2025 car to be 2,600 USD more expensive due to meeting fuel economy goals (US)

2010 Honda Insight window sticker

Targeting a 54.5 mpg fleet average

Buying a new car in 2025 will be 2,600 USD more expensive than it was in 2011, according to an EPA engineer.

Even if carmakers will reach the federally-mandated fleet average of 54.5 mpg, EPA engineer Jeff Alson says we probably won't have this mpg figure on the sticker of a regular midsize car in 2025. For that year regulators are expecting a real-world average fuel economy of approximately 40 mpg, up by about 20 mpg compared to 2010.

Americans will continue to prefer gasoline because car manufacturers will be able to make traditional engines more efficient through various technologies. During a speach given at University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Jeff Alson said a 2025MY will cost 2,600 USD more than a 2011MY if the industry will opt for the "most cost-effective" way to meet Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) standards.

He also made a few interesting projections, saying new cars will be 8 percent lighter by 2025. He also believes more than 90 percent of 2025MY cars will have direct-injection, turbocharging and gasoline engines. Two percent of the market will be made up by electric or semi-electric models, while five percent will be gas-electric hybrids.

Mild hybrids (stop/start system and/or with battery-powered supplemental propulsion) will represent 26 percent of the entire new vehicle market by 2025. Lastly, most cars will have 8-speed gearboxes.