Fuel-Efficiency Research Funding Approved by House
By Michelle Krebs September 18, 2009A bill to invest $2.9 billion for auto-industry research into technologies to improve fuel efficiency was passed in the U.S. House of Representatives this week in a move that could further help bolster the staggered U.S. auto industry, particularly the Detroit-based automakers.
The money is to be spent over five years, starting with $550 million next year, an increase of more than $100 million over funding that already was approved by the Obama Administration to hasten the pace of fuel-saving technologies and alternative fuels such as hydrogen and electricity.
The Obama Administration announced this week a proposal for new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations that would stipulate an industry-wide fleet average of 35 miles per gallon by 2016, an acceleration of goals from a new CAFE standard adopted in 2007 requiring automaker fleets to average 35.5 mpg by 2020. The newly proposed regulation also includes a limit on carbon-dioxide emissions of 250 grams per mile.
The House-passed boost for fuel-efficiency research also could help to hasten a move towards plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles, which are dependent on evolving and ongoing development of battery technology to enable reasonable prices, lower weight and reduced cost.
There is not a comparable bill in the U.S. Senate. -- Bill Visnic, Senior Contributing Editor
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