The Average Horsepower In American Cars Is Higher Than You Think (2024)

It's true that horsepower directly correlates to speed. All other factors being equal, an SUV rated at 150 hp is going to have a tougher time getting up to 60 miles per hour than an SUV rated at 200 hp. But we also like big numbers because we're humans and we love quantifying things. When you tell us there's a 5.2-liter supercharged Ford F-150 Raptor that cranks out 720 horses, well, we want to see that monster in action.

But most of us don't need 720 horses. Most of us just need around 200 hp to get where we're going, or at least, that's what the automotive industry seems to think, because that's where the average seems to have settled. Here's what you need to know about the average power output in American vehicles.

How The Average Horsepower In American Vehicles Shot Up And Leveled Out

We've gone in-depth on the history of horsepower in the past, and you can check that article out if you want to get the full timeline. For today, we just want to talk about how much horsepower a typical auto in the US can crank out, and that necessitates a Cliff Notes version of the story. So here's what you need to know in brief:

• 1885 - Average power output: Whatever you could get - The two-seat Benz motor car hits the road with a whopping 0.75 hp.
• 1950s - Average power output: 100 hp - The start of the horsepower wars. The post-war American industry was booming, gas was cheap, and the American highway system was sprawling. The best-selling car of the mid-1950s was the Chevrolet Bel-Air, with a 115-hp straight-six engine, or a 162-hp V8. Our estimates put the average power output at this time at around 100 hp, but outliers like the V12-powered Ferrari 410 Superamerica tripled that to 300 horses.
• 1960s - Average power output: 120 hp - This is when street-legal passenger cars got to be a lot more fun. The muscle car era. The top-selling Chevy Impala produced 162 hp at the entry level, but was advertised at up to 425 hp. Exact numbers are hard to track as there was no standard method for measuring output, but the trickle-down effect from high-end muscle cars down to family coupes and sedans puts the average at an estimated 120 hp.
• 1970s - Average power output: 96 hp - This is when street-legal passenger cars stopped being so much fun. The mid-1970s oil crisis, followed by new emissions legislation, saw cars like the 1.2-liter Honda Civic topping the sales charts. By the end of the decade, the average output had dropped to around 96 hp.
• 1980s - Average power output: 120 hp - In the 1980s, automakers had to be very clever about building high-power engines while staying within EPA regulations. The 88-hp Chevy Cavalier was the top-seller in 1984, but you could still find some beefcakes like the turbocharged 235-hp Buick Regal Grand National, and the 240-hp Porsche 911. The average was around 100 hp at the start of the decade, and 120 by 1989.
• 1990s - Average power output: 160hp - The 90s were the decade of sensible coupes and sedans like the 145-hp Taurus, the 133-hp Camry, and the 125-hp Honda Accord. At the upper end you had monsters like the 6.0-liter V12 McLaren F1 cranking out 627 horses. By the end of the decade, the average was around 160 hp.
• 2000s - Average power output: 200 hp -In the 2000s, typical passenger cars stayed largely the same, with the Camry starting out at just 133 hp in the base model in 2000, and 155 hp in 2009. But we did see the invention of hypercars cranking out 700, 800, 1,000 hp, like the 1,018 Koenigsegg CCX-R. The 2000s landed at around 200 hp.
• 2010s - Average power output: 200 hp - In 2010, the top-selling Honda Accord started out at 177 hp. In 2019, the entry-level Accord hit 192 hp. By the end of the decade, the average power output was around 200 hp, the same as it had been a decade prior. The only thing that's really changed is how we achieve that number, with hybrids and EVs and more efficient engine design improving performance specs without necessarily burning any extra gas.

There are a couple of things you'll notice at a glance based on these numbers. First, it hasn't been a linear upwards climb. From the very first cars up to the mid 20th Century, we went from single-horsepower cars to triple digits, but we had passenger cars cranking out two, three, four hundred horses before the invention of rock and roll. Second, we've basically evened out over the past twenty years. The average power output in the 2000s was the same as in the 2010s.

