U.S. Fuel Efficiency Standards, 1985-2010
If I told you that our government mandated fuel efficiency standards hadn’t changed in 25 years, would you believe me? I don’t think I would have believed myself, to be honest. But if I had gone looking for the facts to back up that claim, I would have found it to be true; Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards remained exactly the same from 1985 up until 2010:
In 1985 the CAFE standard was 27.5 MPG
In 2010 the CAFE standard is 27.5 MPG
In 25 years, we didn’t ask auto makers to make a single change in the efficiency of their product. That’s a long time to go without asking for anything different. What else goes that long without changing? Not much that I can think of. I know that I am quite different today than I was at 13 years old in 1985! Here is how the standards add up over the years (courtesy of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) for both passenger cars and light trucks:
Model Year
Passenger Cars
Light Trucks
2WD
4WD
Combined
1978
18.0
1979
19.0
17.2
15.8
17.2
1980
20.0
16.0
14.0
1981
22.0
16.7
15.0
1982
24.0
18.0
16.0
17.5
1983
26.0
19.5
17.5
19.0
1984
27.0
20.3
18.5
20.0
1985
27.5
19.7
18.9
19.5
1986
26.0
20.5
19.5
20.0
1987
26.0
21.0
19.5
20.5
1988
26.0
21.0
19.5
20.5
1989
26.5
21.5
19.0
20.5
1990
27.5
20.5
19.0
20.0
1991
27.5
20.7
19.1
20.2
1992
27.5
20.2
1993
27.5
20.4
1994
27.5
20.5
1995
27.5
20.6
1996
27.5
20.7
1997
27.5
20.7
1998
27.5
20.7
1999
27.5
20.7
2000
27.5
20.7
2001
27.5
20.7
2002
27.5
20.7
2003
27.5
20.7
2004
27.5
20.7
2005
27.5
21.0
2006
27.5
21.6
2007
27.5
22.2
2008
27.5
22.5
2009
27.5
23.1
2010
27.5
23.5
2011
30.2
24.1
Most import manufacturers worked to increase their combined fleet average fuel economy by 1.6 miles per gallon since 1980 and in turn increased sales by 221%, but American manufacturers increased their average fuel economy by 4.1 miles per gallon in the same time period — saw their sales decline. I believe this is because even with the 4.1 MPG increase, American cars had trouble with reliability and got worse mileage to begin with than a typical import.
And while our government can set standards that are supposed to be adhered to, the system allows car manufacturers to pay penalties rather than comply. As of model year 2006, BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Volkswagen, Ferrari, Porsche and Maserati failed to meet CAFE requirements, instead buying their way around the regulations. (PDF)
In May of 2009 President Obama proposed a new national fuel economy program covering model years 2012 to 2016 and requires an average fuel economy standard of 35.5 miles per US gallon in 2016 (of 39 miles per gallon for cars and 30 mpg for trucks), which is a huge jump from the current average. Finalized on April 1, 2010, let’s hope it sticks and doesn’t get overturned, as we cannot afford to go another 25 years without significantly upping our CAFE standards.
Related posts:
- Fuel Efficiency Standards To Change In 2012… Finally.
- Saving Money, Saving Fuel, Saving The Environment.
- Concern over fuel prices
- Quick Green Reads For The Weekend Volume Forty Six.
- G20 Leaders Not Removing Fossil Fuel Subsidies As Pledged.
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CAFE requirements are stupid. We’d burn less gasoline without them! With CAFE, the people who used to drive big cars now drive SUVs — which are less streamlined, more dangerous, and less pleasant to drive on long trips. If you want people to burn less carbon, have a carbon tax. Leave the quotas to the commies.