CNW's 'Dust to Dust' Automotive Energy Report

Files listed below for download.

Added June 2008

Updated files including SMART and Jetta TDI Diesel. 

Added May 2008

New files including 2007 and 2008 models sold in calendar year 2007. Files include Energy Cost by Model per Mile sorted from low to high and also low to high within model segment.

Added analysis coming soon.

Added March 2008

Responses to Slate.com Green Lantern March 18, 2008 column Tank vs. Hybrid

Added November 2007

Why the biofuels movement could run out of gas  From the Smithsonian magazine, November 2007

New Posting August 2007

Who Funds CNW Research? Since we are frequently asked who funds our research, including the Dust to Dust Energy Report, we post below a series of emails in response.

Response to Pacific Institute "Hummer versus Prius"

Added April 2007

Why 100,000 Miles for Prius?

Hidden Cost of Driving a Prius Commentary -- from Philadelphia Inquirer

NEW POSTING AS OF DECEMBER '06

Includes Vehicles Sold in Calendar Year 2006

This is the second year CNW has compiled the Dust-to-Dust energy cost per vehicle sold in the U.S. There have been some increases and some decreases. Remember, this the total cost of energy to society. If you would like more information, we recommend first reading the Dust-to-Dust report (PDF file below).

As Americans become increasingly interested in fuel economy and global warming, they are beginning to make choices about the vehicles they drive based on fuel economy and to a lesser degree emissions.

But many of those choices aren�t actually the best in terms of vehicle lifetime energy usage and the cost to society over the full lifetime of a car or truck. 

CNW Marketing Research Inc. spent two years collecting data on the energy necessary to plan, build, sell, drive and dispose of a vehicle from initial concept to scrappage. This includes such minutia as plant to dealer fuel costs, employee driving distances, electricity usage per pound of material used in each vehicle and literally hundreds of other variables.  

To put the data into understandable terms for consumers, it was translated into a �dollars per lifetime mile� figure. That is, the Energy Cost per mile driven.

This is a general-consumer report, not a technical document per se. It includes breakdowns of each vehicle�s total energy requirements from Dust to Dust but does not include issues of gigajuelles, kW hours or other unfriendly (to consumers) terms. Perhaps, in time, we will release our data in such technical terms. First, however, we will only look at the energy consumption cost.

The following 450+ page report will look at each section of the energy consumption for classes of models, individual examples and our own analysis of the data.