Since gas prices have dropped, some buyers are showing more interest in big vehicles. (Photo courtesy of the US Department of State)
When gas prices went up, car
companies cut their production plans for
making big vehicles, and made new plans
for more fuel efficient cars. The question
now is, with gas prices falling, will those
plans change again? As Dustin Dwyer
reports, the experts say probably not:
Transcript
When gas prices went up, car
companies cut their production plans for
making big vehicles, and made new plans
for more fuel efficient cars. The question
now is, with gas prices falling, will those
plans change again? As Dustin Dwyer
reports, the experts say probably not:
It’s not as easy to make money on a small car as it is on an SUV.
Small cars are cheaper, and they have lower profit margins. But as gas prices went up earlier this year, auto
executives insisted they’d find a way to make money on small vehicles.
Since gas prices have dropped though, some buyers are showing more interest in big vehicles.
Michael Robinet tracks the auto industry for the firm CSM Worldwide. He says the long term trend still
points to smaller vehicles.
“There may be a ratcheting down by some consumers in terms of the size of vehicles that they’re looking
for, irrespective of where fuel prices go in the future.”
Robinet says the bad economy is forcing many people to downsize. And the federal government has new
rules that mandate cleaner cars, so Robinet says getting smaller will be the big trend for years to come.
Ted Bohn, a researcher at Argonne National Laboratory in the Chicago
suburbs, shows off a modified Saturn Vue with a lithium-ion battery in the rear (Photo by Gabriel Spitzer)
One of the great hopes for a green
car is the plug-in hybrid. It’s like a regular
gas-electric hybrid, only you can plug in at
night. That charge is supposed to let most
people make a typical commute without the gas engine. Carmakers and the government are throwing a lot of money at the technology – GM and Chrysler both hope to release models in the next few years. But the cars might not deliver what boosters promise. In the first part of our series on saving gas, Gabriel Spitzer
reports on what new research says about plug-in hybrids in the real world:
Transcript
One of the great hopes for a green
car is the plug-in hybrid. It’s like a regular
gas-electric hybrid, only you can plug in at
night. That charge is supposed to let most
people make a typical commute without the gas
engine. Carmakers and the government are
throwing a lot of money at the technology – GM
and Chrysler both hope to release models in the
next few years. But the cars might not deliver
what boosters promise. In the first part of
our series on saving gas, Gabriel Spitzer
reports on what new research says about plug-in
hybrids in the real world:
Ted Bohn is a researcher at Argonne National Laboratory in the Chicago
suburbs and he’s showing off his ride.
“So this a prototype, plug-in hybrid vehicle. The rear half is a 10
kilowatt-hour battery.”
It’s a modified Saturn Vue, with a big old lithium-ion battery in the rear.
That battery is like what runs your iPod – only it weighs as much as a
linebacker.
Ted Bohn: “If you actually had to drive less than 40 miles on a typical
day, you could drive the whole day without starting the engine.”
Gabriel Spitzer: “Could you drive this very vehicle 40 miles round-trip
without starting the engine?”
Ted Bohn: “Close. If you drive slowly. To be honest, 25 to 30 is what
you’ll really do – driving on a nice day downhill with a tailwind is 40,
more realistically, 25 to 30.”
The thing is, you don’t hear those little caveats from some people, like, say,
General Motors.
“You plug it in. And they expect you’ll get up to 40 miles without a drop
of gas. Wow. The Chevy Volt. I’ve heard the future, and it hums.”
That 40-mile range is based on EPA tests.
Argonne scientist Aymeric Rousseau, with backing from the government,
compared those measures to how people drive in the real world.
Based on more than 100 drivers in Kansas City, he found that 40 mile range
shrinks to about 30.
Flip on your AC, and it’s more like 20.
“People now think about, you know, your mileage may vary. Now we
have to think about, your electrical distance may vary, depending on
how you drive, and what accessories you’re using.”
Rousseau says factors like aggressive driving sap the all-electric range.
And don’t forget – we’re talking Kansas City, here.
“When we talk to people from the EPA they actually say that people in
California drive more aggressively than people in Kansas City.”
General Motors concedes the point.
Rob Peterson is a spokesman for GM.
He says driver behavior can have some affect on the all-electric range.
Though …
“I wouldn’t go as low as 28 to 32.”
He says for a reasonable driver, the Volt can still get about 40.
And how about those pedal-to-the-metal Californians? Well, he says GM
studied exactly those people.
“For 64% of the people that we tested, they would be able to finish their
day with a petroleum-free and a tailpipe-emission-free commute.”
