Truck fuel economy statistics span new-vehicle estimates, production mix, commercial-truck planning assumptions, and gasoline-equivalent category data. The measures below focus mainly on the United States and distinguish model-year observations from planning estimates and energy-use context.
Key Truck Fuel Economy Statistics
The most useful headline figures include:
- In model year 2024, new pickups averaged 20.5 mpg in the United States on EPA estimated real-world fuel economy.
- In model year 2024, new truck SUVs averaged 25.7 mpg in the United States on EPA estimated real-world fuel economy.
- In model year 2024, all new U.S. light-duty vehicles averaged 27.2 mpg on the EPA estimated real-world measure.
- From model years 2005 through 2024, average new-vehicle fuel economy improved in 16 of 20 years in the United States.
- Between model years 2004 and 2024, average new-vehicle fuel economy rose 41% in the United States.
- In model year 2024, truck regulatory-class vehicles represented 66% of U.S. new-vehicle production.
- In model year 2024, truck SUVs made up almost 50% of U.S. new-vehicle production.
- In model year 2024, car- and truck-SUV types together represented 60% of U.S. new-vehicle production.
- In model year 2024, 4% of truck SUVs were BEVs and 4% were PHEVs in U.S. production.
- In model year 2024, 2% of U.S. pickup production was BEVs.
- In model year 2024, the average new BEV range was 292 miles in the United States.
- Under AFDC planning defaults, large gasoline pickups are assigned 17.7 mpg.
- Under AFDC planning defaults, diesel heavy-duty trucks above 26,000 lb are assigned 6.0 mpg.
- Under AFDC planning defaults, heavy-duty trucks are assigned 45,133 annual miles per vehicle.
- On the AFDC Highway Statistics 2024 basis, Class 8 trucks averaged 6.3048 mpg gasoline-equivalent in the United States.
- On the same AFDC basis, refuse trucks averaged 5.2392 mpg gasoline-equivalent in the United States.
- In 2016, medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses accounted for 23.9% of U.S. transportation energy use.
Contents
- Key Truck Fuel Economy Statistics
- Truck Fuel Economy Trends in the United States
- Pickup and Truck-SUV Fuel Economy Data
- Truck Production Mix and Fuel Economy Statistics
- Electric and Hybrid Truck Fuel Economy Effects
- Commercial Truck Fuel Economy by Weight Class
- Truck Fuel Use, Mileage, and Energy Context
Truck Fuel Economy Trends in the United States
The EPA’s production-weighted estimated real-world metric reached 27.2 mpg in model year 2024 for all new U.S. light-duty vehicles. This includes battery-electric vehicles in miles-per-gallon-equivalent terms, so it is broader than a gasoline-only truck measure. The 2025 EPA Automotive Trends Report reports the result and the historical comparisons.
The long-run series is divided into three broad phases: rapid fuel-economy growth from 1975 to 1987, slow decline through 2004, and growth thereafter. Average new-vehicle fuel economy improved in 16 of the 20 model years from 2005 through 2024, and the 2024 level was 41% higher than in 2004.
EPA’s current real-world combined metric weights driving at 43% city and 57% highway. That weighting describes the construction of the composite estimate, not the share of miles driven in a particular truck fleet. The EPA report’s HTML text documents the method.
Without BEVs and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, the 2024 all-vehicle average would have been 1.7 mpg lower under EPA’s exclusion scenario. This is a comparison scenario rather than a separately observed fleet.
Pickup and Truck-SUV Fuel Economy Data
EPA separates pickups, truck SUVs, minivans/vans, and car SUVs, so these categories should not be treated as interchangeable. The following model-year 2024 values are production-weighted estimated real-world fuel economy for new U.S. vehicles.
| EPA vehicle type | MY 2024 fuel economy | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Pickups | 20.5 mpg | New U.S. pickups |
| Truck SUVs | 25.7 mpg | New U.S. truck SUVs |
| Minivans/vans | 26.1 mpg | New U.S. minivans/vans |
| Car SUVs | 39.2 mpg | New U.S. car SUVs |
| Sedans/wagons | 33.5 mpg | New U.S. sedans/wagons |
Truck-SUV fuel economy increased 1.0 mpg from model year 2023 to 2024, while pickup fuel economy remained unchanged at 20.5 mpg. Car-SUV fuel economy fell 1.3 mpg over the same period.
These are EPA-reported year-over-year changes, not estimates of individual vehicle performance. The EPA Automotive Trends Report provides the category figures.
The different results reflect both vehicle technology and the composition of production within each category. A truck SUV result, for example, does not describe every pickup, van, or passenger SUV sold in the United States.
