New Standards For Fuel Efficiency and Energy Consuption

The centerpiece of the bill remained the requirement for automakers to increase their industrywide vehicle fuel efficiency by 40 percent to an industry average of 35 mpg by 2020 compared to today's 25 mpg when including passenger cars as well as SUVs and small trucks.

Amen on the pintos and k cars. Especially the k cars.

I welcome more fuel effecient cars though. Some of the most fuel effecient cars have been most entertaining....

minis

lotuses

benz diesels

miatas

and so forth.

Tom W

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Maybe this will result is a larger push for US diesels - finally.

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600

What a joke, making more fuel efficient cars won't do anything to reduce demand, people will jsut drive more. The only to reduce demand is to jack the price to the point where it really hurts, then people will change their habits.

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1993 300E 2.8 185k miles
2006 Mustang Convertible 4.0 Eaton Supercharged

2020??

12 years for something we should demand now??

What do you think a gallon of fuel will cost in 2020?

How stupid do they think the public is? Just cuz Ted keeps getting re-elected, doesn't mean the rest of the country is a bunch of idiots.

35mpg by 2020 - that's an Insult!

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It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

I don't think it is quite so simple. I do not take the cost of fuel into any consideration AT ALL when planning trips. I drive the same regardless of the fuel usage of the vehicle. Lower usage means that I burn less petroleum.

Japanese cars with carburetors were getting 30 mpg back in the '70s. So now we're talking 50 years of research and technological advances to gain another 5 mpg. That seems pretty weak.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

Japanese cars with carburetors from the '70's had no amenities, structural integrity or safety equipment and weighed 83 lbs. Take a '72 Celica, redo it to meet current safety and emission specs, throw in a few power assists and creature comforts, and you wind up with one fat, underpowered carbureted Celica that does 0-60 in 20 seconds and gets 13 mpg.

This standard is for American car companies. Most of the Japanese cars are pretty close or over already. Plus, safety has added so much weight to cars with chassis reinforcements, airbag systems, ABS, etc..

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1984 300TD

The K car was quite a feat of engineering for it's time. It had its issues, but did succeed in helping Chrysler return from the brink.

Comparing it to cars that are 25 years newer is not exactly a fair comparison.

In line with what some of you have been saying, the big increase in fuel economy in the late 70's and early 80's was mostly from weight reduction. Cars got a lot smaller and lighter very quickly. As the technology to make gas engines with decent power that still get decent mileage has evolved, cars have gradually gotten larger and heavier, which is why fuel economy hasn't really changed much over about the last 20 years.

Part of that weight has come from required changes in safety equipment, some from required emissions equipment (not much). Most of it is from "luxury" type stuff that has found its way into more and more cars-power windows, power locks, power steering, air conditioning, bigger and more powerful stereo equipment, more sound insulation. That stuff went into cars because that's how most people (emphatically NOT me) wanted it. Manufacturers could make a car with the same structural, safety, and emissions characteristics and easily 200 lbs lighter tomorrow. The thing is that not many people would want to buy one.

I like fuel efficiency, but I don't believe in government-mandated fuel efficiency regulations. When fuel was cheap, people wanted big powerful vehicles with lots of gadgets and didn't care about fuel economy very much. GM sold lots of Suburbans and Tahoes in those days. Now fuel is much more expensive and every other car ad I see mentions what great fuel mileage the advertised vehicle gets. What I'm saying is let the free market decide how fuel efficient cars are.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

I wasn't. I was comparing them to my 62 mb!

Tom W

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I bought my first tank of E85 ethanol tonight, put it in a rented Grand Cherokee, paid $2.30/gallon. Depending on who you ask, E85's either a godsend or an economic boondoggle...hope the gov't doesn't start pushing ethanol too hard too.

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2002 Ford ZX2
2 x 2013 Honda Civics

At least you could shoe-horn a 427 into a Pinto.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

That E85 would likely cost you well over $3.50 per gallon were it not for government welfare to ethanol producers.