Automobile and Light Truck Fuel Economy: The CAFE Standards, January 27, 2009

摘要

On April 22, 2008, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) that would establish fuel economy standards for model year (MY) 2011-MY2015 passenger cars and light trucks. The rulemaking follows up on the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA, P.L. 110-140), enacted in mid-December 2007, which restructured the automotive fuel economy program. It established a corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standard of 35 miles per gallon (mpg) by MY2020 for the combined passenger automobile and light truck fleet. However, to meet the combined standard, automakers will continue the practice of calculating the CAFE of their car and light truck fleets separately. The proposed rule would establish passenger car fuel economy at 31.2 mpg in MY2011, increasing to 35.7 mpg in MY2015. For trucks, the comparable goals for compliance are 25.0 to 28.6 mpg. Lastly, the design of the program will be attribute based; every model of new vehicle will have its own target, based on the vehicles size.