According to the 2014 Vehicle Technologies Market Report from Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s sales-weighted data from 1980 to 2014, light vehicles showed a 124 percent increase in horsepower and a 47 percent improvement in zero-to-60-mph times, but just a 27 percent improvement in fuel economy. Interestingly, the report notes that vehicle weight appears to have an inverse relationship with fuel economy, meaning as pickup trucks get heavier (excluding the alloy-bodied Ford F-150 because it’s been getting lighter), fuel economy is getting better. This is especially relevant to today’s luxury-laden ever-larger pickups.
Read the whole story at: http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2016/04/half-ton-pickups-strategies-for-better-fuel-economy.html