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...

Electric-car noise rules to be canceled under Trump deregulation plan?

Chevrolet Bolt EV self-driving prototypeModern 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...

Tesla driver killed in Autopilot crash ignored repeated warnings, NTSB says

Tesla AutopilotThe 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...

Some crossover SUVs get easier fuel-economy rules, others don’t

2018 Toyota C-HRWhat'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...

Extra fuel used if 2022-2025 CAFE rules delayed would be low: here’s the math

Gas pumpBarbie never said "Math is hard!" The talking doll did, notoriously, say "Math class is tough!" in 1989, sparking a media firestorm over gender roles in childrens' toys and then a voluntary recall by Mattel for offended parents. Reworded, however, the point remains accurate: many people don't understand math. DON'T MISS: Costs to meet fuel-economy...

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...

Tesla Autopilot investigation closed by NHTSA, will continue to monitor

Tesla AutopilotThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) closed its investigation into the fatal Florida crash last May of a Tesla using the company's Autopilot driver-assist system. The Model S in question collided with a tractor trailer that turned left in front of it, killing the driver, who was the electric car's sole occupant. At the time...

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...