Proposed Fuel Efficiency Standards – Will They Affect You?
Gas is becoming increasingly more expensive. It wasn’t that long ago that regular gas climbed to more than $4.00 a gallon, and gas prices are now slowly inching up again. With this in mind, and because petroleum products are a finite resource, the Obama administration has proposed new fuel efficiency standards. We all like the idea of better gas mileage so that we get more for our money, but what do the proposed fuel efficiency standards really mean for you?
To give you an idea of what exactly we’re talking about, the Transportation Department wants manufacturers to get to an overall fleet average of 35.5 mpg by 2016. There are some other specifics – passenger cars have to hit 39 mpg and light trucks should hit 30 mpg if these standards are adopted. To illustrate just how big a job this is, there are only six cars that are on sale right now that offer an estimated mpg of 35.5.
First, these new standards likely mean smaller cars. This is a simple matter of mathematics – a smaller lighter car is a more fuel efficient car. This may be a dramatic change for Americans who still like their roomy automobiles. What’s worse, from a consumer’s point of view, is that these new smaller cars may cost more than $1,000.00 more than trucks or SUVs, even though they are smaller.
However, smaller, lighter cars aren’t the only way manufacturers are trying to meet these goals – electric cars and hybrids are in the pipelines of every major manufacturer. Besides this, companies are looking at clean diesel cars, with the Volkswagen Jetta TDI being a pioneer in this market. In the immediate future, there are also extended-range electric plug-ins that will rely on a rechargeable battery for short trips and have a combination of gas power and electric motors for longer journeys.
Other developments in clean diesels, which will use technology that filters out particulate matter, are another approach. Overall, these cars will offer better fuel economy than the traditional diesel engines, along with other benefits for consumers and the environment.
But as per usual government efficiency, many of the details of the proposed standards haven’t been worked out yet. Still to be answered is how the electric cars will be figured into the fleet average. Given that an electric car uses no gasoline, would a single electric model that no one is buying lower the overall fleet average to a point where the entire company is within the set standard? Or will some manufacturers look to alternative fuels like biodiesel to meet their standards? But isn’t that just swapping one problem for another? No one knows yet, and no one is saying anything official on the subject.
But however fuel efficiency standards are imposed – whether by governmental mandate or through shifting consumer demand for more fuel-efficient vehicles – it’s clear that something needs to give. Even if families can afford to pump their giant SUVs full of $4.00/gallon + gasoline, should other citizens suffer increased smog and emissions for their enjoyment? Should soldiers risk their lives every day to protect a resource we place an exorbitant demand on? There’s no right or wrong answers to these questions – but it’s clear that they will need to be address in the next few years.
