NHTSA
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Less than two years from now, barring action by the Trump administration, a National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration rule will require hybrid and electric cars to produce an audible noise under 19 mph. Alongside its Nissan IMx self-driving electric SUV concept it launched at the recent Tokyo Motor Show, the maker of the world's highest-volume electric car revealed its interpretation of what future electric cars will sound like. Or, perhaps, what they will sing: Nissan calls it "Canto," and it will be the official sound of Nissan's future electric cars. DON'T MISS: Electric-car noise...
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States to force emission, fuel-economy rules showdown with Trump Administration?
Continuing political turmoil and news coverage of the Trump Administration haven't stopped the president's agency heads from drastically reshaping policies on energy, the environment, and emissions. Comments are now being taken on the reopened EPA limits on vehicular carbon emissions for 2022...
John Voelcker -
Trump NHTSA might reduce fuel-economy rules for two-thirds of U.S. vehicles
Consumers all over the world, but especially in North America, are buying more crossover utility vehicles and fewer passenger sedans and hatchbacks. The U.S. auto industry makes the bulk of its profits on light trucks, which include crossovers, pickup trucks, and even minivans. The Trump...
John Voelcker -
Carmaker lobbyist urges fuel-economy deal to keep emission limits, but stretch them out (updated)
Automakers appear to have united behind a surprising position: reviews of emission rules should not involve scrapping the current standards. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a lobbying group that represents automakers building cars in the U.S., has suggested the Trump administration should...
Sean Szymkowski -
For pickup trucks, more than half all fuel savings come in 2022-2025 CAFE rules
Sometimes, when science and technology issues have economic or political consequences, incorrect or misleading information and analyses can be propagated through the media, leading both decision makers and the public astray. A piece published in April by Forbes, covering the effects of the 2022...
John Briggs -
NHTSA to review gas-mileage rules: could freeze 2021 limits, even roll back (updated)
The U.S. Department of Transportation said yesterday the NHTSA is preparing to revise corporate average fuel economy requirements for model years 2022 through 2025. The proposed version of those regulations, which was issued by the Obama Administration in 2012, included steady increases for each of...
John Voelcker -
Tesla slams IIHS after 'Acceptable' Model S test, cites older NHTSA ratings in response
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Electric-car noise rules to be canceled under Trump deregulation plan?
Modern electric cars have been on U.S. roads for seven years or so, and owners love their smooth, quiet, close to noise-free operation. That silence has been a bone of contention for even longer, however, since hybrids operating purely on battery power are similarly quiet. For years, the U.S...
John Voelcker -
Tesla driver killed in Autopilot crash ignored repeated warnings, NTSB says
The National Transportation Safety Board has published its first findings after investigating a fatal highway crash in 2016 involving a Tesla Model S and a tractor trailer. The crash occurred on last summer after 40-year-old Joshua Brown was driving with Tesla's Autopilot engaged. The system failed...
Sean Szymkowski -
Tesla Model X gets uniform 5-star safety ratings from NHTSA, first SUV to do so
Tesla's Model X has secured a major accomplishment: it is officially the first SUV to receive 5-star crash-test ratings in every single category. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gave the Model X uniform 5-star ratings, which Tesla says is due to the design of the all-electric...
Sean Szymkowski -
Some crossover SUVs get easier fuel-economy rules, others don't
What's a truck? If you tell your average suburban family that they're hauling their kids to school and sports practices in a truck, many will push back. "It's an SUV," you'll likely hear, or perhaps, "it's called a crossover"—short for crossover utility vehicle, or a car-based SUV. DON'T...
John Voelcker -
Extra fuel used if 2022-2025 CAFE rules delayed would be low: here's the math
Barbie never said "Math is hard!" The talking doll did, notoriously, say "Math class is tough!" in 1989, sparking a media firestorm over gender roles in childrens' toys and then a voluntary recall by Mattel for offended parents. Reworded, however, the point remains accurate: many people don't...
John Voelcker -
One of the challenges of today's uber-polarized political environment is that fear and alarmism increasingly overtake the factual realities of an issue. This appears to be the case with President Donald Trump's Wednesday appearance in Detroit to announce the reopening of the comment period for EPA emission rules for vehicles in model years 2022 through 2025. To judge from a spate of statements and releases from various environmental organizations that followed, you might think that the president had single-handedly ended all fuel-economy rules for new cars. He didn't. DON'T MISS: EPA to...
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Tesla Autopilot investigation closed by NHTSA, will continue to monitor
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) closed its investigation into the fatal Florida crash last May of a Tesla using the company's Autopilot driver-assist system. The Model S in question collided with a tractor trailer that turned left in front of it, killing the driver, who...
Stephen Edelstein -
EPA finalizes emission rules through 2025; no change from existing levels
Seven days before the advent of a new presidential administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has locked in planned auto-emission standards through 2025. The emission limits tie directly to fuel-efficiency rules issued by the NHTSA, effectively requiring those rules to stay the same...
John Voelcker -
Fuel-economy rules not the cause of rising auto prices: analysis
Automakers are wrongfully blaming fuel-economy rules for increased prices, analysts argue.
Stephen Edelstein -
Probe into Smart ForTwo engine fires started by NHTSA
The NHTSA is investigating eight reported engine fires in 2008 and 2009 Smart ForTwo city cars.
Stephen Edelstein -
NHTSA delays penalty rise for carmakers who miss CAFE levels
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will delay implementation of higher penalties for automakers that don't meet fuel-economy standards.
Stephen Edelstein -
Two days ago, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a ruling that existing limits on tailpipe emissions of carbon dioxide for 2022 through 2025 should remain in place. The EPA's carbon limits correspond exactly to NHTSA standards for corporate average fuel economy, and the EPA decision was widely (if incorrectly) reported to be about CAFE. Its recommendation, which came unexpectedly early, largely reiterated points made in a voluminous Technical Assessment Report issued in July. The report said that automakers have the technical abilities to meet the emission standards, although...
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Feds issue mandatory-noise rule for new electric, hybrid cars
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finally issued mandatory-noise rules for so-called "quiet cars."
Stephen Edelstein -
How safe is Tesla Autopilot? Parsing the statistics (as suggested by Elon Musk)
One of the tools Elon Musk and Tesla Motors have used to defend the safety of its Autopilot software is the dark and perplexing art of statistics. After a fatal Autopilot-related crash in May, a company blog post pointed out that the crash was “the first known fatality in just over 130...
David Noland -
Carmakers asked to extend CAFE comment period; EPA said no
It's probably the battle that will do most to determine the carbon emission from new U.S. vehicles over the next decade. Automakers want to modify, delay, or extend the current corporate average fuel economy standards for 2022 through 2025 vehicles; regulators don't. The mid-July release of the...
John Voelcker -
Battle over CAFE standards begins now: will they change for 2022-2025?
Two weeks ago today, three federal and state agencies jointly released a "Technical Assessment Report" on how well automakers have done thus far in meeting corporate average fuel economy standards. It concluded that car companies may not quite reach the theoretical goal of an average 54.5 mpg (or...
John Voelcker -
EPA: 2025 target of 54.5 mpg may not be met; SUVs, trucks, cheap gas to blame
A pair of U.S. federal agencies said yesterday that while automakers had complied with the first five years of stricter fuel-efficiency laws, the industry seemed unlikely to meet 2025 targets for improving gas mileage. Rather than hitting the projected 54.5-mpg Corporate Average Fuel...
John Voelcker