That’s not exactly what Argonne found.
Granted, the batteries they looked at were a little smaller than the Volt’s.
Size matters when it comes to batteries.
Said Al-Hallaj teaches at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
He says carmakers could build a battery that would boost up the all-electric
range – the problem is money.
“If you’re talking about a 25% increase, you know, from 30 to 40 miles,
that could mean thousands of dollars. So that could take it out of the
price range that will make it actually practical for the industry to make
it.”
Al-Hallaj says as the technology improves, so will drivers.
People are already getting better at squeezing fuel efficiency out of their
cars.
“For the first time I see people even worried about closing the window
versus opening the window because of drag. And we’re talking about
common people here, just trying to pay attention to, if your tires are not
properly inflated, the you have prob — so people start adapt and
probably get the best out of your battery.”
So it’s not that a plug-in hybrid can’t get 40, it’s just that you need to drive
like a grandmother to do it.
But if gas prices continue to climb, we may be seeing a lot more grannies
behind the wheel.
motor heads
from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and as far as Virginia. They’ve
gathered at a state park to check out each other’s souped-
down vehicles.
(Photo by Julie Grant)
Lots of new hybrids and electric
cars are coming to the market. But some
say you don’t need an expensive new car to
get really good gas mileage. In the second
part of our series on saving gas, reporter
Julie Grant met one group of guys who says
you just need to take good care of your vehicle
and drive like your grandmother:
Transcript
Lots of new hybrids and electric
cars are coming to the market. But some
say you don’t need an expensive new car to
get really good gas mileage. In the second
part of our series on saving gas, reporter
Julie Grant met one group of guys who says
you just need to take good care of your vehicle
and drive like your grandmother:
John Stine – aka Johnny Mullet – has always been crazy
about fast cars and big trucks.
But in the past year, this self-described country boy put
aside the hot rods and four-wheel-drive pick-ups and bought
an old Chevy Metro with a tiny 3 cylinder engine. He made a
few changes to make it more aerodynamic such as taking off
the passenger side mirror and even the radio antennae.
And, Stine also started driving really slowly.
It took a while for Johnny Stine’s wife to come around to the
changes.
John Stine: “What did you think at first?”
Mrs. Stine: “At first?”
John Stine: “I’m a nerd. You’re crazy.”
Mrs. Stine: “I thought he was a big nerd. I thought ‘oh my
God.’”
John Stine: “What are you doing to my car?”
That all changed pretty quickly as prices at pump went up.
Her nerd went from geek to chic.
Mrs. Stine: “Anything to save gas. We have a big truck. It
was costing us over $160 a week in fuel. But when he got
57 miles to the gallon, I was just like, ‘wow, what a
difference.’”
(sound of car talk)
Stine is meeting up today with about 20 other motor heads
from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and as far as Virginia. They’ve
gathered at a state park to check out each other’s souped-
down vehicles.
The parking lot is not lined with macho- muscle cars with 20-
inch rims. These guys drive refurbished Ford Festivas, Geo
and Chevy Metros on the skinniest tires possible.
Paul Keim says they’re just trying to save a few bucks on
gas. But his wife isn’t completely sold on this hobby.
“Ask her. The lady in the green shirt, she’ll tell you, my
name is ‘cheap bastard’.”
Keim says his wife does appreciate his gas saving tips.
She’s picked up 5 miles per gallon – just by keeping up the
tire pressure, changing the oil regularly, and, adjusting the
nut behind the wheel.
“You are the nut behind the wheel. Once you adjust your
attitude, and your driving style, you can get incredible
mileage.”
So, what do we need to change behind the wheel?
(sound of car doors)
John Stine is going to give us a few tips.
First, pay attention to your aerodynamics.
Julie Grant: “It’s pretty warm, am I allowed to have the
windows opened?”
John Stine: “The windows open when we’re sitting is fine.
As I’m driving, I like to keep them up unless it is very hot.”
Open windows are bad for aerodynamics. Air conditioning
wastes gas.
So, there are sacrifices. You might get a little sweaty – just
carry some extra deodorant.
Everyone here today drive cars with a stick shift because it
means better gas mileage.
Stine does whatever he can to keep momentum and not stop
at a traffic light. That can mean coasting very slowly up to
an intersection.
Some guys here say it’s been tough to adjust their driving
habits. To drive slowly – especially when the driver behind
them is bearing down on the bumper in a race to the office.
Ken Pietro of Detroit says he knows it irritates other drivers,
but that’s their problem.
