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2025 CAFE target set at 54.5 mpg; everyone's apparently happy with that

Sebastian Blanco — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 13:01:00 EST

Following the official announcement this morning that the new 2025 Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard would be set at 54.5 miles per gallon, our email box overflowed with something we rarely see: near-unanimous support. Everyone from the automakers to the Union of Concerned Scientists, from the United Auto Workers to the American people (through a study released today by the Pew Environment Group) seem to agree: 54.5 mpg is the right fuel economy target. Sure, some of the groups would have been happier with the previously bandied-about 62 mpg or even 56.2 mpg, but almost everyone is putting on a happy face today.

Surrounding the President as he made the announcement were the heads of many automakers, including Dan Akerson (GM), Alan Mulally (Ford), Sergio Marchionne (Chrysler), John Krafcik (Hyundai Motor America), Jim Lentz (Toyota Motors Sales USA) and more. The OEMs brought a bevy of fuel-efficient vehicles, too, including plug-ins like the Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt, a bunch of hybrids couple of a big trucks that aren't the gas guzzlers of yesteryear: a Ford F-150 with EcoBoost and a Dodge Ram 4x4 SLT.

Of course, we're sure there will be continued contention over what is the best fuel economy goal for the United States - the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, for example, says that the "proposal does not drive advanced technology to its maximum potential," and warns that it could be watered down even further - but, for now, pretty much everyone appears to be on the same page. Even California, which could (and has, in the past) gone its own way with fuel economy standards because of the Clean Air Act, has given its approval to 54.5. As our friend Jim Motavalli wrote in BNET yesterday, President Obama, "seems to have crafted a fairly good compromise that nobody actively hates." The behind-the-scenes negotiations must have been interesting to watch, eh?

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UCS: Honda remains Greenest Automaker, Chrysler named Most Polluting

Noah Joseph — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 18:02:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Chrysler, Honda

In 2009, Business Car claimed that Toyota was still the world's greenest automaker. That same year, the folks at Dow Jones named BMW the greenest automaker for the fifth time in a row. Apparently, an organization's methodology has a lot to do with automakers winning titles like this over and over, since the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has just bestowed the Greenest Automaker Award on Honda, again for the fifth time in a row (the last time the award was given was in 2007).

At least this time, the race was close: Toyota and Hyundai (which lays claim to the most fuel-efficient automaker in the U.S.) tied for second, and their rankings were just a single point behind Honda. The most polluting automaker? Chrysler, but both Ford and General Motors were contenders for the title - blame their heavy mix of body-on-frame trucks.

The UCS ranks automakers based on the scores of their "smog-forming and greenhouse gas emissions (primarily CO2) in its U.S. automobile fleet." The 2010 award was based on model year 2008 data, the most recent information that was available for analysis. You can read a summary of the report here (PDF) or just get the whole thing (PDF).

[Sources: Union of Concerned Scientists, Honda]

Continue reading UCS: Honda remains Greenest Automaker, Chrysler named Most Polluting

UCS: Honda remains Greenest Automaker, Chrysler named Most Polluting originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 08 Oct 2010 18:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Higher CAFE standards could increase number of automotive jobs

Frank Filipponio — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 11:34:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs

While talk of increased CAFE requirements usually gets the automakers all riled up, a new report says there might be some good that comes from making the standards much stricter, and we're not just talking beneficial for the environment. This new report by the Union of Concerned Scientists says that higher fuel economy standards could create a quarter million new jobs by 2020. As many as 24,000 of those could be in the automotive sector.

UCS is one of the groups urging the government to raise fuel economy standards by 40-percent within ten years, so painting the change in a favorable light helps them promote their cause. The automakers, for their part, say it will have the opposite effect on their industry. They tend to see more layoffs and plant closings with those kinds of new requirements in place. The UCS report sees more of consumers' money being diverted from fuel bills to consumer goods. Rather than spending so much of our income on fuel, the study assumes we'd be spending our savings on new technology, shopping, home improvements, dining out, entertainment and similar purchases, which could arguably be called an improvement.

[Source: Automotive News, sub. req.]

Higher CAFE standards could increase number of automotive jobs originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 17 Jul 2007 11:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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