The growing market share and huge size of Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) are undermining opportunities to mitigate the impact of vehicle improvements even with the growing shift to electric vehicles (EVs), says a new report by the Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI), supported by the FIA Foundation.
A new analysis in ‘Trends in the global vehicle fleet – managing the SUV shift and the EV transition’ examines global car market trends set against fuel economy developments. Key findings include:
- The global annual rate of energy intensity reductions of light-duty vehicles (LDV) averaged 4.2% between 2020-2022;
- EV uptake is the leading cause of energy efficiency improvements;
- SUVs now represent the largest share of the new car market (51%);
- The average LDV weight has reached an all-time high, exceeding 1.5 tonnes; and
- The shift to larger vehicles has damaged progress on climate, energy security and diversification, as energy demand and CO2 emissions could have fallen 30% more between 2010-2022 if vehicles had stayed the same size.