The new fuel economy standards congress passed

NYSpeed Automotive
1

So how will a corporate average fuel economy of 35mpg effect the industry?

Will this be the end of the HP wars we have all been enjoying? For instance, can Subaru keep the 18/24mpg rated STi in it’s rather small lineup and still keep a 35mpg average? I doubt it.

Will the 36 billion gallons of mandated ethanol production mean $10/gallon milk and $30/lb steak? I’ve read very conflicting reports here. Basically anything from massive price increases to very minor price increases that would be more than offset by the reduced price of gas.

I’ve been trying to find an unbiased breakdown of what this energy policy will really cost but haven’t had much luck. Auto makers predict doom, greenies predict great savings.

Considering that car manufacturers are taking fuel economy very seriously now and are ecstatic when a hybrid gets 18% better fuel economy than a conventional car my gut says a 40% increase is going to be costly. Could this be the start of another era of horrible underpowered vehicles like in the 70’s and 80’s or are there miracle fuel economy tricks that will still allow us to have our sporty cars and meet 35mpg averages?

Rep Dingle, from Michigan is on board now referencing some mystery compromises for the auto industry, so maybe there is some fine print we’re not aware of. I do see that they get credit for flex fuel vehicles that eventually gets phased out, so that will certainly help GM meet the ratings in the short term since most of their new vehicles are flex fuel ready.

Discuss.

2

Hmm. Too early to tell whats going to happen I guess.

3

Who cares… we’ll all be dead by the time global warming actually makes a differnce. Let our grand children deal with our mess

(i kid i kid)

4

Is this for all vehicles, or vehicles with a certain weight.

I know that trucks above I think 7000 pounds dont have to publish there MPG’s

I find it hard to think that a full size vehicle, chevy suburban, tahoe even a full size car such as a buick lucerne, or BMW 7 series is going to be able to meet those requirements. or does this mean more gas guzzling taxes for the cars that dont meet the requirements.

I dont see this working out without having another rampage of cars with 120 horse and 40mpg.

either that or diesel will make its way over here in a big way as will turbo 4 cyls with a good gas mileage.

5

I rather pay the premium to american farmers to produce the crops necessary to produce enough ethonol, than to continue to pay premiums for oil to middle eastern arabs.

6

QFT. I support anything that will help tank the oil economy over here. Once they dont have as much cash nobody will care that they are even around so we can leave the place alone. That being said i will still drive my 10mpg f-bod because i suck.

7

I don’t think it’s the end of the horsepower war yet. But this oughta put a dent in 100 horse/year increases.

8

I think we’ll see more hybridization. ie full hp acceleration, 1/2cyl or elec motor cruising.

9

Horsepower wars will always continue. We’ll just start to see electric motors do everything that a combustion engine does and more.

Hell, in a relatively young market, the Tesla Roadster is already a 0-60 in less than 5 sec car. Wait until the market develops more and more.

%100 electric cars is the way to go I think.

10

I think this will definately prompt oil companies to invest in other sources of fuel more heavily.

Maybe they shouldn’t have killed the guy who made the water powered engine.

11

How does the average work, is it by number of cars sold or number cars offered?
Could a car company offer a car that gets 70mpg and a car that gets 1mpg?

I think this just prompted OPEC to raise their prices even more.

12

It goes by production volume. So you need to sell a bunch of 40 mpg cars to make up for one 15 mpg car.

13

I am so sick of hearing about cars fuel economy like its the main cause of pollution and global warming.

GET RID OF THE COAL POWER PLANTS you fucking assholes. Industry/business is the dominant source of air pollution and carbon emissions yet they are trying to double the spending on squeezing a bit more out of the auto industry.

Such bullshit.

14

So companies like Porsche and Ferrari are going to be hurt more than Subaru right?
How do companies like Lambo meet the standards?

15

time to start purchasing stock in companies that produce hybrids or hybrid technology

16

MMm turbo Diesel’s… crap now diesel is going to get expensive…

17

if you have not noticed it has already been climbing…

yes we will see many more diesel choices and that is fine by me. :thankyou:

I just hope that diesel technology can keep up with the fucking tree huggers, as I HATE hybrid cars with a passion.

18

im sure they will, diesel is MUCH cheaper to maintain then Hybrid… and diesel has been going down the last week down from 360 to 355 :eyeroll:

but my 1/4 milion mile diesel im sure is outlasting a prius.

19

I’m guessing they don’t, hence the gas guzzler tax on a lot of their vehicles. I would expect to see this tax on more vehicles in the near future, and if it great affects sales the dropping of these models entirely.

Will it affect Ferrari, hell no. Like the guy buying a 150k+ car cares about a couple grand in gas guzzler taxes.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/info.shtml#guzzler

GAS GUZZLER TAX
Unadjusted MPG (combined)* Tax
at least 22.5 No tax
at least 21.5, but less than 22.5 $1000
at least 20.5, but less than 21.5 $1300
at least 19.5, but less than 20.5 $1700
at least 18.5, but less than 19.5 $2100
at least 17.5, but less than 18.5 $2600
at least 16.5, but less than 17.5 $3000
at least 15.5, but less than 16.5 $3700
at least 14.5, but less than 15.5 $4500
at least 13.5, but less than 14.5 $5400
at least 12.5, but less than 13.5 $6400
less than 12.5 $7700

That’s based on the CURRENT standards though. As you can see, if they bump the minimum up to 35 this could add a lot of cost to each vehicle.

I guess tomorrow I need to grab a copy of the bill and read the whole thing.

20

currently they have to pay a “gas guzzler” tax to get around this i believe. there is a similar standard that an automakers entire line has to have an average economy of XX mpg. i just can’t remember what it is.