CHICAGO, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Gas mileage of new vehicles sold in the U.S. was 25.2 miles per gallon (mpg) in 2017, unchanged from the figure in 2016, according to researchers at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI).
Fuel economy of new vehicles sold in Dec. dropped to 25.0 mpg, down 0.2 mpg from November and the lowest level of the year.
The value for December is up 4.9 mpg since October 2007, the first full month of monitoring by UMTRI researchers Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle, but down 0.5 mpg from the peak of 25.5 mpg in August 2014.
In addition to average fuel economy, the national Eco-Driving Index (EDI), a monthly update of the average monthly emissions generated by an individual U.S. driver designed by Sivak and Schoettle, held steady at 0.83 in October.
The index also shows overall emissions of greenhouse gases per driver of newly purchased vehicles are down 17 percent since October 2007, but five percentage points higher than the record low reached in November 2013.
The EDI takes into account both the fuel used per distance driven and the amount of driving.
