NHTSA
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Federal regulators said that the claims have "intention to mislead the public," Tesla says they're sound.
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California sues Trump administration again over fuel economy fines
The federal government now plans to freeze fines in the enforcement of fuel economy regulations, and California has waged a lawsuit against the plan.
Eric C. Evarts -
Trump administration freezes fines for fuel-economy violations
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has acted to freeze fines for companies that violate federal fleet fuel economy standards.
Eric C. Evarts -
2019 Tesla Model 3 crash test secures 5-star safety for entire lineup
With the crash-testing of a 2019 Tesla Model 3 Dual Motor Long Range, NHTSA has extended the Model 3's top ratings to the entire lineup.
Bengt Halvorson -
California girds for battle with EPA over fuel economy
Last Friday, California released a 400-page repudiation of the Trump administration's plan to freeze fuel economy standards and revoke California's statutory right to set its own limits on vehicle emissions. The report comes in response to the EPA and NHTSA's proposed Safer Affordable Fuel...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla again claims higher safety rating than NTHSA gives
Tesla took a page out of its Model S playbook over the weekend and announced that its Model 3 is the safest car that NHTSA has tested. Only Tesla isn't NHTSA. In a blog post Sunday night, Tesla said it based its findings on NHTSA data, just as it did with the Model S in 2013. "The agency’s...
Eric C. Evarts -
At its meeting on Friday, the California Air Resources Board officially confirmed that it will stick with planned increases in emissions and fuel economy standards for cars sold in the state. The move was expected after CARB said in August that it would not follow the Trump Administration's move to freeze federal emissions and fuel economy standards from 2020 through 2026. CARB says it will continue to require cars sold in the state to get higher gas mileage and produce fewer emissions, as well as continue to require electric cars to be sold in the state. It paves the way for 12 other states...
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NHTSA gives 2018 Tesla Model 3 perfect marks for crash safety
The 2018 Tesla Model 3 aced its federal crash-test regimen and earned top, five-star scores on all of its sub-tests, safety officials said this week. The Model 3 follows the Model S and Model X, which have both aced the NHTSA's tests. The insurance industry-funded IIHS has only rated the Model S...
Aaron Cole -
Commentary: Fuel-economy standards don't need to be rolled back to make cars SAFER
Smaller, lighter cars always get the blame when politicians want to lower fuel-economy standards. They lobby that too many Americans will be driving lighter cars and that that will lead to more deaths on America's roadways. That's exactly the argument that the Trump administration made earlier this...
Eric C. Evarts -
Multi-speed transmissions and turbochargers don't save much fuel–oh, really? Analysis (Updated)
In President Trump's plan to freeze fuel economy standards last week, the EPA and NHTSA made a strange statement. They said that two of the main technologies used to improve fuel economy standards—turbocharging and multi-speed transmissions—were not as effective as had been expected...
Eric C. Evarts -
Carmakers want emission, CAFE tweaks, not huge rollbacks, but won't say so publicly
As promised, the Trump administration has embarked on regulatory rollbacks across many fronts, some immediate and others taking longer. It remains unclear whether the EPA's plan to loosen carbon-dioxide emission limits for 2022 through 2025 vehicles will survive inevitable court challenges...
John Voelcker -
EPA does not set fuel-economy limits: get this right, journalists!
Journalism as an industry is under great pressure these days. There are far more people writing "content" than in past decades, and in general they are having to produce more of it for less money than they did 10, 20, or 50 years ago. That's no excuse, however, for getting the basics wrong. DON'T...
John Voelcker -
EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said yesterday the agency plans to modify rules limiting carbon-dioxide emissions for light-duty vehicles in model years 2022 through 2025. The agency, he said, had reached a determination that the limits put in place in 2012 under the Obama administration were “not appropriate and should be revised." The standards it had set—agreed to in 2012 by virtually every automaker, the EPA and NHTSA, and the powerful California Air Resources Board—were "too high," he said. DON'T MISS: EPA staffers told how to downplay climate change in leaked memo...
