DOT seeks new fuel economy scale for cars

The Department of Transportation sent a report to Congress on Wednesday detailing its recommendation to update fuel economy standards for passenger cars amid rising gas prices and growing concerns about the nation's energy security.

The report asked Congress to reform the Corporate Average Fuel Economy program to apply a sliding scale for different-size cars, not a system that asks automakers to reach an average for all its cars.

The system would require manufacturers to improve the fuel economy of most or all of their vehicles rather than simply building larger vehicles to lower their CAFE standards, the report said. It said reductions in fuel consumption could be achieved by 2014.

The passenger car changes would force manufacturers to apply fuel-saving technology and would provide incentives to cut down on rollovers and improve safety by reducing the weight and size of vehicles, according to the report.

Under the current CAFE system, passenger cars must meet an average of 27.5 mpg, a number largely unchanged since 1985.


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chewy - 8/10/2006 12:14:51 PM

+1 Boost

How about trucks, for crying out loud. They always seem to be excluded from everything, like paying gas guzzler tax (cars with bad fuel economy have to pay gas guzzler tax) the EPA doesn't even bother to rate some, how rediculous is that. We need gas guzzler tax on SUVs and pickups before other modifications.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/info.shtml#guzzler