“It’s just like, ‘hey, go around, go around,’ we’re in no hurry.”
Pietro says he doesn’t care, since he’s getting more than 52
miles per gallon. What’s your mileage? He didn’t even have
to buy a hybrid.
“People just can’t believe I’m getting that. You’ve got all the
newer Priuses and Honda Insights and all that. And these
people are shelling out 20 or 25 thousand dollars to get good
gas mileage with these hybrid vehicles. Which is fine, you
got the money to do it. That’s great, save the environment.
But I can do it in a $500 car and I’m getting better mileage
than them.”
And while you might complain about their slow driving, they
might just beat you home – they won’t have to make a pit
stop at the pump.
Reporter Rene Gutel gets tips from Mike Speck, a master eco-drive trainer at Pro-Formance Group of Phoenix (Photo courtesy of Rene Gutel)
We’ve all heard we can improve our
gas mileage by changing our driving habits.
And you might think you already know what
that means – coast more, for example, or check your tires’ air pressure. But according to Ford Motor Company, if you really want to get better mileage, you need a trained coach in the passenger’s seat teaching you how to do
it. In the final part of our series
on saving gas, we sent reporter Rene Gutel out to learn how to eco-drive:
Transcript
We’ve all heard we can improve our
gas mileage by changing our driving habits.
And you might think you already know what
that means – coast more, for example, or check
your tires’ air pressure. But according to
Ford Motor Company, if you really want to get
better mileage, you need a trained coach in
the passenger’s seat teaching you how to do
it. In the final part of our series
on saving gas, we sent reporter Rene Gutel
out to learn how to eco-drive:
(sound of car)
So I’m behind the wheel of my silver Mini Cooper and eco-driving instructor Mike Speck
is coaching me on how to get the best gas mileage I can, as safely as possible.
“Try to keep just a steady throttle input. You can see you are on and off the gas quite a
bit.”
We’re on suburban Phoenix roads at the beginning of rush hour. I drive a stick-shift and
one of the first lessons Speck teaches me is to shift gears a lot more quickly than I’m used
to.
Mike Speck: “And upshift.”
Rene Gutel: “Already?”
Speck: “And upshift.”
Gutel: “Oh! But we’re only going 30 miles an hour in fourth gear?”
Speck: “Yeah, it’s below 2000 RPM. The car is perfectly fine doing it.”
Speck is what they call a master eco-drive trainer at Pro-Formance Group of Phoenix.
Ford Motor Company recently teamed up with Pro-Formance to offer nearly 50 eco-
driving tests in Arizona. They studied the results which showed that by working with a
coach like Speck for just a few hours, drivers can improve their fuel economy by 24%.
The nuts and bolts of eco-driving are simple enough: Accelerate and break smoothly.
Slow down and watch your speed. Also, anticipate traffic signals as you’re going down
the road. But all this sounds way easier than it really is.
Speck: “Now we know there’s another slow left-hander coming up so off the gas.”
Gutel: “Okay, I’m off the gas.”
Speck: “And just let it coast around the corner.”
Gutel: Okay, I feel like you’re teaching me to drive my car all over again.
Speck: “I’m trying to do it as mellow as I can.”
That feeling – of going back to driver’s ed – is actually part of the experience of learning
to eco-drive.
Curt Magleby is the Director of Government Relations at Ford and he says to learn how
to do it right, you do need a coach.
“It’s not about tips and that’s what you’ll see on many websites throughout the US: tips
on how to be a better eco-driver. It’s got to be the hands-on coaching experience that
changes behavior.”
Ford is part of a new nationwide effort to encourage eco-driving. Magleby says there’s
talk of putting trained coaches at Ford dealerships.
“So when a person comes into a dealership and they’re considering the purchase of a
vehicle and we can talk to them about not only, here is the technology vehicle, here’s
what you can do, but you are a part of that equation.”
And down the line, Magleby says Ford might be pushing to have these techniques
become a part driver’s ed classes.
(sound of driving)
Speck: “You are accelerating very smoothly… very linearly. It’s very good!”
Gutel: “This is a different feel to driving. I feel like I’m coasting everywhere.”
Speck: “You are, and most people freak out about how much time they’re going to take.
When we validated the study, the average time increase was only 10%.”
Speck and I drive the same route three times during my eco-driving lessons. The first run
was the control, no tips from him at all, and I averaged 27 miles a gallon. But by the end
of the third run, we boosted that to 36 miles a gallon. Not bad, huh? Now if I can only do
that well on my own.
