EPA finalizes emission rules through 2025; no change from existing levels

Chrome exhaust pipeSeven days before the advent of a new presidential administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has locked in planned auto-emission standards through 2025. The emission limits tie directly to fuel-efficiency rules issued by the NHTSA, effectively requiring those rules to stay the same as well. Announcing its final determination this...

Fuel-economy rules not the cause of rising auto prices: analysis

Fuel gaugeLobbyists for big automakers, both domestic and foreign, make no secret about their desire for lower fuel-economy standards. One argument presented to support a lowering of standards is that the cost of compliance with current rules will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher new-car prices. Carmakers must implement efficiency-boosting...

NHTSA delays penalty rise for carmakers who miss CAFE levels

Fuel gaugeCurrent Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards require automakers to achieve a fleet average of roughly 54.5 mpg by 2025. That's actually closer to 40 mpg in the real world, as presented on new-car window stickers, but it still represents a major increase over the next few years. The auto industry has argued that it is too large an...

Carmakers howl about CAFE rules, but regularly beat them; why?

Gas pumpThis week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it would maintain current Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for 2022 to 2025. The decision was praised by environmental groups, but likely won't receive as warm a reception from the industry. CAFE standards are up for a midterm review, and auto-industry lobbyists spent...

EPA keeps car-emission rules to 2025; what happens under Trump?

Chrome exhaust pipeTwo days ago, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a ruling that existing limits on tailpipe emissions of carbon dioxide for 2022 through 2025 should remain in place. The EPA's carbon limits correspond exactly to NHTSA standards for corporate average fuel economy, and the EPA decision was widely (if incorrectly) reported to be about...

EPA will maintain fuel-economy standards through 2025

U.S. Capitol BuildingThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has decided to maintain existing Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards through 2025. Enacted by the Obama Administration in 2012, the standards call for automakers to achieve a fleet average of 54.5 mpg (equivalent to about 38 mpg in the real world) by that year. The decision follows the...

Are you driving a car, a crossover, an SUV, or a truck? Do you care?

2017 Honda CR-VAre you driving a car or a truck? The answer may be harder to determine than you think. U.S. safety and emissions regulations generally split cars and trucks into two categories, but the line between those two vehicle types has become blurred in recent years. That's thanks to the car-based crossover utility vehicle, which now represents one of the...

Tougher testing for emissions may mean bigger engines, but why?

2012 Volkswagen Up minicar (German model), road test, Catskill Mountains, NY, May 2012Stricter global emissions standards have led many automakers to downsize engines, but that trend may be about to reverse itself. Cutting displacement is a relatively straightforward way to improve fuel economy. But as regulators move toward adoption of more realistic testing procedures in the wake of the Volkswagen diesel scandal, automakers may...

EPA’s emissions sleuth: the most powerful man you’ve never heard of

Chris Grundler, director of EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality [photo: EPA via Flickr]Current Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards require U.S. automakers to achieve a fleet average of 54.5 mpg (equivalent to roughly 40 mpg on the window sticker) by 2025. But who ensures that companies are actually complying with the CAFE mandate? As automakers work to meet stricter emissions standards, the little-known staff of regulatory...