CAFE
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As corporate average fuel economy requirements that started in 2012 continue to tighten, automakers have turned to an entire arsenal of tactics to reduce the fuel their vehicles burn. Downsized and turbocharged engines, transmissions with many more gears, lighter-weight structures, better aerodynamics and more all add incrementally to efficiency. One of the less-discussed methods is the "Eco" button offered in increasing numbers of new cars, which reduces the car's available power and minimizes accessory use. DON'T MISS: How to drive Ford C-Max Hybrid for best gas mileage? Owner video...
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States have battle plan if Trump rolls back fuel-economy, emission rules
The Trump Administration has had a challenging start on numerous fronts, but its work to slash emission rules and eliminate regulations continues. The EPA administrator, climate-science denier Scott Pruitt, has said he isn't "currently" planning to target California's ability to set its own...
John Voelcker -
How much would relaxing U.S. fuel-economy rules matter? Poll results
One of the earliest acts of the Trump Administration was to announce that it would re-examine emission rules finalized by the EPA in the waning days of the Obama Administration. Making good on that promise, EPA administrator (and climate-science denier) Scott Pruitt reopened the commenting period...
John Voelcker -
Fuel-efficiency rules create jobs too, contrary to industry plaints
Fuel economy and emission standards have been a contentious issue in recent months as the auto industry and government officials clash over regulations and their potential benefits. Earlier this year, one of the largest pieces of evidence against more stringent fuel economy regulations came from...
Sean Szymkowski -
Bill to give more CAFE credits to light-truck makers introduced in Congress
Under the new administration of President Donald Trump, the EPA has reopened comments on its decision to finalize emission rules for 2022 through 2025 vehicles. Meanwhile, the NHTSA—which sets fuel-economy rules that have to correspond to EPA limits on carbon-dioxide emissions—hasn't...
John Voelcker -
Would weaker EPA rules kill advanced start-stop hybrid systems for U.S.?
Today's political climate has made for fluid motion in regulations, and corporate average fuel economy targets haven't been left out. Suppliers and automakers have already begun investing heavily into vehicles to be sold in 2022 through 2025, which will include various fuel-saving and...
Sean Szymkowski -
California began regulating vehicle emissions within its boundaries before the Environmental Protection Agency was even a gleam in President Richard Nixon's eye. Since that agency was founded in 1971 with an executive order by Nixon, the state has retained the right to set its own—more stringent—emission rules. Now, under President Donald Trump and climate-science denier Scott Pruitt, who runs the EPA, there's widespread fear that the agency will attack the "waiver" it granted to California that permits its zero-emission vehicle sales requirements. DON'T MISS: Ruling that EPA must...
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Ignore politicians: lower fuel-economy rules don't create jobs, analyst says
A common refrain among critics of current and future fuel-economy standards is that the need to comply with them produces job cuts in the auto industry. It's a theme picked up by President Donald Trump during a much-publicized visit to Detroit last week. In the hometown of the Big Three U.S...
Stephen Edelstein -
What Trump did and didn't say in Detroit on EPA emission rules
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...
John Voelcker -
EPA to reopen emission-rule review; how important is this step?
Tomorrow is expected to be the day when President Donald Trump announces the EPA will reopen the comment period for the vehicle emissions standards it finalized in the waning days of the Obama Administration. The event will likely be accompanied by predictable language: Trump will be...
John Voelcker -
EPA to reopen 2022-2025 auto-emission rule decision: report
It looks like lobbying pays off, at least in the case of EPA emission rules. According to numerous recent reports, the EPA is expected to reopen the commenting period for vehicle-emission rules it finalized in January, more than a year ahead of schedule. Automaker CEOs and the Alliance of...
John Voelcker -
Auto industry split over halting, changing fuel-economy rules
Just days after the presidential election, automaker lobbyists urged Donald Trump to loosen pending emissions and fuel-economy standards. Shortly after the election, a lobbying group wrote Trump asking him to change or delay an EPA decision that kept planned emissions standards for 2022 to 2025 in...
Stephen Edelstein -
Just days after the presidential election, an automaker lobbying group wrote Donald Trump asking him to change or delay an EPA decision that kept planned exhaust-emission standards through 2025. Now executives of 18 automakers have sent a second letter, asking the same thing—and echoing a statement by Ford CEO Mark Fields that "up to 1 million jobs" were at risk from the standards. As before, that estimate is based on a study whose assumptions are so extreme that they "don't make sense," according to one critique. DON'T MISS: Emissions rules could cost 1 million jobs, Ford CEO tells...
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Emissions rules could cost 1 million jobs, Ford CEO tells Trump: what's behind that number? (further updated)
Among his actions during a whirlwind first week in office, U.S. President Donald Trump met last week with the CEOs of U.S. automakers Fiat Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors. He met on two consecutive days with Mark Fields, CEO of Ford, in fact. Fields was part of a group of manufacturing...
John Voelcker -
Rest of world: Trump may roll back emission rules, but we won't
With auto-industry lobbyists pushing to have the Trump Administration roll back current and future emission and fuel-economy rules, automakers clearly see the new U.S. regime as more friendly to the needs of business. And it's possible that indeed, the EPA's vehicle emission limits, the NHTSA's...
John Voelcker -
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 -
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 -
Ford will ask President-elect Donald Trump to lower fuel-economy standards, CEO Mark Fields said in a recent interview.
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Carmakers howl about CAFE rules, but regularly beat them; why?
Automakers want less-strict CAFE standards, but the regularly beat the current ones.
Stephen Edelstein -
EPA keeps car-emission rules to 2025; what happens under Trump?
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...
John Voelcker -
EPA decides to maintain vehicle emission limits through 2025
The EPA plans to maintain current fuel-economy standards through 2025.
Stephen Edelstein -
Are you driving a car, a crossover, an SUV, or a truck? Do you care?
Automakers are taking advantage of the fact that the EPA has no clear definition for crossover utility vehicles.
Stephen Edelstein -
Tougher testing for emissions may mean bigger engines, but why?
On-road emissions testing may cause carmakers to go back to bigger engines.
Stephen Edelstein