Via MLive

DETROIT, MI- The government’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy regulations are driving automakers to develop more fuel-efficient technologies for vehicles across their portfolios.

And according to a new study from the Consumer Federation of America, U.S. automakers appear to be on the right track to meet the federal regulations of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.

For the first time ever, over 50 percent of 2014 model-year vehicles get more than 23 miles per gallon, according to the consumer advocacy organization. After categorizing nearly 1,100 passenger vehicles into 10 different mpg rating categories, CFA concluded that 2014 is a “historic year for automakers.”

“The number of models getting over an impressive 30 mpg is 11.6 percent, a huge jump from the 1.3 percent that got over 30 mpg just five years ago,” said Jack Gillis, director of public affairs for CFA and author of The Car Book, in a release. “And, for the first time, there are no 2014 models getting below 13 mpg,”

CFA selected 23 mpg as a benchmark for its analysis because it is the EPA fuel economy label equivalent to the 30.6 mpg overall CAFE requirement for 2014. Exotics cars and delivery vans were not included.

The results, while positive, come a month after an U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official, only 5 percent of vehicles sold last year met the government’s 2017-2025 fuel economy standards of 54.5 miles per gallon. That’s compared to 7 percent meeting the 2020 regulations and 25 percent met the 2016 guidelines, which are set at 35.5 mpg.

“We’re already seeing that there are manufacturers that are producing vehicles in significant numbers which meet the 2025 standards,” said Michael Olechiw, EPA director of light-duty vehicle and small engine center, during a panel discussion last month at the Automotive World Megatrends 2014 USA conference in Dearborn.

Olechiw said despite the levels sold last year, the EPA expects that with the implementation of technologies that automakers are on a "very good path” to meeting the regulations, which were proposed in July 2011 and finalized by the Obama administration in August 2012.

Olechiw said vehicles sold today that meet the 2025 standard are primarily electrified vehicles.

The standards are measured by the average fuel economy of vehicles sold by model-year for automakers. If the mpg averages don’t increase, the final numbers can be altered during a mid-term review in 2017.