The technology is there to add another turbocharger or an electric motor or a couple more cylinders to an engine in order to produce greater horsepower, but we've more or less settled on 200 hp being an acceptable average for most drivers. Your daily driver doesn't really need to go from zero to sixty in four seconds, and the average American commuter doesn't want to spend a quarter million dollars to do 212 mph in their grocery-getter. 200 hp is practical, it's economical, and it's plenty enough for drivers who just want to get from point A to point B in one piece.

From Compacts To Pickups: Average Power Output By Size Class

A typical vehicle in 2024 boasts a power output of around 180 to 200 hp. More precisely, the average is around 100-150 in small cars like the 138-hp 2024 Toyota Corolla Hybrid, 170 hp for midsize autos like the 167-hp 2024 Kia EV6, and around 300 hp for large vehicles like the 326-hp 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser. Crossovers sit right on the money at around 200 hp, like the 191-hp 2024 Mazda CX-30.

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The average may be creeping up ever so slightly as low-hp vehicles like the 78-hp 2024 Mitsubishi Mirage start to become a rarity, so even as a typical passenger vehicle might not be increasing its hp year after year by leaps and bounds, we have fewer under-performers on the market to bring the average down.

Right On The Money: 5 Vehicles That Represent The Average Horsepower Output

2024 Honda Civic Si Sedan - 200 hp

At an even 200 horses, the 2024 Honda Civic Si is proof that "average" doesn't always mean "boring." The Civic Si achieves its strong power output from a small 1.5-liter inline-four engine by way of a turbocharger for a 0-60 time of around 6.6 seconds. The EPA estimates the Civic Si to average 27/37/31 miles to the gallon, city/highway/combined.

2024 Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid - 196 hp

The 2024 Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid offers up a strong example of how automakers are still achieving good performance specs while keeping in line with emissions regulations: just put an electric motor in there somewhere, or three, in this case, achieving competent all-wheel drive performance without burning a whole tyrannosaurus worth of fossil fuel on every grocery trip. The Cross Hybrid's 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine manages nearly 200 horses at a very impressive fuel economy rating of 42 MPG, combined.

2024 Hyundai Tucson - 187 hp

The entry-level SE model 2024 Hyundai Tucson delivers 187 hp with a naturally aspirated 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine. In front-wheel drive, that gets you an average of 28 MPG, while the all-wheel drive models average 25 MPG. The Tucson is also available in a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder plug-in trim delivering 161 hp, and a 1.6-liter HEV at 226 hp. The base model accelerates to 60 mph in about nine seconds while the hybrid models get there in eight, which is fair for a sub-$30,000 crossover.

2024 Subaru Forester - 182 hp

Delivering 182 hp from a naturally aspirated 2.5-liter flat-four, the 2024 Subaru Forester comes standard in all-wheel drive, producing 176 lb-ft of torque at an average fuel economy of 26 MPG combined. In our review, we note that the SUV feels a bit sluggish and the CVT isn't a lot of fun to operate, with an eight-second 0-60 sprint. But you're not exactly looking for hairline-pushing acceleration in a $27,095 SUV, you're looking for capable all-terrain performance, and that's what the Forester delivers without even cracking 200 hp.

2023 Chevrolet Bolt EUV - 200 hp

The 2023 Chevrolet Bolt EUV achieves a 200-hp output by way of an all-electric powertrain. Chevy promises a range of 247 on a full charge, and track tests usually put the EUV at a 0-60 sprint of around seven seconds. Where hybrids like the Corolla Cross Hybrid meets the EPA halfway in order to produce decent power with low emissions, EVs like the Chevy Bolt EUV sidestep the problem entirely.

How Automakers Maintain The 200-HP Average In 2024

Emissions regulations aren't getting any more lax, but there have never been more options for automakers to meet the horsepower demands of the average American buyer without getting the EPA breathing down their necks.

While hybrid supercars like the 2025 McLaren Artura Spider achieve ridiculous numbers like 690 hp by way of V6 engines stacked with twin turbos and electric motors, many daily-drivers are more or less aiming for the same power output in 2024 as they were in 2004. The only real difference is how we're getting there, and the answer is becoming increasingly electric.

Sources:J.D. Power, Fuel-Economy.gov