Fuel economy standard set at 27.3 m.p.g. for 2011

[ixion]

Source: Detroit Free Press

The Obama administration unveiled its 2011 fuel economy standard of 27.3 m.p.g. Friday, saying it was already at work on standards for future years that it suggested would push the industry forward.


The long-expected rule is 0.3 m.p.g. higher that the average of cars and trucks sold in the 2008 model year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said future rules would press for "creating the maximum incentives for innovation," and the agency would consider tougher fines for falling short of fuel economy standards, as many exotic brands do. The move sets 2011 model-year fuel economy for passenger cars at 30.2 m.p.g. and 24.1 m.p.g. for trucks.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20090328/BUSINESS01/903280336

---

Personally, I'm very disappointed. 30 mpg? That's it? Seems a bit under-achieverish to me.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. I guess they don't want to drive the late bloomers out of the

business...

[Summermoondancer]

14. India

is going to be selling a car from Tato motors that is a cost of only $2000 and the car will get 55 mpg. It has a rear motor and will go 65 mph. Of course for 2k you don´t get extras, but I they can be added on..however, that is an incredible price for a fuel efficient car. That car probably will not be available in the US though.

[dipsydoodle]

2. Oh - that much

I'm truly impressed - NOT.

My current '08 model Jeep Patriot 2.0 CRD does at least 32 to one of your strange small gallons now.

[Mist]

3. This is too incremental to have much effect. I've had cars I bought used

years ago that got 36 mpg on the highway. Seems we regressed during the 90s, and now 27 mpg seems decent? It isn't.

[pleah]

4. Oh, gee, that'll help.

:sarcasm:

I guess we know who won on this deal.

[Massacure]

5. This article doesn't make sense.

Wikipedia says the current standard is 27.5, and that article says the new standard is .3 mpg higher despite claiming the 2011 CAFE standard will be 30.2. Even using the 27.3 figure, that is 2.9 mpg higher.

Anyways 3 mpg over 3 years is a good start. Hopefully he keeps increasing it gradually on a yearly basis.

[fascisthunter]

6. got to be kidding me.... 30 mpg is nothing

considering mileage for cars have stagnated for the last 20 years. 27.3?!?!?!

[dixiegrrrrl]

32. Deja vu all over again.

Remember the gas lines of '74?
Same talk, higher mileage was promised.
But, under the CAFE standards, the automakers got the right to reach that higher mileage on AVERAGE.
So they made cars for other countries that got better gas mileage, made cars for us that used a lot of gas,
( which of course is what it is all about), averaged the mileage and thus met the standard.

We have made ZERO mpg progress, even slid back.
My 1993 Toyota still gets 40 mpg highway and 30 city, with a 5 speed.
And it is still running like a top.

[Deja Q]

7. Will the cars be affordable?

Or at least jobs that allow people to afford them?

[Lorien]

12. The toyota Yaris costs 13k and gets 34-38 MPG

My 94 Toyota Camry had cost 18k new and gets 28-32 mpg; about the same as a new Corolla. One must ask why we expect so much less today.

[triguy46]

35. Honda Fit, 32mpg, $15500

[vinylsolution]

8. Why not set the standard at....

37 mpg for 2015 instead? Aim higher, not lower.

Then we'll start seeing a few more of those cool TDi subcompacts the Europeans have had for years. Most of them can get over 50mpg.

Seriously though, 27.3mpg? Who does that benefit? Only Big Oil.

[asthmaticeog]

9. That's it?

Christ alfuckingmighty, that sucks.

[Lorien]

10. Considering that the model T got 24 MPG it's more than a little pathetic

think of how far ahead every other technology has moved over the decades. There's no excuse for it.

[antimatter98]

19. Exactly what I was thinking. The Model T got 24 and was better built. n/t

[fascisthunter]

24. holy crap Lorien, I did Not Know That

I knew 27.3 mpg was pathetic but you just solidly convinced me, automanufacturers are in complete colusion with big oil. There is no justification for such low mileage especially with the technology that is out there.

[CRF450]

38. It only seem pathetic till you consider...

How much cars these days weigh, how much power they have, how fast they go with a 30+mpg highway mileage, etc etc... compared to a model T.

