If you think the 35.5 mpg corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standard for the year 2016 is tough, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet! President Obama is leading the charge to set even tougher fuel economy standards for the year 2025. The move keeps the Obama administration in charge of regulating fuel economy standards instead of giving that power to Congress or individual States. It also endows the automotive field with a crucial national standard for developing new technologies while protecting the industry from state-variable fuel economy requirements (ex: California has and was planning to set its own fuel economy criteria).
The 2016 CAFE standard foretold the average fuel economy target for all U.S. auto makers to average 35.5 mpg, although that number is looking to be more like 32.7 mpg. That’s due to regulations giving credits and emissions cuts to manufacturers that change other parts of vehicles, rather than the engines themselves.
After the 2016 fuel economy standards were released in April, auto executives called for a repeat of the process after 2017 and President Obama will then order the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to begin working on new standards for 2025.
[Source: Detroit Free Press]
No Comments yet