Importers Agreeable to 35 mpg Standard
November 02, 2007
The trade group representing automotive importers has said it will not fight a combined 35 mile per gallon fuel economy standard being considered by the U.S. Congress, but its members want more time to meet the stiffer standard.
The Association of International Automobile Manufacturers wants the deadline for meeting the tougher standards pushed significantly back from the proposed 2020 timeline. The lobbyist group represents more than a dozen import nameplates, including Toyota, which had sided with Detroit automakers in seeking lesser standards that separate car and truck ratings. The only AIAM members that sell large trucks are Toyota and Nissan.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:49 AM under Companies , News , Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
It's all about the trucks. One of the sister Edmunds sites did an article a few months ago (can't find it at the moment) about how the same amount of fuel can saved by making 14 MPG trucks get to 20 MPG, as getting 35 MPG cars to 50 MPG (as I recollect. Not quite sure of the actual numbers.) It's a sound argument. If we can get these trucks from 14 MPG combined to 25 MPG combined, that's where all the fuel savings will truly be. Hard to imagine a full-line manufacturer averaging 35 MPG for it's entire line.
The tact has to be that players like Honda and Subaru are thinking they can make that number (35 MPG) by barely selling light duty trucks (they'd hardly miss something like the Ridgeline - at least until they drop that diesel into in in 2010) or crank out some 75 MPG supercars to get the average up.
Posted by: Double Wishbone | November 02, 2007 at 1:13 PM
Y'know, I think the Industry may be missing the mark here. An '86 Ford taurus was EPA rated at 20/29mpg with a 140 SAE net hp.3.0l V6. An '06 Fusion is rated nearly the same mpg but approximately 80 more hp, both using the old EPA procedures. Other brands have simiar ratings for the time frame I've given. If they can improve specific output this much, I think I would be satisfied with, say, a 1.6-1.8l V6 that got about 29/35 or so mpg with 130-140hp in a midsize car. The Industry needs to address curb weights as well.
Posted by: fulcrumb | November 02, 2007 at 11:15 PM
I've read every 400 lbs. costs you 1 MPG. Not as much as I would have thought (especially when they are always telling you to empty your trunk, etc. to improve mileage). That article I mentioned (I think it was on Edmunds Inside Line) addresses curb weights and it's impact on mileage. It was a very informative article. It compared all current technologies for impacting MPGs favorably - i.e. diesels, hybrids, lighter cars, etc.
Posted by: Double Wishbone | November 03, 2007 at 12:33 PM