[nc4bo]

11. Pfft. Surely we can do better than that.

Now I feel incredibly stupid for thinking we'd be seeing at least 35-40 and with the newer hybrids on the scene - 40-45.

We need to aim high!

[jb5150]

13. Not exactly

the change I voted for.................

[NM Independent]

15. oh, STFU

I am so god damn tired of hearing that stupid fucking REPUG line.

Just STFU. Seriously, just STFU.

[bertman]

23. Seriously, NM Independent, is this the kind of change you voted for when you pulled

the lever for President Obama?

I didn't think so. So why are you so rude when someone points that out?

What I'm so goddam tired of hearing is rehashes of Bush era policies. This MPG rule is straight out of the Republican playbook. I certainly expect a lot better from this administration.

[shadowknows69]

27. Not what I voted for either

But why should I care? I have no children that will have to live on this planet in 25 years.

[Oregone]

29. "But why should I care? I have no children that will have to live on this planet in 25 years."

Im not sure where you are going with that.

[shadowknows69]

30. I'm saying that pressing problems need radical and immediate solutions

And 27.3 just isn't enough quick enough.

[Oregone]

31. Ah, I thought you were saying you don't give a shit,

since you have no family that will have to suffer through it.

Yes, 30....we've had vehicles that could do that for decades. What the fuck are they thinking?

[AndyTiedye]

16. They Are Trying to Set a Standard that Even GM Can Meet

I would love to be proven wrong, but I would bet GM lobbied hard against even this tiny increase.

[ohio2007]

18. uaw needs the jobs

[shadowknows69]

28. I used to own a GM truck that got me 220 miles on about 8 gallons

That's 27.5 and that's 1987

[antimatter98]

17. My '82 Mercedes diesel gets that mileage. Obama's following Bush all the way here. n/t

[Catshrink]

20. That's pathetic..

my '08 Civic gets 35 mpg, my 02 Civic got 33 mpg, and my '99 Saturn got 32 mpg.

The O Admin needs to set the bar higher.

[mbperrin]

21. My 2007 Chrysler Town and Country gets 36 mpg on the highway

now. These goals do seem a bit low.

[rcrush]

22. Hell I'm still a little disapointed that my prius only gets 45 mpg.

You'd think an 08 model would do better than that 04 model.

[swilton]

25. My Prius Gets 48 mpg

(long distance driving and w/o air conditioners). The Germans and Japanese are and have been light years ahead of where the US is on energy efficiency. (Germans and other Europeans have been recycling for over a decade, pollution scrubbers for more than two decades, etc., etc.) While the US is working on getting to the electric cars, the Japanese are working on solar battery STORAGE. The threshold to cross is a battery with enough storage capacity to enable longer distance driving w/o a recharge. (Estimates vary as to what the average distance a person would drive before needing a recharge - some say 60 miles but there may be other averages.) The Japanese have already passed the US in achieving the electric hybrid.

Now as I look at a University of Maryland technology advertisement/recruitment ad for students, there are plans to have plug-in technology by 2019. IMHO, again way behind other countries. If the US has plug-ins by 2019, I believe other countries will have cracked the battery storage issue.

The bottom line though is the changing of the auto industry. Car-sharing (as opposed to personal ownership of cars) is also on the horizon.

[triguy46]

36. I just got the new Honda Insight hybrid, getting 41 for lesss than $20k

[shadowknows69]

26. For the 22 years I've been driving most of my cars have gotten between 20-25 mpg

This is a vast improvement how?

[llmart]

33. Well, then.....

we don't have to buy cars that only get 30.2 mpg. We can buy more fuel efficient cars. If the "Big Three" don't oblige they won't survive.

[tomm2thumbs]

34. Let's see - thinner carpet and less washer fluid will take care of that - WEAK

I guess I'll buy a SmartCar instead. Maybe the US should start buying up all this cheaper-oil and create a few more reserves for when things get 'nutty' down the line. That'll drive up prices a bit more and keep encouraging folks to press for higher standards.

[Jkid]

37. 27.3 m.p.g. by 2011? Pathetic

Why not 60mpg by 2011. We have the technology, the US government is simply dragging it's foot and not forcing the car industry to make more fuel efficient cars.