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Table 4-11M: Light Duty Vehicle, Short Wheel Base and Motorcycle Fuel Consumption and Travel

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  1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Vehicles registered (thousands)                                                              
Light duty vehicles, short wheel base 61,671 75,258 89,244 106,706 121,601 127,885 133,700 128,300 126,581 127,327 127,883 128,387 129,728 129,749 131,839 132,432 133,621 137,633 135,921 135,670 136,431 136,568 135,400 196,491 196,763 193,980 190,203 183,523 183,172 184,497 187,555
Motorcycles 574 1,382 2,824 4,964 5,694 5,444 4,259 4,177 4,065 3,978 3,757 3,897 3,872 3,826 3,879 4,152 4,346 4,903 5,004 5,370 5,768 6,227 6,679 7,138 7,753 7,930 8,010 8,438 8,455 8,405 8,418
Vehicle-kilometers traveled (millions)                                                              
Light duty vehicles, short wheel basea 944,685 1,163,556 1,475,768 1,664,062 1,789,591 2,006,852 2,265,956 2,185,489 2,208,020 2,212,848 2,262,738 2,314,237 2,365,501 2,418,129 2,493,802 2,525,222 2,575,412 2,620,546 2,669,055 2,690,950 2,735,708 2,749,437 2,720,651 3,386,729 3,258,531 3,243,977 3,260,120 3,293,172 3,319,799 3,338,460 3,334,676
Motorcycles U U 4,828 9,012 16,415 14,645 15,450 14,806 15,450 15,933 16,415 15,772 15,965 16,224 16,549 17,033 16,848 15,512 15,372 15,413 16,290 16,824 19,392 34,434 33,492 33,510 29,794 29,841 34,416 32,776 32,138
Fuel consumed (million liters)                                                              
Light duty vehicles, short wheel basea 155,849 188,222 256,723 280,650 264,911 270,725 263,344 243,466 247,702 253,804 256,931 257,681 262,030 264,571 271,396 277,406 276,582 278,450 285,690 285,627 285,427 293,059 283,940 339,085 323,991 324,249 328,530 334,474 335,388 335,429 338,040
Motorcycles U U 227 428 772 689 723 697 723 750 776 742 751 763 779 801 793 731 723 725 766 715 837 1,798 1,853 1,826 1,615 1,614 1,859 1,770 1,736
Average kilometers traveled per vehicle (thousands)                                                              
Light duty vehicles, short wheel basea 15.3 15.5 16.5 15.6 14.7 15.7 16.9 17.0 17.4 17.4 17.7 18.0 18.2 18.6 18.9 19.1 19.3 19.0 19.6 19.8 20.1 20.1 20.1 17.2 16.6 16.7 17.1 17.9 18.1 18.1 17.8
Motorcycles U U 1.7 1.8 2.9 2.7 3.6 3.5 3.8 4.0 4.4 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.1 3.9 3.2 3.1 2.9 2.8 2.7 2.9 4.8 4.3 4.2 3.7 3.5 4.1 3.9 3.8
Average kilometers traveled per liter                                                              
Light duty vehicles, short wheel basea 6.1 6.2 5.7 5.9 6.8 7.4 8.6 9.0 8.9 8.7 8.8 9.0 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.1 9.3 9.4 9.3 9.4 9.6 9.4 9.6 10.0 10.1 10.0 9.9 9.8 9.9 10.0 9.9
Motorcycles U U 21.3 21.1 21.3 21.3 21.4 21.3 21.4 21.3 21.2 21.3 21.3 21.3 21.3 21.3 21.3 21.2 21.3 21.3 21.3 23.5 23.2 19.2 18.1 18.4 18.4 18.5 18.5 18.5 18.5
Average fuel consumed per vehicle (liters)                                                              
Light duty vehicles, short wheel basea 2,527 2,501 2,877 2,630 2,179 2,117 1,970 1,898 1,957 1,993 2,009 2,007 2,020 2,039 2,059 2,095 2,070 2,023 2,102 2,105 2,092 2,146 2,097 1,726 1,647 1,672 1,727 1,823 1,831 1,818 1,802
Motorcycles U U 80 86 136 127 170 167 178 188 207 190 194 199 201 193 182 149 145 135 133 115 125 252 239 230 202 191 220 211 206

KEY: R = revised, U = data are not available.

a 1960 and 1965 data include motorcycles.

NOTES

Average kilometers traveled per vehicle, Average kilometers traveled per liter, and Average fuel consumed per vehicle are derived by calculation.

Data for 2007-13 was calculated using a new methodology for light duty vehicles and motorcycles developed by FHWA. Data for these years are based on new categories and are not comparable to previous years. The new category Light duty vehicle, short wheel base includes passenger cars, light trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles with a wheelbase (WB) equal to or less than 121 inches. The new category Light duty vehicle, long wheel base is found in table 4-12 and includes large passenger cars, vans, pickup trucks, and sport/utility vehicles with wheelbases (WB) larger than 121 inches. This edition of 4-11M is not comparable to editions from 2009 or earlier.

1 Gallon = 3.785412 liters and 1 Mile = 1.609344 kilometers.

SOURCES

1960-94: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics Summary to 1995, FHWA-PL-97-009 (Washington, DC: July 1997), tables MV-201 and VM-201A, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohpi/hss/hsspubs.cfm as of Mar. 23, 2009.

1995-2014: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table VM-1, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohpi/hss/hsspubs.cfm as of May 5, 2016.