Gasoline Sales May Have Already Peaked

Peak gasoline sales may have already passed thanks to growing sales of electric and hybrid cars, rising fuel economy standards for new vehicles and the continuing trend of working from home cutting commuting, Liz Moyer and Avi Salzman reported for Barron’s Daily.

Photo Insert: Global gasoline demand is still growing.

In 2022, Americans used 8.8 million barrels of gasoline a day, down from 9.3 million in 2019, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). In 2023, demand continued to fall, dropping 1% from last year’s levels over the past four-week period.

About 6% of passenger vehicles sold in the US last year were electric and about 1% of vehicles on the road are now electric. Fuel economy standards are set to rise to 49 miles a gallon by 2026. That means fewer stops for gasoline.

Global gasoline demand is still growing. Refineries shipped a record 887,000 barrels of gasoline a day outside the US in 2022. But electric vehicle sales abroad are also growing, about 14% of market share for light-duty vehicles worldwide in 2022.

Cities and states are rolling back requirements that new developments include parking, The New York Times reported.

Last year, California banned minimum parking requirements for new housing developments near mass transit. New York lawmakers are considering a bill preventing exclusionary zoning such as parking minimums.

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