Beefed up CAFE standards - 35 mpg by 2020 - approved by Senate panel
I guess Senator Levin didn't get what he wanted.
Today, a U.S. Senate panel voted to increase fuel efficiency standards to an average of 35 mpg by 2020, and then keep increasing it by four percent a year until 2030. The bill's final numbers are far from certain, though, and the bill won't make it to the Senate floor until next month (Currently, the standards are 27.5 mpg for cars and 22.5 for vans and trucks, but you knew that already, right?).
On the face of it, this is a good bill. But this AP article includes a long list of critics: Some Republicans, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the UAW, and some environmentalists. That may sound like a lot, but the Detroit News says that Democrats are confident the bill will pass in June.
While the Auto Alliance may be against the bill, the domestic automakers did get a little something they wanted: $50 million a year in advanced battery research funding. Last year, the Big Three asked the feds for $500,000,000 to build better batteries.
[Source: AP]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Nils 7:46PM (5/08/2007)
What an ambitious bill! An increas of 7.5 mpg in 13 years! Gonna need technology from outer-space to achieve that. And way more funding...why not ask the feds to just buy the Big3?
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Joe Alien 9:07PM (5/08/2007)
I suggest we offer any vehicle manufacture 5 years of no income taxes if they can meet the standard by 2010. I also suggest that all vehicles which meet the standard by 2010 be sales tax free to consumers if they purchase them. A little incentive goes a long way to getting things done quicker. The gains far outweigh the lost tax revenues.
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mobile_army_sugical_hospital 10:19PM (5/08/2007)
#2 that thinking is far to creative for Washington.
I agree 35MPG is a joke. Set the bar high nor for mediocrity. After all does the average soccer mom need a 250HP vehicle to schlep around her 2.5 kids?
Check out http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/new-vehicle-design-surpasses-0011.html
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MikeW 11:10PM (5/08/2007)
No, but s/he does need more than obsolete 4 speed autos, and old 5 speed autos.
Oh the Mazda5 would be great with a 6 speed auto.
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Mattias 7:10AM (5/09/2007)
Wow! They should probably start importing the Mazda 6 with the 2.0l diesel, the Staturn Astra CDTI, Ford Mondeo and S-Max TDCI and Chrysler 300 CDI...
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Chet 11:27AM (5/09/2007)
Are SUVs included, or do they still count as trucks and are they still subject to a lesser standard? Until SUVs are lumped in with cars, all this does is chase people out of cars into SUVs... and it's the downsizing/neutering of cars that chased people into SUVs in the first place.
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1985 Gripen 12:50PM (5/09/2007)
So we're paying huge multinational corporations (in the form of tax dollars to the "big-3") to develop better batteries? Why didn't the free market system do this?
Are only U.S. auto manufacturers subject to these new fuel economy standards or are foreign auto manufacturers also? It should be a level playing field. If the Big-3 get a $50M subsidy shouldn't we also offer it to Toyota, Honda, et. al. Why did they have to fund their own R&D where American tax payers fund U.S. domestic manufacturers? If the Big-3 had concentrated on more fuel efficient technologies such as hybrids as the Japanese did maybe we wouldn't have to be bailing them out. But then again, it's not their fault they continue to push vehicles like the HUMMER and Escalade, right?
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bill 2:29PM (5/09/2007)
Gee, another piece of gutless legislation from our most esteemed bunch of gutless legislators. Increasing cafe standards will get more people killed due to even smaller vehicles getting run over by bigger vehicles, and more foreign oil will be needed due to the increased driving brought about by improved gas mileage.
Solutions? Easy - mandate a 3,500 minimum weight and 10 miles per gallon maximum. Fewer people will die in traffic accidents and most people will not be able to drive most of the time. Yes, life is hard but simple solutions can solve the most challenging problems.
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TG 3:41PM (5/09/2007)
Honda Insight = 5o+ MPG, 700 miles on a tank.
VW Jetta TDI = 50 MPG on Biofuel ?
Naw.. Just give me a Phoenix SUT... short box PU EV so I can laugh when the sign appears at the local gas station.
[ SORRY - NO GAS TODAY ]
Wonder how many hybrid owners hope to run their vehicle without gas in the tank? Nasty expensive surprise.
= TG
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1985 Gripen 7:17PM (5/09/2007)
TG, put your money where your mouth is and buy a Phoenix SUT. It's funny how many people CLAIM they want a particular vehicle and then when something comes out to fit the bill not enough people buy them to make a difference.
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Ron Fischer 7:56PM (5/09/2007)
Its been claimed the bill alters CAFE to only require "mileage within size class" rather than fleet-wide average mileage. If this is the case, then US automakers will likely abandon the low-end of the market (smaller cars) and move upmarket to sell only luxury cars and trucks. In fact, automakers may like this approach better than the current one, as it would no longer require them to sell smaller vehicles at a loss to make up for larger ones. In other words: new loopholes big enough to drive your auto business through.
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Tim 12:37PM (5/10/2007)
I've always thought CAFE was wrong because it keeps fuel cheap. This cheap fuel gives people no incentive to change their driving or vehicle choice. Tax the fuel and let the market decide. Europe has high gas taxes and as such has a much more efficient vehicle fleet.
The statement: "Increasing cafe standards will get more people killed due to even smaller vehicles getting run over by bigger vehicles" just isn't as true now as it was back in the 70's. Small cars are built much stronger and safer and the airbags help too.
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Dr. W. Gourd 5:33PM (12/29/2007)
35 miles per gallon by the end of the next thirteen years. This is progress?? This is sheer BULLSHIT!!
We have made NO progress. Henry Ford's Model T, sixty years ago, got 35 miles to the gallon, for crissake. We have made NO PROGRESS, and the Democratic Congress, instead of kicking ass and developing some useful standards in a practicable
time-line, farts around with the stupidity represented by this piece of legislation. The American public is being monumentally insulted, and they damned well ought to be out in the streets protesting by the millions. What a crock of shit! And there are cars in Europe that get 60 and 70 miles per gallon, but we've encouraged the oil corporations to cut off our balls, so that we are powerless to do anything useful. As I said, what a crock of shit!!
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wayne 10:40AM (12/25/2007)
I have 3 cars all get 15 mpg or less. I will not put fuel economy ahead of power and performance.
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wayne 10:42AM (12/25/2007)
14. I have 3 cars all get 15 mpg or less. I will not put fuel economy ahead of power and performance. Also if anyone does not like this they can kiss my ass...
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StEve 8:39PM (12/28/2007)
Seems to me that people freely chose (myself included) to drive SUV's despite the excessive fuel needs. The key here is CHOICE. I pay more in gas so I can have the practicality of a pick-up, the power of a V8, and most importantly the safety of a large full framed vehicle for my family. I think raising the CAFE standards is a political ploy to force citizens into smaller, more dangerous vehicles that the majority of Americans do not want.
If I want to drive a big truck I will choose to pay the extra fuel costs. If I want economy, I will choose a Prius. FORCING a choice for me via CAFE ledgislation is WRONG.
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STEVE-O 5:56PM (12/30/2007)
No progress #16? Didn't the model T have a hand crank?!
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