U.S. Energy Information Administration logo
Skip to sub-navigation

Total Energy

Glossary › FAQS ›

Annual Energy Review

September 2012  PDF | previous editions
Release Date: September 27, 2012

Table 10.5 Estimated Number of Alternative-Fueled Vehicles in Use and Fuel Consumption, 1992-2010
Table 10.5  Estimated Number of Alternative-Fueled Vehicles in Use and Fuel Consumption, 1992-2010





Year		 Alternative and Replacement Fuels 1

Liquefied
Petroleum
Gases
Compressed
Natural
Gas
Liquefied
Natural
Gas
Methanol,
85 Percent
(M85) 3
Methanol,
Neat
(M100) 4
Ethanol,
85 Percent
(E85) 3,5
Ethanol,
95 Percent
(E95) 3

Elec-
tricity 6

Hydro-
gen

Other
Fuels 7


Subtotal		 Oxygenates 2

Bio-
diesel 10


Total
Methyl Tertiary
Butyl Ether 8		 Ethanol in
Gasohol 9
Total
  Alternative-Fueled Vehicles in Use 11 (number)
1992 NA 23,191 90 4,850 404 172 38 1,607 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
1993 NA 32,714 299 10,263 414 441 27 1,690 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
1994 NA 41,227 484 15,484 415 605 33 2,224 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
1995 172,806 50,218 603 18,319 386 1,527 136 2,860 0 0 246,855 NA NA NA NA NA
1996 175,585 60,144 663 20,265 172 4,536 361 3,280 0 0 265,006 NA NA NA NA NA
1997 175,679 68,571 813 21,040 172 9,130 347 4,453 0 0 280,205 NA NA NA NA NA
1998 177,183 78,782 1,172 19,648 200 12,788 14 5,243 0 0 295,030 NA NA NA NA NA
1999 178,610 91,267 1,681 18,964 198 24,604 14 6,964 0 0 322,302 NA NA NA NA NA
2000 181,994 100,750 2,090 10,426 0 87,570 4 11,830 0 0 394,664 NA NA NA NA NA
2001 185,053 111,851 2,576 7,827 0 100,303 0 17,847 0 0 425,457 NA NA NA NA NA
2002 187,680 120,839 2,708 5,873 0 120,951 0 33,047 0 0 471,098 NA NA NA NA NA
2003 190,369 114,406 2,640 0 0 179,090 0 47,485 9 0 533,999 NA NA NA NA NA
2004 182,864 118,532 2,717 0 0 211,800 0 49,536 43 0 565,492 NA NA NA NA NA
2005 173,795 117,699 2,748 0 0 246,363 0 51,398 119 3 592,125 NA NA NA NA NA
2006 164,846 116,131 2,798 0 0 297,099 0 53,526 159 3 634,562 NA NA NA NA NA
2007 158,254 114,391 2,781 0 0 364,384 0 55,730 223 3 695,766 NA NA NA NA NA
2008 151,049 113,973 3,101 0 0 450,327 0 56,901 313 3 775,667 NA NA NA NA NA
2009 147,030 114,270 3,176 0 0 504,297 0 57,185 357 3 826,318 NA NA NA NA NA
2010 143,037 115,863 3,354 0 0 618,505 0 57,462 421 0 938,643 NA NA NA NA NA
  Fuel Consumption 12 (thousand gasoline-equivalent gallons)
1992 NA 17,159 598 1,121 2,672 22 87 359 NA NA NA 1,175,964 719,408 1,895,372 NA NA
1993 NA 22,035 1,944 1,671 3,321 49 82 288 NA NA NA 2,070,897 779,958 2,850,854 NA NA
1994 NA 24,643 2,398 2,455 3,347 82 144 430 NA NA NA 2,020,455 868,113 2,888,569 NA NA
1995 233,178 35,865 2,821 2,122 2,255 195 1,021 663 0 0 278,121 2,693,407 934,615 3,628,022 NA 3,906,142
1996 239,648 47,861 3,320 1,862 364 712 2,770 773 0 0 297,310 2,751,955 677,537 3,429,492 NA 3,726,802
1997 238,845 66,495 3,798 1,630 364 1,314 1,166 1,010 0 0 314,621 3,106,745 852,514 3,959,260 NA 4,273,880
1998 241,881 73,859 5,463 1,271 471 1,772 61 1,202 0 0 325,980 2,905,781 912,858 3,818,639 NA 4,144,620
1999 210,247 81,211 5,959 1,126 469 4,019 64 1,524 0 0 304,618 3,405,390 975,255 4,380,645 NA 4,685,263
2000 213,012 88,478 7,423 614 0 12,388 13 3,058 0 0 324,986 3,298,803 1,114,313 4,413,116 6,828 4,744,930
2001 216,319 106,584 9,122 461 0 15,007 0 4,066 0 0 351,558 3,354,949 1,173,323 4,528,272 10,627 4,890,457
2002 223,600 123,081 9,593 354 0 18,250 0 7,274 0 0 382,152 3,122,859 1,450,721 4,573,580 16,824 4,972,556
2003 224,697 133,222 13,503 0 0 26,376 0 5,141 2 0 402,941 2,368,400 1,919,572 4,287,972 14,082 4,704,995
2004 211,883 158,903 20,888 0 0 31,581 0 5,269 8 0 428,532 1,877,300 2,414,167 4,291,467 27,616 4,747,615
2005 188,171 166,878 22,409 0 0 38,074 0 5,219 25 2 420,778 1,654,500 2,756,663 4,411,163 93,281 4,925,222
