fuel economy standards
In 1975, the US Congress passed legislation creating the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Regulations, also known as CAFE. The standards require car and truck manufacturers to offer vehicles that meet or exceed a fuel efficiency standard set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The Environmental Protection Agency was given the task of calculating the average fuel economy of each manufacturer.
Since then, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has set new fuel economy standards for certain years. The standards set goals that fleets must meet over the years up to a specific target year.
In March of last year, the Obama administration set new fuel economy standards for 2016. CAFE required manufacturers to offer cars that averaged 34.1 miles per gallon for the 2016 model year. You can find companies that do not meet standards. Since 1983, manufacturers have paid more than $500 million in civil penalties for failing to meet standards.
As a result of these standards and the ability of automakers to rise to the challenge, today we have hybrid and electric vehicles. Additionally, gasoline-powered cars have been improved to provide mpg numbers that were considered impossible in 1974. Automakers aren’t afraid of today’s CAFE regulations because they’ve developed the technology that helps them achieve the standards. .
Of course, achieving new CAFE standards costs manufacturers money, and these additional costs have been passed on to the consumer. For example, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration forecasts that automakers will spend $51.5 billion over the next five years to bring their 2016 model-year fleet up to standard. As a result, the agency expects the cost of new cars to increase by $985 by 2016. Still, the improved fuel efficiency will result in a $3,000 savings for the car owner due to fuel economy and vehicle improvements.
Automakers are confident that many of the cars they already make will meet the CAFE 2016 standard. In 2010, when the new standard was announced, cars that exceeded the 34.1 mpg standard actually got 35.5 mpg These included the Ford Fusion Hybrid, Mercury Milan Hybrid, Toyota Prius, Honda Insight, Honda Civic Hybrid and Mercedes-Benz Smart.
Automotive companies have been able to meet and exceed even the newest standard thanks to new technological developments. For example, Ford now has the EcoBoost engine. The engine, which features dual fuel direct injection and many aluminum parts, was first introduced as a six-cylinder in 2009. The engine runs like an eight-cylinder and improves fuel efficiency by 20 percent and reduces emissions. CO2 emissions by 15 percent. Since then, the company has introduced a four-cylinder EcoBoost engine that is said to run like a six-cylinder and the company plans to offer a 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine.
Manufacturers have come up with other tricks that improve fuel economy. They have improved the silhouette of the vehicle to ensure better co-efficiency. They have devised ways to turn off the cylinders when they are not needed, thus saving fuel. They have come up with Start-Stop technology in hybrid cars that turns off the engine when the car is stopped in city traffic and then restarts the engine when the driver hits the brake or gas pedal. Also, some car companies have a shutter behind the front grille that closes to ensure better efficiency when the car exceeds a certain speed.