New Fuel Economy Data Released

 As roller-coaster gas prices continue to make the news, your audience will likely be interested in the latest fuel economy stats, released Oct. 15, 2008, by EPA and DoE.

• Fuel Economy Guide; press release.

The latest numbers can be accessed from some mobile devices, and can be customized to reflect an individual's specific circumstances (i.e., location, driving habits, etc.). The new numbers also reflect a new calculation method that is supposed to better reflect real-world mileage. Many of the numbers are lower than in previous years, but the relative trends remain similar. For instance, Toyota and Honda tend to be among the leaders, and Lamborghini and Bentley are among the cellar-dwellers.

However, there are changes, with more hybrids coming in among the leaders, along with some of the newer diesel models. And car size alone remains a poor indicator of mileage. The worst two-seater, minicompact, subcompact, and compact model all get much worse mileage than the best van, pickup, SUV, station wagon, and large car.