2006 173,130 172,011 23,474 0 0 44,041 0 5,104 41 2 417,803 435,000 3,729,168 4,164,168 267,623 4,849,594
2007 152,360 178,565 24,594 0 0 54,091 0 5,037 66 2 414,715 0 4,694,304 4,694,304 367,764 5,476,783
2008 147,784 189,358 25,554 0 0 62,464 0 5,050 117 2 430,329 0 6,442,781 6,442,781 324,329 7,197,439
2009 129,631 199,513 25,652 0 0 71,213 0 4,956 140 2 431,107 0 7,343,133 7,343,133 325,102 8,099,342
2010 126,354 210,007 26,072 0 0 90,323 0 4,847 152 0 457,755 0 8,527,431 8,527,431 235,188 9,220,374
1See "Alternative Fuel" and "Replacement Fuel" in Glossary. 9Data do not include the motor gasoline portion of the fuel.
2See "Oxygenates" in Glossary. 10"Biodiesel" may be used as a diesel fuel substitute or diesel fuel additive or extender.  See "Biodiesel"
in Glossary.
3Remaining portion is motor gasoline.  Consumption data include the motor gasoline portion of the fuel. 11"Vehicles in Use" data represent accumulated acquisitions, less retirements, as of the end of each
calendar year; data do not include concept and demonstration vehicles that are not ready for delivery to
end users.  See "Alternative-Fuel Vehicle" in Glossary.
4One hundred percent methanol. 12Fuel consumption quantities are expressed in a common base unit of gasoline-equivalent gallons to
allow comparisons of different fuel types.  Gasoline-equivalent gallons do not represent gasoline
displacement.  Gasoline equivalent is computed by dividing the gross heat content of the replacement fuel
by the gross heat content of gasoline (using an approximate heat content of 122,619 Btu per gallon) and
multiplying the result by the replacement fuel consumption value.  See "Heat Content" in Glossary.
5Includes only those E85 vehicles believed to be used as alternative-fuels vehicles (AFVs), primarily
fleet-operated vehicles; excludes other vehicles with E85-fueling capability.  In 1997, some vehicle
manufacturers began including E85-fueling capability in certain model lines of vehicles.  For 2010, the U.S.
Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that the number of E85 vehicles that are capable of
operating on E85, motor gasoline, or both, is about 10 million.  Many of these AFVs are sold and used as
traditional gasoline-powered vehicles.		 NA=Not available.  
6Excludes gasoline-electric hybrids. Note:  Totals may not equal sum of components due to independent rounding.
7May include P-Series fuel or any other fuel designated by the Secretary of Energy as an alternative
fuel in acordance with the Energy Policy Act of 1995.		 Web Page:  For related information, see http://www.eia.gov/renewable/.
8In addition to methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), includes a very small amount of other ethers,
primarily tertiary amyl methyl ether (TAME) and ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE).		 Sources:  ·  1992-1994—Science Applications International Corporation, "Alternative Transportation
Fuels and Vehicles Data Development," unpublished final report prepared for the EIA, (McLean, VA,
July 1996), and U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
Data were revised by using gross instead of net heat contents.  For a table of gross and net
heat contents, see EIA, Alternatives to Traditional Transportation Fuels: An Overview (June
1994), Table 22.  ·  1995-2002—EIA, "Alternatives to Traditional Transportation Fuels
2003 Estimated Data" (February 2004),  Tables 1 and 10.  Data were revised by
using gross instead of net heat contents.  ·  2003 forward—EIA, Alternative-Fuel Vehicle
Interactive Data Viewer (see http://www.eia.gov/renewable/afv/users.cfm#tabs_charts-2 and
http://www.eia.gov/renewable/afv/xls/New%20C1%20GEGs.xls); and "Alternatives to Traditional
Transportation Fuels," annual reports, Table C1.
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)