More fuel efficient cars on the way! Posted
by mitcka at 05/06/07 04:45 PM
With widespread support from Americans tired of forking over $30, $40, $50 dollars each time they pull up to a gas station, lawmakers last week reached a deal to increase fuel efficiency standards.
According to the Congressional Quarterly (CQ), which closely tracks Congressional activity, Senate leaders reached a deal on Friday that will increase gas mileage standards from 27.5 mpg today to 35 mpg by 2020.
Automakers have already announced changes to bring more fuel efficient cars to market. According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette on Friday:
With gas and oil prices remaining high and concerns about greenhouse gases continuing to grow, pressure is building for the domestic automakers to produce more cars that use less fuel. A U.S. Senate committee hearing yesterday reviewed four proposals that would force automakers to improve the mileage of new cars and trucks by changing the Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, standards.
CAFE is the average fuel economy for the entire fleet of passenger cars and light trucks that an auto manufacturer might produce for sale in a given year. Among the proposals discussed at the hearing is one that would raise the CAFE requirement to 40 miles per gallon by 2017, up from 27.5 mpg that a company's lineup must average under current rules.
While several proposals were under consideration, the final compromise that emerged addresses both SUVs and cars and increases standards to 35 mpg by 2020 with additional increases in later years. According to CQ,
The chairman had planned to mark up the bill last week but was forced to postpone due to a split with ranking Republican Ted Stevens of Alaska over how, and whether, to address light trucks. Stevens has his own CAFE bill (S 183) that would set stricter requirements for passenger cars but would not alter the current system for light trucks.
The deal — released in the form of a joint Inouye-Stevens amendment to Feinstein’s bill — not only includes light trucks in a single fleetwide standard of 35 miles per gallon by 2020, but would also codify a 4 percent annual increase in the standards in subsequent years.
Your calls and letters made a difference, and so did your market choices. According to the Gazette, Americans are buying smaller cars with added optional equipment for comfort and power, and automakers have to respond.
But with gasoline prices in the $3 range, Americans are buying small cars once again and, industry observers note, profits in fact have increased for compacts and subcompacts because of options being ordered for them by buyers who want both good gas mileage and comfort.
"There was a National Research Council study done in 2002 that showed that the average fuel economy of over 37 miles per gallon would be achievable by using today's cost-effective technology -- and that doesn't include hybrids," said Kateri Callahan, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Alliance to Save Energy. "Analysis shows that the average cost to reach 37 miles per gallon would be about $2,700 per car, but gasoline cost savings would be $5,200 over the life of the car itself.
Thanks for all you are doing, both in Congress and in the marketplace, to help make American cars more fuel efficient. Here's Consumers Union's take on the proposal. Take a moment and tell us your thoughts!
comments
(3)
1
Posted by maureen at 05/07/07 09:37 AM
How about looking into fuel efficient gasoline?
2
Posted by Constitution Man at 05/07/07 01:59 PM
How about no more laws?
let the market work on it's own, it already is:
"But with gasoline prices in the $3 range, Americans are buying small cars once again"(from above)
3
Posted by omdahl at 05/07/07 04:34 PM
Add a chip to all vehicles that monitors fuel mileage and charge accordingly. Better mileage vehicles pay less per gallon, vehicles that get worse mpg pay more per gallon.
