A new study by the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development has found that the Australian Capital Territory has the most fuel-efficient passenger vehicles in the nation.

There was no obvious relationship between the proportion of city driving versus open-road driving in a jurisdiction and average rates of fuel consumption.

In fact, while the average rate of fuel efficiency varied little across the states and territories, the only jurisdictions to show a significant difference from the national estimate were the ACT and Queensland.

The ACT is the most urbanised jurisdiction in Australia and showed the highest proportion of km driven within the capital city (73 per cent), but also the lowest average rate of fuel consumption for passenger vehicles (9.7 l/100km). 

The study suggested that this reflected a higher than average proportion of smaller vehicles (with 4 or less cylinders) and recent model vehicles in the ACT’s vehicle fleet.

Over time, average fuel economy has improved across Australia. According to the ABS Survey of Motor Vehicle Use (SMVU), the average rate of fuel consumption of passenger vehicles was 11.9 litres per 100 kilometres in 2000 and has trended downwards since then to reach 10.6 l/100km in 2016. ACT passenger vehicles averaged 9.7 l/100km.

The SMVU is a vehicle-based survey rather than a household survey and covers all vehicles registered for road use within a state or territory during the 12 month period (excluding defence and diplomatic or consular vehicles, and vehicles registered as vintage or veteran cars).

More information on the survey can be found at the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development website.