NHSTA Announces New CAFE Standards

April 30, 2008

The debate over proposed increases to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards has proven to be a long and bumpy road for lawmakers, environmentalists, and the U.S. auto industry.  It appears as though none of the parties involved in the ongoing debate will be flashing a “V-Dub” for victory following an announcement out of the Transportation Secretary’s office on April 22.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced a proposed increase in federal fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks that would reduce fuel consumption, prevent millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and save consumers money by 2015.  The proposed increase raises the fuel economy standards for model years 2011 to 2015 in an effort to comply with the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which mandates a combined standard for cars and light trucks of 35 mpg by 2020.

The current combined average for most car fleets is 25 mpg – a standard which has remained unchanged for nearly two decades.  The proposed rule coming out of the Transportation Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) would implement a 4.5 percent a year increase in CAFE standards – greater than the 3.3 percent mandated by the Energy Independence and Security Act.  In order for NHTSA’s new proposed standards to be implemented the final rule needs to be approved and in place by April 2009 to take effect for 2011 models.  The implementation of NHTSA’s proposed CAFE standards would reflect the following schedule:

• 2011: cars 31.2 mpg, trucks 25.0 mpg, combined 27.8 mpg;
• 2012: cars 32.8 mpg, trucks 26.4 mpg, combined 29.2 mpg;
• 2013: cars 34.0 mpg, trucks 27.8 mpg, combined 30.5 mpg;
• 2014: cars 34.8 mpg, trucks 28.2 mpg, combined 31.0 mpg; and
• 2015: cars 35.7 mpg, trucks 28.6 mpg, combined 31.6 mpg.

It is estimated that the standards laid out in the new proposal would save 55 million gallons of fuel over the lifetime of vehicles produced during those model years and prevent 521 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from emissions.  According to Peters, the program would save consumers $100 billion in lower fuel costs over the life of the vehicles produced during those model years.

By the numbers NHTSA’s proposal seems like a non-zero-sum game for all parties involved in the CAFE program debate.  While all parties agree that the proposed CAFE program standards are a step in the right direction the real source of tension lays in the ability of states to regulate vehicle greenhouse gas emissions – an tension that is not likely to subside any time soon.

NSBA supports increasing the nation’s CAFE standards as well as efforts to improve the accuracy of new vehicle mpg estimates.

 For more information about NSBA’s Energy Policy please click here.