EPA Claims 75 MPG Standards Could Be in Place by 2030s
While automakers worldwide are still working feverishly to bring future products in line with the tough new economy standards, the pace of change is likely to do nothing but increase from here on out.
The director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Transportation, Margo Oge, said yesterday at the SAE World Congress in Detroit that U.S. passenger cars and light trucks may have to average as many as 75 miles per gallon by the 2030s, if a proposed cut of greenhouse gases is to come about. The proposal from the scientific-community would hope to see emissions reduced by 50 to 80 percent from 2000 levels, by 2050.
While Oge admitted that it would take long-term thinking on the part of automakers, and a consideration for both engine and fuel technology, she claims that a time of even greater change is upon us. Oge said that the, “Political, economic and regulatory landscape in the United States and globally has changed dramatically over the past year. The reality is the pace of change will not be letting up anytime soon."
With oil use on the rise as demand in places like China and India continues to skyrocket, it stands to reason that vehicles will have to become dramatically more efficient if greenhouse gas emissions are to be cut. Predictions have oil use rising to as many as 120 million barrels a day by 2030, up from today’s average of 85 million.
+ The Detroit News: Car makers could face 75mpg rules by 2030s, EPA says
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Comments
Wayne
OR, real good factual science instead of the current hysteria will replace "the sky is falling" global warming with the truth that greenhouse gasses have virtually no effect on climate change.
THEN we can get down to the truth that we still need to have low cost transportation for the common man to fuel independence and democracy.
SOME TIME we are all going to have to realize that adding safety equipment and emissions equipment onto our vehicles is all adding WEIGHT and weight is the enemy of fuel economy.
There is an ANTITHESIS of thought between good science and the powerful bureaucrats at the EPA.
Steve
... Here come the whiners...
chris
75 MPG and a sticker price of $85,000 for a small car that the whole family cant even go grocery shoping in. The fact is we will pay out the nose for the technology and materials used to reach such a lofty goal.
Jim
I guess we'll all be riding Honda 50's
Charles
I am for clean air!But with sensible rules! Lets clean the highway safey program first! Where you can "see" where DUI, DRUGS ETC have probably killed more people than diseases with greenhouse gases!
Seems the EPA office needs to be an "elected enity" if they are going to wield this much power!
Nick
I always wonder how many of the whiners are obese.
Russ Bellinis
Let's see, 30 years ago all of the "experts" were warning us that we were headed into a new ice age! Now the latest "disaster du jour" is global warming.
Mena
Since it seems that we ONLY learn the hard way, I say bring it on!! All I can say is, I can afford it.
Goose
Because, you know, the automobile on the only thing to blame . . .
Dave
Actually, the real problem is that oil production capacity is unlikely to ever be much more than the current 85 million barrels a day. The main reason to increase fuel efficiency so that we can drive at all, not just to pollute less while driving.
Oil is a finite resource (in human time frames if not in geological time frames), and the industry has taken out the easy/cheap oil first. Human capacity for technology will make it possible to get lots more out, but the end cost to the consumer will continue increasing over time. This reality drives the consumer demand for fuel efficient vehicles. Market fundamentals (supply and demand) will be a large part of what drives consumers to make choices about the vehicles they drive.
Benard
75 mpg by 2030? There isnt even one car today that gets 75 mpg, let along having a car company's whole fleet average 75 mpg in 20 years. Thats ridiculous
Soupie
after that......what's next? 150 mpg by the 2040s ? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mena
I'm thinking that they're hoping that there will be more electric cars by then. We still don't know how people, as a whole, will take to these cars yet. Yes, the Prius sells well but doesn't even make the top 10 cars sold in the US. The top 5 cars would have to change RADICALLY before a 75 mpg average could be considered a reality.
Ducati Minor
This is beyond hard to see as a fleet average. The VW Polo BluMotion TDI would average, in present US combined estimates, in the mid-fifties. The BluMotion Polo is supposed to be the most fuel-efficient car in Europe. That's just one sub-compact automobile.
mo
we can use a similar technique as the one used by the flintstones. you use no gas at all. maybe that is what they want us to do.
Texas_Dude
22 years from now... I'd hope we are at minimum starting to see newer technology on the market in cars that would easily bump up car-maker's average MPG.
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