What will happen to US fuel-economy rules to 2025? Take our Twitter poll

Gas pumpEven the automaker lobbying group didn't go this far in their complaints about emission and fuel-economy rules for vehicles in the 2022 through 2025 model years. When the Obama Administration approved final EPA emission rules for those years, the automakers complained that the comment period had been cut short. They didn't seriously suggest that...

Trump NHTSA might reduce emission rules for two-thirds of U.S. vehicles

2017 Ram 1500 Rebel Blue StreakConsumers all over the world, but especially in North America, are buying more crossover utility vehicles and fewer passenger sedans and hatchbacks. The U.S. auto industry makes the bulk of its profits on light trucks, which include crossovers, pickup trucks, and even minivans. The Trump Administration has said it wants to roll back environmental...

Carmaker lobbyist urges fuel-economy deal that keeps CAFE requirements

Gas pumpAutomakers have united behind a somewhat surprising position: reviews of corporate average fuel economy rules should not involve scrapping the current standards. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a lobbying group that represents automakers building cars in the U.S., has asked the Trump administration to solidify a deal that keeps higher...

NHTSA to review gas-mileage rules, could freeze 2021 levels for later years

Gas pumpThe U.S. Department of Transportation said yesterday the NHTSA is preparing to revise corporate average fuel economy requirements for model years 2022 through 2025. The proposed version of those regulations, which was issued by the Obama Administration in 2012, included steady increases for each of those model years. Among the alternatives that...

Are Eco settings on cabin ventilation systems a safety hazard?

2013 Jaguar XK 2-door Convertible XKR Air VentsAs corporate average fuel economy requirements that started in 2012 continue to tighten, automakers have turned to an entire arsenal of tactics to reduce the fuel their vehicles burn. Downsized and turbocharged engines, transmissions with many more gears, lighter-weight structures, better aerodynamics and more all add incrementally to efficiency...

States have a battle plan if Trump rolls back fuel-economy, emission rules

Gas pumpThe Trump Administration has had a challenging start on numerous fronts, but its work to slash emission rules and eliminate regulations continues. The EPA administrator, climate-science denier Scott Pruitt, has said he isn't "currently" planning to target target California's ability to set its own emission rules. In March, the agency previously...

How much would relaxing U.S. fuel-economy rules matter? Poll results

Gas pumpOne of the earliest acts of the Trump Administration was to announce that it would re-examine emission rules finalized by the EPA in the waning days of the Obama Administration. Making good on that promise, EPA administrator (and climate-science denier) Scott Pruitt reopened the commenting period on tailpipe-emission limits of carbon dioxide...

Fuel-efficiency rules create jobs too, contrary to industry plaints

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV pre-production vehicles at Orion Township Assembly Plant, March 2016Fuel economy and emission standards have been a contentious issue in recent months as the auto industry and government officials clash over regulations and their potential benefits. Earlier this year, one of the largest pieces of evidence against more stringent fuel economy regulations came from former Ford CEO Mark Fields. Fields told President...

Bill to give more CAFE credits to light-truck makers introduced in Congress

Gas pumpUnder the new administration of President Donald Trump, the EPA has reopened comments on its decision to finalize emission rules for 2022 through 2025 vehicles. Meanwhile, the NHTSA—which sets fuel-economy rules that have to correspond to EPA limits on carbon-dioxide emissions—hasn't yet issued its corporate average fuel-economy rules...

Would weaker EPA rules kill advanced start-stop hybrid systems for U.S.?

2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid debuts at 2017 New York auto showToday's political climate has made for fluid motion in regulations, and corporate average fuel economy targets haven't been left out. Suppliers and automakers have already begun investing heavily into vehicles to be sold in 2022 through 2025, which will include various fuel-saving and emission-reducing technologies. However, that unsettled...

What Trump did and didn’t say in Detroit on EPA emission rules

Donald TrumpOne of the challenges of today's uber-polarized political environment is that fear and alarmism increasingly overtake the factual realities of an issue. This appears to be the case with President Donald Trump's Wednesday appearance in Detroit to announce the reopening of the comment period for EPA emission rules for vehicles in model years 2022...

EPA to reopen emission-rule review; how important is this step?

Donald TrumpTomorrow is expected to be the day when President Donald Trump announces the EPA will reopen the comment period for the vehicle emissions standards it finalized in the waning days of the Obama Administration. The event will likely be accompanied by predictable language: Trump will be “highlighting the need to eliminate burdensome regulations...

EPA to reopen 2022-2025 auto-emission rule decision: report

Chrome exhaust pipeIt looks like lobbying pays off, at least in the case of EPA emission rules. According to numerous recent reports, the EPA is expected to reopen the commenting period for vehicle-emission rules it finalized in January, more than a year ahead of schedule. Automaker CEOs and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers had asked President Donald Trump...

Auto industry split over halting, changing fuel-economy rules

The White House, Washington, D.C.  [Creative Commons license by dcjohn]Just days after the presidential election, automaker lobbyists urged Donald Trump to loosen pending emissions and fuel-economy standards. Shortly after the election, a lobbying group wrote Trump asking him to change or delay an EPA decision that kept planned emissions standards for 2022 to 2025 in place. Last week, executives of 18 automakers sent...

Carmakers ask Trump to review EPA rules, use discredited job projection

Gas pumpJust days after the presidential election, an automaker lobbying group wrote Donald Trump asking him to change, delay, or dispense with an EPA decision that kept planned exhaust-emission standards through 2025. Now executives of 18 automakers have sent a second letter, asking the same thing—and echoing a statement by Ford CEO Mark Fields...

Rest of world: Trump may roll back emission rules, but we won’t

2016 Ford F-250 Super DutyWith auto-industry lobbyists pushing to have the Trump Administration roll back current and future emission and fuel-economy rules, automakers clearly see the new U.S. regime as more friendly to the needs of business. And it's possible that indeed, the EPA's vehicle emission limits, the NHTSA's fuel-economy rules, and various other regulations (on...