UPDATE: Carmakers May Face New Emissions Standards

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by xl1200r

49 cents per gallon isn't a lot? WHAT?! That's like $350/yr for the average driver.

I also think a lot of these standards are pulled out of their asses. Can anyone comfirm if the 35mpg mandate is for highway averages? Does is still exclude EPA exepmt vehicles, like large trucks?

Personally, I don't think we're in *that* much trouble. Things like this have been happening since forever, and look at us know - making the kind of power we're making and getting the kind of mileage we're getting. Our small-block run-of-the-mill Camaros are going to be making the same power as the top of the line big block engines did in the past, and we'll be getting more than twice the mileage.

And then there's cars like the Volt - there will be more like it down the road, and car that can not use any gas for the 40 miles really weights the averages in a favorable direction for high-powered cars.

$0.49/gal isn't a lot. Look at Europe, its closer to an added $4.90/gal.

As for CAFE, it is average fuel economy- highway and city, and cars are seperated from trucks who need to average 27 mpg. It is also based on vehicle footprint, a bigger car or truck gets a bit of a compensation factor. '35 mpg' for a car like the G8 is actually closer to 30 mpg. Also, it the average for all vehicles sold by a company, weighted by sales. Low volume cars have less of an impact. So making the CTS-V fuel efficient isn't as important as making the Cobalt (well, Cruze by then) efficient. There are also loopholes. Right now, the standard is 27 mpg and GM isn't paying penalties, even though they average 22 mpg for their cars.

Does that help?