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Kona Electric, Bolt EV, Niro, C-HR aren't crossovers, despite what makers say
It happened again. At this week's New York auto show media days, a manufacturer rolled out yet another vehicle that it calls a "crossover" despite that vehicle having neither the ground clearance nor the all-wheel drive to qualify as a light truck. The car in question was the 2019 Hyundai Kona...
John Voelcker -
Auto parts suppliers support current fuel-economy rules, overwhelmingly: survey
As the auto industry and environmental groups count down the days until the NHTSA releases proposals to revise fuel-economy standards, surveys show one industry wants the standards to stay just as they are. That is the auto-parts supply industry, according to a study released Thursday morning by...
John Voelcker -
CA attorney general: we will fight looser fuel-economy, emission rules
Last Tuesday, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said the agency does not intend to let California set the agenda for national emission limits on vehicles. He suggested to Bloomberg the EPA plans to cut emission rules aggressively to respond to carmakers' pleas for easing of the corporate average fuel...
John Voelcker -
NHTSA finalizes quiet-car rule for hybrids, electrics, to take full effect in 2020
The idea of adding noise-makers to vehicles that are "too quiet" didn't exist until the first hybrid-electric cars hit the market in 2000. Within a few years, however, organizations representing the blind began to raise alarms that cars operating at low speeds solely on electric power couldn't be...
John Voelcker -
Toyota Prius recall in 2014 failed to fix problem, lawsuit says, may have cut mileage
Early in 2014, Toyota filed a voluntary recall notice with the NHTSA to fix a defect in roughly 800,000 third-generation Prius Liftback hybrids sold in the U.S. from 2010 through 2014. The company said it would make unspecified changes to software that controlled the vehicle's inverter, which...
John Voelcker -
With the release of proposed new and lower fuel-economy rules expected from the NHTSA by March 30, many eyes have turned to the powerful California Air Resources Board. The state's pioneering role in reducing emissions and cutting air pollution predates even the existence of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That agency, now run by Scott Pruitt—an unabashed proponent of burning fossil fuels and a climate-science denier—will shortly issue its own related proposal for boosting the carbon-dioxide emissions allowed from road vehicles. DON'T MISS: NHTSA could cite safety of...
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NHTSA could cite safety of heavier cars in slashing CAFE rules: reports
It's been clear that under the Trump administration, the NHTSA and EPA plan to roll back linked fuel-economy rules and emission limits on new vehicles. Now a possible justification that will be used has emerged—and it's not the one many advocates had expected. According to a Bloomberg report...
John Voelcker -
NHTSA to investigate Tesla Model S on Autopilot that hit parked fire truck on freeway
Investigators from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are scheduled to examine the crash of a Tesla Model S that hit a fire truck parked on a California freeway. The driver claimed the Model S was operating with Tesla's AutoPilot functionality turned on, according to a tweet sent by...
Mark Stevenson -
California talks to DC regulators on emission, fuel-economy rules Trump wants to cut
As automakers await the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's new fuel-economy rules for 2022 through 2025, due March 30, regulators from California and Washington are still hammering out the specifics. A meeting between state and federal regulators on fuel-economy and emissions targets...
Mark Stevenson -
Ford CAFE rollback efforts, countering sustainability claims, slammed in Sierra Club video
The production values are high and the message is clear in a video released Tuesday by The Sierra Club. The environmental advocacy group 's goal is simple: highlight the contrast between Ford Motor Company's claims of sustainability goals and its behind-the-scenes efforts to roll back U.S...
John Voelcker -
CAFE proposal coming March 30: automakers hope national rules survive
It's been hanging out there in limbo for more than six months: the answer to the question of what happens to gas-mileage rules under Trump. Given the daily political turmoil emanating from Washington, D.C., the fate of corporate average fuel economy rules may have gotten lost in the noise. But for...
John Voelcker