U.S. ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION
WASHINGTON DC 20585

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 15, 1997

Minivans and sport-utility vehicles are classified as "light trucks." They are exempt from gas-guzzler and luxury-vehicle taxes, and they are subject to lower fuel-economy standards than traditional passenger cars. Although minivans and sport-utility vehicles average fewer miles to the gallon, consumer preference has boosted sales of those vehicles.

One reason may be that when inflation-adjusted gasoline prices are relatively low, as they have been since the mid-1980's, consumers have less incentive for choosing higher fuel-economic vehicles. In 1994, the number of minivans increased 268 percent from the number in 1988, and the number of sport-utility vehicles increased 98 percent (Figure 1). These findings are reported in Household Vehicles Energy Consumption 1994, which presents the most recent U.S. Government data on residential transportation. It is the only publication that relates household vehicle-miles traveled and vehicle fuel use and expenditures to household characteristics such as family income and driver age. Report data were obtained from EIA's 1994 Residential Transportation Energy Consumption Survey of vehicles that were owned by or otherwise accessible to households in 1994.

Other key findings include:

• U.S. household vehicles traveled 1,793 billion miles in 1994, a distance greater than 70 million trips around the world. Household vehicles traveled 282 billion miles more in 1994 than in 1988. There were 9.3 million more household vehicles in 1994 than in 1988, and each of those vehicles averaged 11,400 miles in 1994, versus 10,200 miles in 1988. Minivans and sport-utility vehicles were driven the most--an average of 13,400 miles and 12,700 miles, respectively.

• Lower-income households (those with annual family incomes below $25,000) averaged 1.5 vehicles in 1994, whereas other households averaged 2.1 vehicles. The share of households with no vehicles at all rose from 11 percent in 1988 to 13 percent in 1994. Most of the households without vehicles were in the lowest-income group (households eligible for Federal assistance).

• People in the average U.S. household in 1994 drove their vehicles 21,100 miles, but that average masks significant differences. For example, typical householder A, an older person whose children had left home, drove only 8,600 miles, whereas in typical household B, which includes teenagers of driving age, people drove 29,900 miles. Minivans are owned primarily by families with children.

• Despite the increasing number of light trucks, the fuel economy of the average household vehicle improved. In 1994, it was 19.8 mpg, up from 18.3 mpg in 1988 (Figure 2). Minivans averaged 19.7 mpg and sport-utility vehicles averaged 16.3 mpg. The average household vehicle in 1994 used 578 gallons of motor fuel at a cost of $668. Minivans averaged 682 gallons at $782 and sport-utility vehicles averaged 778 gallons at $911.

• In the past, when new vehicles tended to replace vehicles of 1970's and 1980's vintage, with their relatively lower fuel economy, the average fuel economy of the household vehicle fleet continued to inch upward. Now, however, most of the fleet consists of vehicles of mid-1980's vintage or newer. Because new-vehicle fuel economy has been stable since the mid-1980's, new vehicles now tend to replace vehicles of similar fuel economy. If current trends continue, the average fuel economy of the fleet will stabilize at a level not much above its current value. And to the extent that less fuel-economic light trucks replace passenger cars, the fleet's average fuel economy may even decrease in future years.

• Household vehicles consumed 90.6 billion gallons of motor fuel in 1994, up from 82.4 billion gallons in 1988. The 1994 volume would fill about 9 million tank trucks, which, if placed end to end, would stretch across the United States nearly 40 times. If increases in the number of household vehicles and in the number of miles they travel continue and are not mitigated by increases in fuel economy, fuel consumption will continue to climb.

Copies of Household Vehicles Energy Consumption 1994 are available from the U.S. Government Printing Office or through EIA's National Energy Information Center, Room 1F-048, Forrestal Building, Washington, DC 20585.

Users can also view or download the report's tables and appendices from the World Wide Web. To access the report electronically, open the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) http://www.eia.doe.gov and select "End Use Consumption" from the menu and then click on "Residential Transportation." The direct Internet address is http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/rtecs/contents.html. Figures 1 and 2, referenced above, may be viewed on EIA's Web Site or they may be obtained from EIA's Press Contact.

EIA Program Contact: Ron Lambrecht, 202-586-4962

EIA Press Contact: Thomas Welch, 202-586-1178

EIA-97-20

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