What New MPG Standards Will Mean for Heavy-Duty Pickups and Vans - Car and Driver (blog)
Tougher federal fuel-economy standards are coming to heavy-duty pickups, full-size vans, and other large rigs, bringing with them big changes to the nation’s truck fleet. The new proposed standards—which are not yet set into law—call for big vans and medium-/heavy-duty pickups to slash their fuel consumption by a third between now and 2027. We plowed through the EPA’s 1329 pages of documents to get a picture of the... Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards were born in response to the disastrous 1970s oil embargo by the Arab OPEC nations and resulting gas shortages. Starting with the 1978 model year, the EPA imposed a minimum fuel-economy requirement on every mainstream manufacturer. Automakers had to average the combined (55 percent city, 45 percent highway) fuel economy for every car and light truck in their fleet. If they met or exceeded the prescribed standard for that year, they earned credits to offset thirstier vehicles from past or future years. For the 2011 model year, manufacturers now had to meet variable, company-specific averages based on their lineup’s production volume and the physical size of each model. Automakers could avoid fines by buying credits from competing automakers with excess credits (the selling of which has become a significant income source for companies like Tesla). Source: blog.caranddriver.com
