fuel cost
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For some time automakers have been under increasing pressure from the government to make their cars as green as fuel efficient as possible in order to improve air quality, reduce pollution and diminish our dependence on fossil fuels. But makers of medium and heavy duty vehicles -- like semis, buses and 3/4 ton pickup trucks -- haven’t been put under such pressure to improve their vehicle’s fuel efficiency. Until recently, that is. Earlier this month, the government released the first ever fuel efficiency standards for medium and heavy-duty trucks, requiring improvements in fuel...
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Consumer Reports On 56.2-MPG Gas-Mileage Goal: Meh, Can Do BetterMuch debate will occur--and that's putting it politely--over the next round of gas-mileage standards, which the EPA hopes to finalize next year for 2017-2025 vehicles. Earlier this week, news reports from Washington indicated that the Obama Administration and EPA are pushing for 56.2 mpg as the...
John Voelcker -
White House, Feds To Push For 56.2-MPG Fuel Economy In 2025
The two Federal agencies that set gas mileage and emissions standards for future cars may propose rules that require corporate average fuel economy to reach 56 miles per gallon by 2025. News reports out of Washington, D.C., indicate that the Obama Administration is urging the EPA and NHTSA to push...
John Voelcker -
MPG Ratings More Important To Car Buyers: For Cost, Or Green Living?
The new car buying process can be quite the task in today’s market. This is especially true with the growing numbers of hybrid and electric cars added to the pool of choices. While hybrids and electrics don’t make up a large percentage of the market, miles-per-gallon (mpg) ratings are...
Jonathan McGrew -
Gas Prices: How Much Are YOU Paying At The Pump In Taxes? (Infographic)
Gas prices go up and down, lately more up than down. Today, however, the U.S. government has decided to release a portion of its strategic petroleum reserve, just as crude-oil prices continued a decline that started several weeks ago. Gas prices vary enormously from state to state, due to...
John Voelcker -
How To Drive Badly & Lower Your Gas Mileage In The Real World
With gas-mileage standards through 2016 now in place, the EPA and NHTSA are turning their sights toward rules for 2017 through 2025. Proposals are floating around for CAFE standards of up to 62 mpg (which means the vehicles you might buy would average about 50 mpg in actual use). Ah, the hell with...
John Voelcker -
There's more than a 3-to-1 chance that your gas price fell last week. The price itself depends largely on what state you live in, but the average price of a gallon of gasoline rose in just 12 states, staying the same or falling in the other 38, according to the average pricing on GasBuddy. But whether it's rising or falling, whether it's above $4 a gallon or below, gas prices have already started to change consumer behavior. For one thing, it's changing our vacation plans. A recent market-research study by TNS Omnibus found 40 percent of adults plan to take fewer trips over the next four...
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Could Gas Prices Fall This Summer? Don't Count On It
Every year, as the weather improves in the spring, gasoline prices start to creep higher. But this year, could it be that the pattern is broken? The recent run-up to record levels--California is now paying an average of $4.26 per gallon--might be halted, even reversed, if wholesale oil prices...
John Voelcker -
How Much Gasoline Can You Save With A Hybrid Or Plug-In Car?
As of the middle of April, gasoline is approaching $4.00 per gallon across the United States and oil is surging past $110 per barrel. More and more energy observers are talking about "$5 per gallon fuel" here in the U.S. So how do you minimize your gasoline costs and maximize your mileage? What...
George Parrott -
U.S. Drivers: Shut Up, Stop Whining, You Don't Pay $8/Gallon
Turmoil in Libya is making global oil markets nervous. That means higher gasoline prices. Cue the creeping unease and outright fear that Our American Way Of Life May Be In Peril. Well, it's Monday morning, and we have a brisk message for our U.S. readers: Shut up and stop whining. So gas is over $3...
John Voelcker -
Hybrids Don't Cost More To Repair or Run, But Payback Debatable
It's a concern that comes up over and over: If I buy a hybrid car, won't I have to spend thousands of dollars to replace the battery pack in a few years? The answer is, No. Not only are automakers required to warranty the high-voltage battery packs in hybrid-electric vehicles for 8 years/100,000...
John Voelcker -
EV Vs Gas Vs Diesel: Breaking Down The Costs
Thanks to the limited availability of electric cars on the market thus far and lack of parity between EV models and their gasoline or diesel counterparts, comparing the relative costs of the three isn't the easiest of tasks. The human race wouldn't have got very far if we'd only ever done what was...
Antony Ingram -
America loves to complain about gas mileage and the cost of gasoline. As it turns out, part of the problem is us. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found a 1.1 percent increase in self-reported obesity, which translates into extra weight that your vehicle has to haul around. How much does it really matter? The study estimates that 1 billion extra gallons of fuel was needed to compensate for passenger weight gained between 1960 and 2002. In other words, 0.7 percent of the fuel used annually by passenger vehicles over that period would not have been burned if Americans...
