CAFE stds on the chopping block

FishOnOne wrote:

troubledwaters wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:
The only problem I can think of by moving the goal post closer is the companies who've invested substantial money to be in line the new standard are ultimately penalized where as the companies who did very little will benefit the most.

Any manufacturer that can develop a car that can get 54 mpg is going to sell ton of them.

That really depends on several attributes (i.e. Cost, size, complexity)

This is kinda where the Electric car fits into the picture. Manufacturers are already building cars that get the equivalent of twice that number. The trade off is autonomy (gas and diesel vehicles are good for that) and up front price. In that regard the equivalent EV is still about 10 to 15 percent more for the same vehicle as an EV. BUT that difference is dropping every year and I suspect EV's will be cheaper than gassers within a few years.

As far as economy goes, it kinda depends on the price of fuel in a country on what the equivalent "mpg". Eg. Using American currency and measurements (OP was American) here in Canada we are paying pretty close to 3.10 USD per US GALLON. (1.09 Can per litre). Obviously the savings are greater using an electric vehicle here than in the US. Still, we saw lots of places on the trip home thru the west coast states where the price was not too far off that. In practical terms a costco run for us is 110 KM round trip. (70 miles) It costs us about 2.10 Canadian to make that trip in our electric vehicle. Our old Buick would have made that same trip for around 9 to 10 dollars. Substantial savings. Plus a vehicle with very little maintenance. After two years we are still on our first jug of washer fluid for our two EVs so yah, cheap.

Obviously EV's are not suitable for everyone's needs but to achieve these high numbers of "mileage" or equivalent, manufacturers can certainly use EV's to help achieve their fleet averages.

JMHO.

John