Obama mandates fuel economy too high??

[california]

The Obama administration will mandate cars have an average of 35.5 mpg by the year 2015. One problem – that’s 4 years away. Do any vehicles get that sort of mileage currently? The electric Leaf, Smart and Volt (and the 2012 Ford Focus Electric) and the hybrid Prius and Civic. Even the tiny Ford Fiesta only gets 33 mpg. Obama also wants to mandate 56 mpg average by 2025!

What do you think? Is this a move to push companies to produce electric vehicles? Is it swinging the pendulum too far – from no mandates whatsoever on fuel economy to extreme mandates? Something I always keep coming back to: these new cars will have to be tiny to achieve that kind of mileage. I think they should also mandate all big trucks and SUVs of current day be banned from the road for safety reasons if I have to drive around in a thimble - at least the Ford Focus Electric seems to be testing well for crash safety!

 

[marta]

56 mpg is high - ridiculously high. That can only mean 1 of 2 things - either car companies have totally been slacking off and building overpowered gas guzzling vehicles, or they will have to work like crazy to try and meat those standards (or every vehicle will be a Ford Focus Electric )

 

[rfruth]

The Fiesta only gets 33 ? Heck my 2 year old Fusion gets over 40 MPG :roll:

 

[vincebelfiore]

I think it's possible since I've seen 40mpg for hybrid cars.

 

[NextGenDriver]

I do not think this is as big a deal as it seems and probably has more to do with Obama's political agenda then actually really meaning anything. A few key points. The program has been going on since 1975 without fail (doubt this is going to change):

http://www.nhtsa.gov/fuel-economy

If you look at the average increases over the last 25 years as related to available technology Obama's mandates are not even that off from what he have been doing for the past 30 years or so:

http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/CAFE/DomesticCarFleet.htm

The government can pretty much do anything they want i.e. this:

"Nissan North America, Inc. Petition for Exemption from Two-Fleet Rule Affecting Compliance with Passenger Automobile Fuel Economy Standards
Nissan filed a petition requesting exemption from the two fleet rule for the 2006-2010 model years. The two fleet rule, which is contained in the CAFE statute, requires that a manufacturer divide its passenger automobiles into two fleets, a domestically-manufactured fleet and a non-domestically manufactured fleet, and ensure that each fleet separately meets the CAFE standards for passenger automobiles. The CAFE statute requires NHTSA to grant such a petition unless it finds that doing so would result in reduced employment in the U.S. related to motor vehicle manufacturing. NHTSA’s analysis does not support a finding that granting the petition would reduce automotive manufacturing employment in the United States. Accordingly, in this notice, NHTSA is granting Nissan’s petition. "

The government usually makes and breaks rules as it suits them so I would not put too much stock in there auto industry efforts or mandates. Now if we could just get some more Ford Focus electrics and electric cars on the road we could put the fuel mandates behind while making the world a better place. Regardless of what happens in regards to the fuel rules the Ford Focus Electric car is a welcome change to our roadways.

 

[mrpalerider]

The big difficulty is getting that crazy gas mileage while keeping the NOX/SO2/CO emissions low, contrary to what some people think they don't very often go hand in hand. While we add catalytic converters and low temp ignition systems to reduce pollutants we actually keep fuel consumption high. We'll be going diesel in the next generation.

 

[longpipe]

My Echo get almost 40mi/gal (realworld), difficult to mandate 25-50% increase when you see 75% of the cars on the road V6 or bigger. It's totally possible though, and as for the emissions...when you reduce the consumption enough the emission problem is generally solved too. However, I hear a lawnmower emits more pollution than a brand new car?!

 

[KeiJidosha]

The Obama administration will mandate cars have an average of 35.5 mpg by the year 2015. One problem – that’s 4 years away. Do any vehicles get that sort of mileage currently?

Yes. Apparently the Volkswagen Passat can get 80+ mpg.

 

[mrpalerider]

Yep. That's why we'll be going diesel before you see the electric car explosion starts hitting the streets. Diesels can use lower grades of oil, less refined and 2x the mileage. Also, they have virtually none of the emissions common with most gasoline cars. But (and a big butt) the emissions they emit are more hazardous to human health...which can be eliminated with the conversion to veggie fuels. All in all the diesel will see a big increase comparable to Europe where fuel is over $7/gallon. And once we really price ourselves out of oil there will be the option of CNG (compressed natural gas) which is WAAAAY cheaper than either option, very clean burning and efficient. Ford has even introduced the 2012 F-250 with a possible CNG/gasoline engine. http://www.ford-trucks.com/article/idx/0/809/article/Ford_tffer_Clean_Natural_Gas_BiFuel_System_in_2012_Super_Duty.html