EPA
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We occasionally run articles about "forbidden fruit," or cool and desirable cars sold overseas that aren't available in the U.S. With Honda down to a single hybrid vehicle for the 2016 model year--the aging and low-volume CR-Z two-seater--it turns out one reader is looking covetously at the subcompact Honda Fit Hybrid sold in Japan. The 2016 Honda Fit gets a combined 36 mpg EPA rating with the continuously variable transmission, but reader Paul Saltman wants more. DON'T MISS: Honda Fit Hybrid: Forbidden Fruit Drive Report Saltman asked if we'd heard anything new about the Honda Fit Hybrid or...
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EPA Will 'Up Its Game' With New Tests For Emissions Cheating
EPA chief Gina McCarthy says the agency will make greater efforts to stop cheating.
Stephen Edelstein -
How VW Can Atone For Diesel Deception: Electric-Car Advocate's Thoughts
The full impact of Volkswagen's diesel-emission cheating scandal has yet to be realized, but what it has apparently already admitted to doing could result in the largest civil fine ever levied by the Federal government on an automaker. And that's just the beginning. Besides paying civil penalties...
Tom Moloughney -
VW Emission Cheating Could Kill Diesel Passenger Cars In U.S., Even Globally
We're just four days into the Volkswagen diesel-emission cheating scandal, but it's not too early to ask about its ultimate ramifications. The 482,000 VW and Audi cars being investigated by the EPA are a majority of all the diesel passenger cars sold in the U.S. since 2008, when new and tougher...
John Voelcker -
EPA Expands VW Diesel Probe To Audi, Porsche V-6s; All Diesels To Be Tested
Amidst a growing list of probes into Volkswagen's diesel-emission cheating scandal, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expanding its investigation to cover additional diesel engines used in VW Group vehicles. The original admission by the company that it used a software "defeat device" to...
John Voelcker -
VW: 11 Million Diesels Had Cheating Software, $7.3 Billion Set Aside; Criminal Probe Reported
Volkswagen AG said today it would adjust its third-quarter earnings to set aside $7.3 billion (€6.5 billion) for costs related to its admission that it used software to cheat on U.S. emissions tests of its diesel engines. That sum will "cover the necessary service measures and other efforts to...
John Voelcker -
The announcement came out of the blue: "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will host a media call at 12 noon EST today, Friday, September 18, to make an announcement regarding a major automaker." When it was all over, German carmakers Volkswagen and Audi had been ordered to recall half a million of its popular TDI four-cylinder diesel vehicles sold in the U.S. from 2009 to 2015. More startling, the EPA took the action because those TDI cars appeared to detect emission-testing cycles and significantly reduce their emissions under those circumstances. DON'T MISS: Further Crackdowns On...
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Chrysler Upgrades Pentastar V-6 For Fuel Efficiency; Lack Of Direct Injection A Hint Of Future EPA Rules?
Automotive engineers are very good at incremental improvements to existing technologies, and that skill will be much tested in meeting increasingly stiff fuel-economy rules between now and 2025. For the 2016 model year, Chrysler has extensively re-engineered its Pentastar V-6 engine, a mainstay...
John Voelcker -
Fleet Operators Favor New Rules For Fuel-Efficient Big Trucks
Fleet operators appear positive about proposed fuel-economy standards.
Stephen Edelstein -
Big Coal Doomed: Not By Climate Rules But Fracking & Finance
Coal is the worst fossil fuel, that much is clear. Its carbon footprint per kilowatt-hour of electricity when it's burned by electric utilities to make electricity is far, far higher than that of natural gas. And that's even before the slowly improving economics of renewable sources come into play...
John Voelcker -
Final EPA Power-Plant Rules: Far More Impact On Coal States
The completed rules issued this week by the EPA to limit carbon emissions from power plants run 1,560 pages--nighttime reading only for policy wonks. But the agency's final Clean Power Plan has changed considerably from the draft rules issued in June 2014. And as utility executives, advocacy...
John Voelcker -
EPA Issues Final Clean Power Plan Rules; Now The Fight Begins
The final version of the EPA's Clean Power Plan was revealed Monday.
Stephen Edelstein -
Coal power-plant retirements will accelerate in the next few decades, analysts say.
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Drivers Say Fuel Economy Better Than EPA Ratings; Discrepancies Matter, Though
A AAA study found that most drivers get better fuel economy than the EPA ratings.
Stephen Edelstein -
Proposed 2021 Fuel Economy Rules For Heavy-Duty Trucks, Buses Released
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released proposed standards that would further boost the fuel efficiency of heavy-duty trucks and buses, starting in the 2021 model year and running through 2027. The new regulations were announced on Friday by Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and...
John Voelcker -
Bills To Kill Renewable Fuel Law, Ban E15 Ethanol Fuel Likely Doomed
The addition of ethanol to gasoline has now been a political hot potato in the U.S. for more than a decade. Joined by cosponsors from both sides of the aisle, U.S. Representative Bob Goodlatte [R-VA] introduced two bills in February that together would eliminate the Renewable Fuels Act passed in...
John Voelcker -
EPA Proposes Lower Increases For Ethanol In Gasoline
The EPA wants to cut ethanol levels originally mandated by the 2007 Renewable Fuels Standard.
Stephen Edelstein -
Are 'Clean Diesels' Actually Not Nearly As Clean As Claimed?
The only region where diesel passenger cars sell in equal numbers to gasoline-powered vehicles is Europe. And until the advent this year of tougher Euro 6 emission standards, new European diesel cars were significantly dirtier than those sold since 2008 in North America. But one European transport...
John Voelcker -
Coal could remain a significant energy source for decades to come, a new report says.
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EPA Insider: Agency Bluffed Carmakers To Get CAFE Standards
The EPA initially asked for higher truck fuel-economy than it actually wanted, a new book claims.
Stephen Edelstein -
Gas Mileage Rules For 2025 Could Be Lowered If Buyers Stick With SUVs
Thus far, automakers appear to have had little trouble meeting the corporate average fuel economy rules that started for 2012 vehicle and will rise steadily through 2025. The general consensus so far is that carmakers have been able to raise their EPA ratings with a combination of tactics that...
John Voelcker -
EPA Issues New Guidelines For Automaker Fuel-Economy Testing
The EPA hopes to tighten standards for fuel-economy testing.
Stephen Edelstein -
Tesla P85D Highlights Why EPA Range Ratings Are Inconsistent & Confusing For Electric Cars
There’s been a lot of confusion recently about the official EPA-certified ranges of certain electric cars. That all-important number goes on the window sticker, and is typically used for advertising and marketing purposes. In November, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk announced, with great fanfare...
David Noland -
Latest Diesel Engines As Clean As Expected Under EPA Rules, Study Shows
A new study shows expected reductions in adverse health effects from new diesel engine exhaust emissions.
Stephen Edelstein