It's been clear that under the Trump administration, the NHTSA and EPA plan to roll back linked fuel-economy rules and emission limits on new vehicles. Now a possible justification that will be used has emerged—and it's not the one many advocates had expected. According to a Bloomberg report on Monday, the fuel-economy proposal due March 30... NHTSA could cite safety of heavier cars in slashing CAFE rules: reports
It's been clear that under the Trump administration, the NHTSA and EPA plan to roll back linked fuel-economy rules and emission limits on new vehicles. Now a possible justification that will be used has emerged—and it's not the one many advocates had expected. According to a Bloomberg report on Monday, the fuel-economy proposal due March 30...
Investigators from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are scheduled to examine the crash of a Tesla Model S that hit a fire truck parked on a California freeway. The driver claimed the Model S was operating with Tesla's AutoPilot functionality turned on, according to a tweet sent by a firefighters union that had members at the...
As automakers await the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's new fuel-economy rules for 2022 through 2025, due March 30, regulators from California and Washington are still hammering out the specifics. A meeting between state and federal regulators on fuel-economy and emissions targets took place on Monday as both sides attempt to...
The production values are high and the message is clear in a video released Tuesday by The Sierra Club. The environmental advocacy group 's goal is simple: highlight the contrast between Ford Motor Company's claims of sustainability goals and its behind-the-scenes efforts to roll back U.S. corporate fuel-economy rules. A proposal to modify...
Less than two years from now, barring action by the Trump administration, a National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration rule will require hybrid and electric cars to produce an audible noise under 19 mph. Alongside its Nissan IMx self-driving electric SUV concept it launched at the recent Tokyo Motor Show, the maker of the world's...
Continuing political turmoil and news coverage of the Trump Administration haven't stopped the president's agency heads from drastically reshaping policies on energy, the environment, and emissions. Comments are now being taken on the reopened EPA limits on vehicular carbon emissions for 2022 through 2025, although reporters had to dig to find out...
Consumers 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...
Sometimes, when science and technology issues have economic or political consequences, incorrect or misleading information and analyses can be propagated through the media, leading both decision makers and the public astray. A piece published in April by Forbes, covering the effects of the 2022 through 2025 corporate average fuel economy...
Automakers 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...
The influential Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has released a new round of crash-safety test results, and one of the cars tested was the Tesla Model S electric luxury hatchback sedan. In its accompanying release and video, the IIHS suggested that Tesla's claim the Model S is the "safest car in history" might no longer be accurate. Quickly...
Modern electric cars have been on U.S. roads for seven years or so, and owners love their smooth, quiet, close to noise-free operation. That silence has been a bone of contention for even longer, however, since hybrids operating purely on battery power are similarly quiet. For years, the U.S. Department of Transportation was charged with drafting...
The National Transportation Safety Board has published its first findings after investigating a fatal highway crash in 2016 involving a Tesla Model S and a tractor trailer. The crash occurred on last summer after 40-year-old Joshua Brown was driving with Tesla's Autopilot engaged. The system failed to apply the brakes when a tractor trailer turned...
Tesla's Model X has secured a major accomplishment: it is officially the first SUV to receive 5-star crash-test ratings in every single category. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gave the Model X uniform 5-star ratings, which Tesla says is due to the design of the all-electric crossover utility vehicle. As in the Tesla Model S...
What's a truck? If you tell your average suburban family that they're hauling their kids to school and sports practices in a truck, many will push back. "It's an SUV," you'll likely hear, or perhaps, "it's called a crossover"—short for crossover utility vehicle, or a car-based SUV. DON'T MISS: Are you driving a car, a crossover, an SUV, or a...
One 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...
Seven 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...