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Honda Ranked “Most Fuel-Efficient Full-Line Automaker in America”

The Environmental Protection Agency works in mysterious ways, and an example of the organization’s polarizing views can be found in a press release from Honda. The Japanese automaker “leads full-line automakers in fuel efficiency” according to the said release, but the 2019 EPA Automotive Trends Report begs to differ.
2019 EPA Automotive Trends Report 16 photos
Photo: EPA
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Take a good look at the image serving as the main picture of this story. Tesla is well above other automakers while Honda is listed in second place with 30 miles to the gallon and CO2 emissions of 296 grams per mile. The report can be read in full as a .pdf at the end of the article, so let’s turn our focus back to Honda.

The press release mentioned earlier doesn’t feature a single reference regarding Tesla, which is understandable but also condemnable at the same time. Everyone knows that Elon Musk’s baby is up there at the very top because the Palo Alto-based automaker doesn’t do internal combustion, hybrids, or plug-in hybrids. Also worthy of mention, "full-line automakers" means lots of things depending on context.

Another slide of the report paints a different picture altogether for Honda, which boasts 4 percent hybrids and 1 percent PHEVs, EVs, and/or FCVs. Tesla, meanwhile, sells four BEVs in the guise of the Model 3, Y, S, and X. That's a full-line automaker in our book, alright!

Honda’s latest effort to improve fuel efficiency while cutting back on carbon dioxide is the CR-V Hybrid, a compact crossover that’s not as efficient as the competition but a little more affordable to purchase. To the point, the CR-V Hybrid tops 38 miles to the gallon on the combined cycle while the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid and Ford Escape Hybrid with AWD are rated at 40 miles per gallon.

The fleet average of 296 grams per mile also demonstrates how much the U.S. is lagging in CO2 reduction from new cars as opposed to the European Union. From 2021, the EU fleet-wide average emission target will be 95 grams of CO2 per kilometer, corresponding with 4.1 liters of gasoline or 3.6 liters of diesel per 100 kilometers, down from 130 grams per kilometer.

Automakers who surpass the fleet average by a single gram will be fined 95 euros from 2021 onwards.
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 Download: 2019 EPA Automotive Trends Report (PDF)

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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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