Automakers Officially Support President Obama's Tough New Fuel Economy Standards
A trade association of 11 car and light truck manufacturers is endorsing a tough new national fuel economy and emissions policy that's expected to be announced Tuesday by the Obama administration. The new standards are expected to dramatically raise fuel economy requirements for new cars and light trucks sold in the U.S. to an average of 35 mpg by 2016 - four years earlier than had previously been expected - and unify them under a single set of rules that incorporates California's stringent greenhouse gas emissions regulations.
“For seven long years, there has been a debate over whether states or the federal government should regulate autos. President Obama’s announcement ends that old debate by starting a federal rulemaking to set a National Program,” Dave McCurdy, president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said in a statement late Monday. “Automakers are committed to working with the President to develop a National Program administered by the federal government.”
According to the Alliance, fuel economy standards would move from today's Corporate Average Fuel Economy metric to a new "footprint-based" approach that would rate each vehicle based on its unique physical dimensions (length and track width). A national fleet average would still exist, though, mandating that cars get more than 40 mpg and light trucks slightly more than 26 mpg by 2016.
Until the Obama Administration releases the full details of the plan, it's unknown what the full impact could be for pickup trucks.
Two questions that we have:
1. Will heavy-duty pickups (those with a gross vehicle weight over 8,500 pounds), currently excluded from CAFE consideration, fall under the new standards?
2. What will be the impact of first-ever national CO2 limits on diesel? Diesel has higher CO2 emissions per gallon compared to gasoline.
We'll keep you updated.
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