DETROIT — Some soccer moms will have to give up hulking SUVs. Carpenters still will haul materials around in pickups, but they will cost more. Nearly everybody else will drive smaller vehicles, and more of them will be powered by electricity.
The higher mileage and emissions standards set by the Obama administration Tuesday, which will begin to take effect in 2012 and are to be achieved by 2016, will transform the American car and truck fleet.
The new rules would bring new cars and trucks sold in the United States to an average of 35.5 miles per gallon, about 10 mpg more than today’s standards. Passenger cars will be required to get 39 mpg and light trucks 30 mpg.
That means cars and trucks on American roads will have to become smaller, lighter and more efficient.
Will drivers buy it?
Eric Fedewa, vice president of global powertrain forecasting for the auto consulting firm CSM Worldwide in Northville, Mich., said the changes will make pickups so much more expensive that they will be used almost exclusively for work.
And instead of a minivan or sport utility vehicle, more parents will haul their families in much smaller vehicles with three rows of seats — something more like the Mazda 5 small van, he said. The Mazda 5 gets about 28 mpg on the highway. "I think what you’ll see is a lot more creativity in interior packaging,” Fedewa said. "You’ll get more rows of seats where you traditionally had cargo space.”
Already on Tuesday, some drivers were skeptical. Dixie Bishop, who runs a plumbing business in San Antonio that uses vans, worries the new requirements will drive up her costs at a time when customers are cutting back on having repairs done.
"Are they going to take my horsepower down?” she asked. "I have to be able to carry old water heaters and toilets. It’s not beneficial for me to haul one water heater at a time. We need the power to pull these heavy items.”
What will change?
The changes will start with smaller cars and trucks and improvements to the internal combustion engine, Fedewa said. Automakers already are working on new technology, including direct fuel injection and high compression of the air-fuel mixture, that will make cars and trucks more efficient.
Car companies are rewiring vehicles so components such as air conditioners and power-steering pumps are powered by electricity rather than by the engine, saving fuel.
And they’re developing computer-controlled transmissions with six or more gears, improving efficiency, and rolling out more gas-electric hybrids — among the few vehicles sold today that meet the 2016 standards.
Of course, developing the technology will cost money — billions of dollars — and automakers probably will pass those costs on to their customers.
The Obama administration says the changes mean the average vehicle would cost about $1,300 more, although some private analysts say the increase will be much heftier. The administration says gas savings will make up the difference in.
by the associated press
The higher mileage and emissions standards set by the Obama administration Tuesday, which will begin to take effect in 2012 and are to be achieved by 2016, will transform the American car and truck fleet.
The new rules would bring new cars and trucks sold in the United States to an average of 35.5 miles per gallon, about 10 mpg more than today’s standards. Passenger cars will be required to get 39 mpg and light trucks 30 mpg.
That means cars and trucks on American roads will have to become smaller, lighter and more efficient.
Will drivers buy it?
Eric Fedewa, vice president of global powertrain forecasting for the auto consulting firm CSM Worldwide in Northville, Mich., said the changes will make pickups so much more expensive that they will be used almost exclusively for work.
And instead of a minivan or sport utility vehicle, more parents will haul their families in much smaller vehicles with three rows of seats — something more like the Mazda 5 small van, he said. The Mazda 5 gets about 28 mpg on the highway. "I think what you’ll see is a lot more creativity in interior packaging,” Fedewa said. "You’ll get more rows of seats where you traditionally had cargo space.”
Already on Tuesday, some drivers were skeptical. Dixie Bishop, who runs a plumbing business in San Antonio that uses vans, worries the new requirements will drive up her costs at a time when customers are cutting back on having repairs done.
"Are they going to take my horsepower down?” she asked. "I have to be able to carry old water heaters and toilets. It’s not beneficial for me to haul one water heater at a time. We need the power to pull these heavy items.”
What will change?
The changes will start with smaller cars and trucks and improvements to the internal combustion engine, Fedewa said. Automakers already are working on new technology, including direct fuel injection and high compression of the air-fuel mixture, that will make cars and trucks more efficient.
Car companies are rewiring vehicles so components such as air conditioners and power-steering pumps are powered by electricity rather than by the engine, saving fuel.
And they’re developing computer-controlled transmissions with six or more gears, improving efficiency, and rolling out more gas-electric hybrids — among the few vehicles sold today that meet the 2016 standards.
Of course, developing the technology will cost money — billions of dollars — and automakers probably will pass those costs on to their customers.
The Obama administration says the changes mean the average vehicle would cost about $1,300 more, although some private analysts say the increase will be much heftier. The administration says gas savings will make up the difference in.
by the associated press
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