studies. Other anticipated improvements
now under development are estimated to bring total efficiency up to 80
percent. Greater vehicle efficiency will be important even as new fuels
and energy sources are developed.

Auto fuel economy is significantly enhanced with a variety of

technologies to increase drive train (engine/transmission) efficiency,
improve aerodynamics and reduce vehicle weight. For more detail,
see below. Properly maintaining the vehicle also helps. Keeping a
car's oil filled at the proper level, doing on time oil changes and engine
tuning, and ensuring properly inflated tires, all significantly improve
fuel economy.

Driving behaviors also impact fuel economy. Removing unneeded

accessories (i.e. roof racks) and cargo, smooth acceleration and
deceleration, and use of high gears when at a steady speed, are some
examples which reduce fuel consumption.

The driving behavior with perhaps the largest potential contribution to

fuel efficiency, across nearly all vehicle types, is idle reduction. Idling
for long periods of time wastes fuel and poses a health risk to people
in and around the vehicle. For example, a typical idling school bus
diesel engine burns about half a gallon of fuel per hour. Vehicle diesel
engines are generally tuned for optimum operation at traveling speeds,
so they combust fuel less efficiently when idling. Idling results in more
pollutants per gallon, and these pollutants are concentrated in one
place because the vehicle is stationary. These are typically places
where people, such as vulnerable school children, are gathered. Diesel
exhaust contains particulate matter which lodges in lung tissue when
inhaled and is believed to cause or exacerbate numerous health
problems, including cancer, asthma, reduced lung function, and
premature death.