Truck Production Mix and Fuel Economy Statistics
Production mix strongly affects fleet averages because EPA’s new-vehicle figures are production-weighted. Truck regulatory-class vehicles—which include pickups, minivans/vans, and truck SUVs—represented 66% of U.S. new-vehicle production in model year 2024.
| Production measure | Period | Reported share |
|---|---|---|
| Pickups | MY 1994 | 19% of production |
| Pickups | MY 2012 | 10% of production |
| Truck regulatory-class vehicles | MY 2024 | 66% of production |
| Car and truck SUVs together | MY 2024 | 60% of production |
| Truck SUVs | MY 2024 | Almost 50% of production |
| Sedans/wagons | MY 1975 | More than 80% of production |
| Sedans/wagons | MY 2024 | Below 25% of production |
Pickup production share peaked at 19% in 1994 before falling to 10% in 2012. Meanwhile, sedan/wagon production declined from more than 80% in 1975 to below 25% in 2024, while minivan/van production rose from below 5% in 1975 to 11% in 1995 and later fell below 3% in recent model years.
Manufacturer mix also varies. Ford’s pickup production mix was the highest among manufacturers in 2024 at 42%, Mazda’s truck-SUV production mix was 90%, and GM reduced its truck-SUV production share by 11 percentage points from 2023 to 2024.
These are manufacturer production-mix measures, not sales shares. The EPA report supplies the production context.
Electric and Hybrid Truck Fuel Economy Effects
Electrification affects both the vehicle mix and the way fuel economy is expressed. EPA uses miles per gallon of gasoline equivalent for BEVs and PHEVs in the relevant fleet calculations, so those values should not be read as gasoline consumption by a combustion engine.
In 2024, BEVs represented 4% of truck-SUV production and PHEVs another 4%. EPA estimates that truck-SUV fuel economy was 1.0 mpg higher because of BEV and PHEV production in that model year, compared with excluding those vehicles.
Pickups had a smaller electrified share: BEVs represented 2% of pickup production, and no pickup PHEV share was reported in the supplied EPA facts. Pickup fuel economy was 0.3 mpg higher because of BEV production under EPA’s exclusion comparison.
Minivans and vans had a 5% PHEV production share in 2024 and no BEVs. Their fuel economy was 0.6 mpg higher because of PHEV production under the same type of comparison.
The average range of a new U.S. BEV was 292 miles in 2024, almost four times the average in 2011. That range statistic covers all new BEVs, not trucks alone. The EPA report provides the production shares, effects, and range comparison.
Commercial Truck Fuel Economy by Weight Class
The DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center uses planning defaults for fuel use, mileage, and vehicle classes. These are estimates based on cited older sources and may vary materially with vehicle choice, load, route, weather, maintenance, and driving behavior.
| Vehicle or weight class | Fuel/default | AFDC planning value |
|---|---|---|
| Small pickup | Gasoline | 19.3 mpg |
| Large pickup | Gasoline | 17.7 mpg |
| Large pickup | Diesel | 22.0 mpg |
| Small van | Gasoline | 21.4 mpg |
| Large van | Gasoline | 21.2 mpg |
| Large van | Diesel | 26.3 mpg |
| Medium-duty truck, 10,000–14,000 lb | Diesel | 10.5 mpg |
| Medium-duty truck, 14,001–26,000 lb | Diesel | 7.3 mpg |
| Heavy-duty truck, above 26,000 lb | Diesel | 6.0 mpg |
AFDC also assigns annual vehicle-miles-traveled defaults of 11,555 miles for light-duty trucks, 14,094 miles for medium-duty trucks below 14,000 lb, 12,964 miles for medium-duty trucks from 14,000 to 26,000 lb, and 45,133 miles for heavy-duty trucks. These values are planning inputs, not universal observed averages. AFDC’s planning methodology documents the assumptions and their source basis.
Truck Fuel Use, Mileage, and Energy Context
AFDC’s major-category table uses gasoline gallon equivalents, or GGE, and should not be presented as the same metric as EPA’s new-vehicle real-world mpg. On the Highway Statistics 2024 basis, the table lists the following U.S. category averages.
| Major category | Average fuel economy |
|---|---|
| Light trucks/vans | 18.5 mpg GGE |
| Delivery trucks | 7.1928 mpg GGE |
| Class 8 trucks | 6.3048 mpg GGE |
| Refuse trucks | 5.2392 mpg GGE |
| Transit buses | 3.6408 mpg GGE |
Class 8 trucks have low fuel economy partly because they carry heavier loads while driving more consistent drive cycles, according to the DOE AFDC explanation. Refuse trucks’ stop-and-go duty cycle is an important category limitation, and transit buses are included only as a comparison category rather than as trucks. AFDC’s average fuel economy table gives the category values and GGE definition.
The AFDC idling methodology assigns heavy-duty diesel trucks a default of 0.8 gallons per vehicle-hour and medium-duty diesel trucks 0.6 gallons per hour per vehicle. It uses 1,830 hours per vehicle-year as the default average idling time, which is a modeling assumption rather than a measured operating rate for every truck class. AFDC’s methodology page describes these defaults.
Truck fuel economy also sits within a wider transportation-energy picture. In 2016, medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses accounted for 23.9% of U.S. transportation energy use, while light-duty vehicles accounted for 58.5%; these figures cover civilian end-use transportation energy and are not fuel-economy measures alone. The Department of Energy’s FOTW summary reports those 2016 shares and scope.