In 2023, drivers in the United States consumed 376 million gallons of gasoline daily, nearly three times the rate in China, the world’s second-largest consumer.1 That prodigious use of gasoline enables a mobility and lifestyle many Americans value. However, the combustion of gasoline generates a range of emissions that drive climate change and diminish air quality resulting in serious health impacts.2 In the United States, motor gasoline and diesel fuel consumption accounted for about 31% of total energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in 2023.3
Driving America’s gasoline use are drivers in the top 10% (top decile) in terms of their
gasoline consumption, so-called “gasoline superusers.” Superusers collectively use 35% of all gasoline used in private light-duty vehicles (LDVs) – more than the bottom 72% of drivers combined.4
Drivers living in rural areas are about twice as likely to be superusers compared to drivers living in cities and suburbs. The most densely populated areas tend to have the lowest percentage of superusers due to shorter travel distances and better access to public transit and the opportunity to bike/walk to work and leisure activities.
States with a high percentage of their population living in rural areas also have high concentrations of superusers. Examples are Mississippi, Maine, West Virginia, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. These are the same states that have relatively low uptake of electric vehicles.
Superusers incur a heavy financial cost. They spend on average 10.2% of household income on gasoline, versus non-superusers at 3.5%. The difference is particularly striking at lower income levels. Among about 1.7 million superusers making less than $25,000 per year, the share of household income spent on gasoline averages 41.3%.5
Part of the financial burden comes from vehicle choice: superusers tend to drive larger, fuel-inefficient vehicles. Thirty-two percent of superusers drive SUVs and 29% drive pickup trucks, versus 25% and 13% for non-superusers, respectively. Just 19% of superusers drive smaller vehicles (sedans), compared to 36% of non-superusers.6
Under the right conditions, EVs can be cheaper to own and operate compared to gasoline vehicles in the United States.7 EV policies that target superusers in the right places could produce large benefits. Household transportation energy burdens would fall along with greenhouse gas emissions, and public health benefits would increase. Low-income households would benefit the most from these changes.
1 U.S. Energy Information Administration, “How much gasoline does the United States consume?,” accessed August 29, 2024, https://tinyurl.com/4zm9m4wd
2 Huang, Y., Unger, N., Harper, K., & Heyes, C. (2020). Global climate and human health effects of the gasoline and diesel vehicle fleets. GeoHealth, 4, e2019GH000240. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GH000240
3 U.S. Energy Information Administration, “How much carbon dioxide is produced from U.S. gasoline and diesel fuel consumption?,” accessed August 29, 2024, https://tinyurl.com/f3sa46zx
4 Matthew Metz, Janelle London, Paul Rosler, Til Dietrich, Ron Barzilay, “Cracking the Code,” Coltura, 2024, https://coltura.org/gasoline-superusers-3-report/
5 Metz et al., op. cit.
6 Metz et al., op. cit.
7 Woody, M., Adderly, S. A., Bohra, R., & Keoleian, G. A. (2024). Electric and gasoline vehicle total cost of ownership across US cities. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 28, 194–215. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13463