For The Environment Report, I’m Rene Gutel.
“Now try second. Well done! Go to third and just let it coast. Very well done.”
Getting fuel from plants like corn
and sugar cane is not that efficient. That’s
why researchers are working on so-called
cellulosic biofuels. The process turns things
like corn stalks, wood chips, and grasses into
fuel. As Mark Brush reports, some new
cellulosic refineries are breaking ground:
Transcript
Getting fuel from plants like corn
and sugar cane is not that efficient. That’s
why researchers are working on so-called
cellulosic biofuels. The process turns things
like corn stalks, wood chips, and grasses into
fuel. As Mark Brush reports, some new
cellulosic refineries are breaking ground:
The new refineries are being built with money from the federal government. The hope is
to perfect a fuel source that a) doesn’t come from food, and b) is much more efficient
than corn-based ethanol.
The problem is it’s hard to get at the sugars inside the
plants. But the payback could be big. For every one unit of energy going in,
cellulosic ethanol could spit out about five to ten units of energy.
Brian Davidson is with the BioEnergy Science Center. He says industry officials are
hopeful, but he thinks these new refineries are just a first step.
“They believe that those technologies will be more widely applicable, but I actually
believe that we’re going to need further technology improvements to go from these first
few handful of plants, handful of bio-refineries, to make them widespread.”
Davidson says scientists still have not perfected ways to break down the plants in a
cost-effective way.
Eric Rund raises corn and soy on his Illinois
farm but is experimenting with 'Miscanthus x giganteus',
a hybrid grass that could become a major feedstock for
cellulosic ethanol - if the market ever matures.
(Photo by Shawn Allee)
Stephen John is an agronomist with the Agricultural
Watershed Institute, which is helping the area around Decatur, Illinois cut down on soil erosion and fertilizer pollution; he
believes perennial grasses such as miscanthus may be part of
the solution.
(Photo by Shawn Allee)
Gary Letterly dips his hand into a hopper of miscanthus
pellets in the furnace room of his University of Illinois Extension
Service office in Taylorville, Illinois.
(Photo by Shawn Allee)
These pellets were produced from miscanthus grown in
Illinois; they're fed into a modified corn furnace to heat office space.
(Photo by Shawn Allee)
This furnace was originally built to burn pelletized corn, but
Gary Letterly had an Illinois manufacturer modify it to burn miscanthus
pellets; corn and grass (miscanthus and other grasses such as switchgrass)
produce different amounts of ash when burned.
(Photo by Shawn Allee)
The US is in the middle of an
ethanol revolution, or at least it’s
supposed to be. Scientists want to
develop ethanol that doesn’t use corn
– so food prices won’t go up. They’ve
found a tall grass called miscanthus that
can produce loads of ethanol – but they
haven’t perfected it yet. Shawn Allee reports some are trying to grow
miscanthus before the ethanol revolution
arrives:
Transcript
The US is in the middle of an
ethanol revolution, or at least it’s
supposed to be. Scientists want to
develop ethanol that doesn’t use corn
– so food prices won’t go up. They’ve
found a tall grass called miscanthus that
can produce loads of ethanol – but they
haven’t perfected it yet. Shawn Allee reports some are trying to grow
miscanthus before the ethanol revolution
arrives:
You won’t find much miscanthus near Decatur, Illinois.
Nope. Corn is crop number one.
But all this corn-growing has a downside.
Agronomist Stephen John offers to show it to me.
Shawn Allee: “Where are we?”
Stephan John: “Well, we’re near the upper end of Lake Decatur, looking across at
the city’s dredge. Right now that dredge that is sucking up sediment from the lake
bottom.”
John says corn can leave ground bare, and rain washes dirt and fertilizer pollution into
this lake.
“Some of that nitrogen gets into streams and ditches into Lake Decatur, which had
to develop a facility to protect drinking water.”
John wants farmers to protect soil from erosion and use less fertilizer.
One option is to grow grasses that hold soil and use less nitrogen. One candidate is that
miscanthus grass the ethanol industry’s interested in.
Problem is, no one buys miscanthus yet.
“So, the trick is how do you make it economically viable to get those grasses onto the
land, how do you make that attractive?”
John says people are working on that problem.
Farmer Eric Rund stands near a patch of miscanthus grass. He’s a pretty tall guy, but the
grass is even taller.
Shawn Allee: “I’m putting my hand through here.”
Eric Rund: “It’s like a jungle in there, it’s like bamboo growth or something.”
Rund says corn farmers get kinda freaked out by miscanthus. It doesn’t grow from seed,
and unlike corn, it takes years to produce.
