Survey shows gas, diesel vehicles most driven in 2025, hybrid and EV miles driven up

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety’s newly released 2025 American Driving Survey shows gas and diesel vehicles continued to account for most driving in 2025 at 89.5% of all trips, down from 91% in 2024.

However, a research brief states that hybrid and electric vehicle use did increase last year, representing 7.4% (up 1% from 2024) and 3.1% of trips (up 0.6% from 2024), respectively.

AAA Foundation says the survey is meant to quantify the U.S. population’s daily driving and compare the results with previous years. A research brief explores trends in driving behavior by vehicle age and vehicle type, including differences across population groups. The survey was conducted between Jan. 1, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2025.

U.S. drivers collectively made 232 billion trips, spent 95 billion hours driving, and traveled 2.76 trillion miles last year.

Those results were projected to the national population based on a survey of 5,100 participants whose answers showed they made an average of 2.40 driving trips per day, spent 59.3 minutes driving, and traveled 28.6 miles daily.

“Driving patterns in 2025 remained similar to those observed in previous years, with only observed changes in travel exposure and vehicle characteristics,” the brief states. “Drivers traveled slightly fewer miles and spent slightly less time driving compared with 2024, while newer vehicles and vehicles with hybrid or electric powertrains continued to represent a growing share of trips. EV use remained limited but was associated with longer trips compared with conventional vehicles. Continued monitoring of travel behavior, vehicle characteristics, and demographic differences remains important for understanding changes in mobility patterns and their implications for traffic safety in the United States.”

Researchers found that 95% of U.S. residents ages 16 and older reported driving at least occasionally in 2025, a slight increase from 2024.

As in previous years, drivers ages 35–49 reported the most daily trips, driving time, and mileage, while drivers ages 16–19 reported the least, according to the brief.

“Driving prevalence increased across most age groups between 2024 and 2025,” the brief states. “The largest significant increase was observed among 16- to 19-year-olds, rising from 83.1% to 91.4%, and for 25- to 34-year-olds (95.5%). Smaller increases were observed across the remaining age groups, with driving rates exceeding 90% for all age categories.”

The research also shows:

• • “Male drivers reported more trips, driving time, and miles than female drivers.
  • “Drivers in the South reported the highest daily driving time and mileage, while drivers in the West reported the lowest.
  • “Drivers with a bachelor’s degree or higher reported more trips and greater driving time and mileage than other education groups.
  • “The distribution of driving trips by vehicle age continued to shift toward newer vehicles, with vehicles aged 0–4 years accounting
    for the largest share of trips (39.3%), up from 34% in 2024 and 27% in 2023.”

AAA Foundation says that EV trips had the longest average duration and distance compared with gas/diesel and hybrid vehicles. Gas/diesel vehicles averaged 24.3 minutes and 11.8 miles per trip, while hybrids averaged 25 minutes and 12.4 miles.

EV trips had the longest average duration and distance, averaging 30.1 minutes and 13.8 miles per trip.

Hybrid and EV use was highest among drivers with a bachelor’s degree or higher and among drivers located in the West.

As for road trips, 30.1% of survey respondents reported taking at least one road trip in the previous four weeks, with an average one-way trip length of 234.8 miles. Gas/diesel vehicles remained the predominant vehicle type across all groups, accounting for more than 90% of trips in most categories.

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