Source: Average Fuel Economy Up in January | Market Analysis content from WardsAuto Some of the gas price decline is seasonal but there is an institutional effect too. Bob Wilson
"Tesla’s ramped up sales were key to the improvement in the luxury car segment (+45.8%), and thus the whole car fleet." It is the average for the vehicles sold, so includes fuels besides gasoline. The high MPGe of BEVs will pull it up, even when sold in relatively small numbers.
Yes, its the effect of plug-ins.. The biggest jump is the luxury car segment that has fuel economy up 45% from january a year ago, because of the high percentage of teslas (even though january is a bad month for bevs). Plug-ins accounted for 2.2% of US vehicle sales last month. No one seems to be breaking out the non plug-in hybrid sales anymore, but plug-ins (phevs + bevs) likely outsold non-plug-in hybrids in December and January. This is new vehicle sales though, the fleet is older and less efficient. Lower gas prices and more efficient vehicles likely mean more vmt (vehicle miles traveled). VMT may have decreased in January with auto sales though because of the government shut down and cold weather.
............plus, any future excesses necessary(due to EVs) for new electric fossil & renewable water dams, wind & solar plants.
Most people charge at home, during the night. Night time is when a lot of electric generation is idling on stand by. A smart grid will better match home car charging to when unused sources are available.
Of course there are times my electricity supplier asks me to shut down unnecessary power consuming items and change my HVAC settings. Is a charger going to be exempted?
