Why are cars in the European Union getting better MPG than cars in the U.S.?

Question

At UK.Yahoo.com (under; Shop New Cars);

Fuel Economy # of Vehicles

40 - 37 MPG (616)

46 - 41 MPG (592)

53 - 47 MPG (351)

More than 54 MPG (36)

First;

I was trying to find United States (US) EPA emission requirements (standards) for passenger vehicles 2007. (Not California)

NUMBERS only; I.E. Parts of (x y z, pollutants) per (?) gallon etc. (preferably in a chart or graph form).

Second;

I am trying to find European Union (EU) emission requirements for passenger vehicles 2007.

NUMBERS only; I.E. Parts of (x y z, pollutants) per (?) gallon etc. (preferably in a chart or graph form).

Third;

I want to compare the two.

Fourth;

I want to find United States (US) miles per gallon (MPG) Criteria.

Fifth;

I want to find European Union (EU) miles per gallon (MPG) Criteria.

Sixth;

I want to compare the two.

http://cars.yahoo.co.uk/results~10035412...

Why?

Answer 1

Their ratings are calculated differently.

That, and driving conditions are not the same.

Answer 2

First of all your not going to get what you need to compare the two. You can Thank the U.S. government for that. Yes it is true that the Europeans are paying more at the pump the we are. And yes most of there vehicles run on diesel fuel. But if the U.S. would allow those same vehicles with the same diesel motors in the states we could offset the price of fuel with the much better fuel economy per vehicle. But if the U.S. allowed that then the supply and demand for fuel would slowly turn into the consumers favor. But then our big oil giants would not be reporting 11 billion in profit yearly. Do some research on the Mini Cooper made by BMW. You can't bye that car in the states with the diesel engine. You would get to good of gas mileage,in the area of 80 to 100 mpg.Ever wonder why all the Mercedes in the states now run on regular gas instead of diesel?

Answer 3

Another factor is the Europeans are diving smaller cars in general, they don't have to go as far generally speaking so they don't need larger vehicles to do highway speeds.

Answer 4

The Europeans do, the Americans talk.

Answer 5

Two main reasons.

1) About 40% of European cars are diesels, which are more fuel efficient than gasoline engines.  There are very few diesels in the US because they don't pass our emissions tests (particulate and NOx emissions are too high).

2) European gas prices are higher, and Europeans are willing to drive smaller cars than Americans.  Now that gas is over $4/gallon in the US, we're finally starting to see a demand for fuel efficient cars.  In the UK for example, gas is around $9/gallon.  They get better fuel efficiency because they demand it.

Answer 6

Social Engineering.  During the Gas shortages of the 1970's, the Europeans decided to influence the usage of petroleum in their countries with sizeable taxes on fuel.  The Americans decided to pin it on the manufacturers, so congress invented the CAFE standards (Corporate Average Fuel).  Then congress exempted trucks, and called SUV's trucks, and we all bought SUV's and trucks.  Congress should have put sizeable taxes ($3 per gallon) on our gas and diesel.

Answer 7

first european cars have smaller engines than american cars do because the cars are taxed based on engine displacement.

second european cars are lighter than american cars are due to the lower safety requirements.

third european cars have less stringent emission standards than american cars do.

fourth european cars are tuned for better engine performance, and better efficiency than american cars are due to higher fuel prices, and the demand for high performance even in the smallest of cars.

all of the above assumes gas verses gas powered cars. european diesel powered cars are even more efficient.

Answer 8

There are a lot of good reasons above which I also agree with, but they've all also forgotten a very big reason.

US Gallons are SMALLER than Imperial Gallons (UK Gallons).  

1 US gallon = 0.83267384 Imperial gallons

Therefore 50 MPG in the UK is only 41 mpg in the US, even if they are calculated in exactly the same way for exactly the same car.