He says farmers need to experiment with it.
“And if we do that now, when ethanol production comes along, we will then have a
reliable source of biomass for the ethanol plant.”
Rund says some farmers would grow miscanthus just to protect water and soil. But to
make it mainstream, it’s gotta be profitable.
“That’s the key. No farmer’s going to plant much of it unless there’s a market for it
and there’s no market for it unless there’s a steady supply of it, so the two are going
to have to grow together.”
But what if that takes a while for the ethanol industry to come knocking? Who would use
Rund’s miscanthus?
I meet a guy who’s working on a solution.
Gary Letterly: “What would you like to do, where would you like to start?”
Shawn Allee: “I want to see your furnace.”
I’m with Gary Letterly. He works with the University of Illinois.
He says in corn country, some people heat their homes with corn pellets.
That gave him an idea on how to heat his office.
“And what you see here, it was a corn furnace, and we thought it would be just
great if we could use that furnace and burn grass pellets.
Right next to the modified furnace, there’s a plastic hopper full of miscanthus pellets.
They look like rabbit or hamster food, and they smell like grass.
“Look at high energy costs. This was very competitive with natural gas, and the very
nice thing is being able to keep this value very close to home. The grass was
produced within fifteen miles, the furnaces were produced within five miles, and the
grass was processed into a pellet within 30 miles.”
Letterly says miscanthus offers enough local economic and environmental benefits that
people should look into it now.
It already has potential to be a kind of super-star plant, with or without help from an
ethanol industry may never come.
The Honda Insight Concept (Photo courtesy of Honda)
Next spring car buyers will have
another choice if they’re looking for a
hybrid car. Lester Graham reports:
Transcript
Next spring car buyers will have
another choice if they’re looking for a
hybrid car. Lester Graham reports:
The very first electric-gas hybrid car to hit the dealership showroom was the Honda
Insight back in 2000. But the small two-seater never took off like the bigger Toyota
Prius.
Now a re-designed Insight will be on exhibit at next month’s Paris Auto Show.
Csaba Csere is the editor-in-chief of Car and Driver magazine. He says the new
Insight will seat four or five.
“The profile looks very much like the current Prius, but it’s going to be a less
expensive car. It’s probably going to start at about $19,000, still get nearly 50-miles
per gallon, and it’s going to go on sale on Earth Day next spring.”
The Honda Insight will get to the dealers’ lots more than a year before a next
generation Toyota Prius and GM’s Chevy Volt are expected to go on sale.
For The Environment Report, this is Lester Graham.
Fuel costs are skyrocketing. That means air carriers are cutting back on routes... and airports say they're losing revenue as a result. (Photo courtesy of Boeing)
The airport industry says high fuel prices are
threatening the stability of the entire system. Rebecca
Williams reports the industry wants its fuel needs to be
given top priority:
Transcript
The airport industry says high fuel prices are threatening the stability of the entire system. Rebecca Williams reports the industry wants its fuel needs to be given top priority:
Fuel is a big deal for the airline industry. The industry says for every dollar increase in the price of a barrel of oil – fuel costs go up 465 million dollars for the airlines.
So they’ve been cutting back… stopping service on more than 400 routes since March.
And for airports… that means losing their main source of revenue.
So they want the federal government to bail them out if fuel keeps going up.
Sean Broderick is with the American Association of Airport Executives.
“Petroleum based products are what make airplanes fly, period. And while industry and aircraft manufacturers are working on alternatives there is no equivalent to wind power.”
The group wants the government to allow airlines to borrow from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve… or be given subsidies for jet fuel.
John working on his converter in his workshop
(Photo by Sarah Russell)
John working on his converter in his workshop
(Photo by Sarah Russell)
John standing in front of the converter at the Columbiana County Fair in Wellsville, Ohio
(Photo by Julie Grant)
It’s hard to be optimistic about
paying $4 a gallon at the pump.
But when you’re a teenager working on new
ways to make cheap fuel, it can be pretty
exciting. Julie Grant met one high school
student who is showing off his biodiesel
converter at the county fair:
Transcript
It’s hard to be optimistic about
paying $4 a gallon at the pump.
But when you’re a teenager working on new
ways to make cheap fuel, it can be pretty
exciting. Julie Grant met one high school
student who is showing off his biodiesel
converter at the county fair:
(sounds of the fair)
The Fairgrounds sit in a quiet countryside of rolling green
hills. Small children yell and wave to family members as
they enter the Fair. There’s a steer auction in the barn. And
an antique tractor pull in the grandstand.
It’s like a scene is right out of a Norman Rockwell painting.
I’m here to talk with John Russell. He’s walking around in
faded wrangler jeans. A red t-shirt with the sleeves cut off.
And a ballcap advertising a tractor company.
“We’re at the Columbiana County Fair in Lisbon, Ohio. In
the junior fair building.”
John is 17 years old, and amidst 4-H project displays, he has
set up his view of the future. His homemade biodiesel
converter.
It’s a rectangular box – nearly as tall as me.
It’s made of stainless steel. There’s a row of toggle switches
along the side. They light up when John plugs it in. He’s
been working on this for more than a year, and says it
makes vegetable oil into a usable fuel.
“I started out with new oil from Save-A-Lot. I went down to
the local grocery store and picked up a bottle of frying oil.
And just from a recipe I found online, with methanol from an
auto parts store, they sell it as heat. It’s gasoline antifreeze.
Just methanol from an auto parts store, Caustic soda from a
hardware store, and oil from a grocery store, I set out to
make this fuel. And it took me couple of times. I finally got it
right when I actually tried a batch of waste vegetable oil from
the valley drive in. So that was my first successful batch.”
Last year, John was only able to fill a Gatorade bottle with
his fuel. Soon, he expects to convert 240 gallons of
vegetable oil into biodiesel in a day.
He hasn’t quite figured out how much the electricity costs to
run the thing, so he doesn’t know how much it’s costing him
to make the fuel.
Back five years ago, he met a guy who claimed to be making
biodiesel for 46 cents per gallon.
Headlines then were already screaming about skyrocketing
fuel prices. 1.60 per gallon. That’s what sparked John’s
interest in making his own converter.
“46 cents a gallon was pretty cool. And I’m into sustainable
agriculture. It’s recycling and its ecofriendly. The
culmination of all those things, that’s what makes it
interesting for me.”
Now that’s he’s almost 18, most of John’s friends are into
cars. And they’re taking an interest in his biodiesel project.
John Russell: “I’m a senior in high school. So most of my
friends’ reactions are ‘when are you going to give me free
fuel?’ But they all think it’s pretty sweet. It does make fuel a
lot cheaper than you could buy it at the pump.”
Julie Grant: “How much are you selling it for?”
John: “Well, I can’t sell it. Or else I’ll get in trouble with the
big man.”
Julie: “Is your dad the big man?”
John: “no. The IRS.”
He’s got to do some research into state and federal laws.
John wants to use the fuel to run his family’s tractors and
help heat homes in his neighborhood.
He’s not sure if biodiesel is the future of fuel, or even in his
long term future. But John is sure he wants a career in
green industry.
“Anything that’s gonna be tied into this fuel situation that
we’re faced with. Something’s gonna change and
something’s gonna change fast. So I’m very excited for
what’s going to happen.”
For now, John’s trying to put the finishing touches on his
converter so it’s ready for the Ohio state fair later this
summer. He’s the new face of agriculture – making eco-friendly practices into traditional American values.
CAFÉ standards are based on fuel economy tests from the 1970s.
(Photo by Ed Edahl, courtesy of FEMA)
Congress recently increased the Corporate Average
Fuel Economy standards, or CAFÉ standards. The new standard calls
for a car company’s entire fleet to average 35 miles per gallon
by 2020. But Mark Brush reports – there’s a problem with these
standards:
Transcript
Congress recently increased the Corporate Average
Fuel Economy standards, or CAFÉ standards. The new standard calls
for a car company’s entire fleet to average 35 miles per gallon
by 2020. But Mark Brush reports – there’s a problem with these
standards:
CAFÉ standards are based on fuel economy tests from the 1970s.
But the way people drive has changed a lot since then.
Engines are more powerful, people drive faster, and more cars use air conditioning.
That means these old tests don’t reflect the gas mileage we get today.
Experts say car companies are really averaging anywhere from 20 to 30% less than the
standards called for.
Jim Kliesch is with the Union of Concerned Scientists. He says the system should
change.
“If your representative is standing on Capitol Hill and telling you that they’ve raised
standards to 35 miles per gallon, you’d like to go out and buy a vehicle that can average
35 miles per gallon. Not one that averages 26, 27, 28 miles per gallon.”
There is a more accurate test available today.
Kliesch says it could be used to set CAFÉ standards if members of Congress require it.
Since gas prices have dropped, some buyers are showing more interest in big vehicles. (Photo courtesy of the US Department of State)
