Posts Tagged ‘CAFE’

CAFE is a step, but still an inept approach to auto energy efficiency

Disruptive technologies: The cotton gin

Innovation and technology moves faster than politicians and regulators

Back in college I was a huge fan of the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Robert Pirsig. What struck me as most profound about Pirsig is his idea that society has become its own evolving entity.

Recently, I started reading Kevin Kelly’s What Technology Wants and was surprised to learn that he has the same idea, except about technology or the technium. It isn’t just life, humans and societies that are evolving, relatively independently, but technology as well.

And that’s what I find so annoying about politicians, automakers, regulators and CAFE. This idea that the future can be controlled and predicted when it’s so obvious such an idea is futile. Read more…

Of course consumers want smaller, more expensive vehicles

The perfect size for American consumers?

And a gas tax too!

I got a good laugh this morning reading Take Polls With A Grain Of Salt by Jeremy Anwyl CEO of Edmunds.com regarding his recent testimony before Congress on new CAFE requirements. Essentially, Awyl observed that Congress is obsessed by polls, taking them almost as fact, despite the irrefutable evidence demonstrating that many polls, especially when in survey form, are often irrelevant or even counter-productive.

Such polling irrelevance, for example, has been documented many times on Hybridcarblog via consumer surveys on hybrid cars purchasing. Read more…

Marchionne: Hybrid cars critical to Chrysler’s future

Chrysler's first hybrid under Marchionne due in 2013

Chrylser 300 hybrid to be first out of the gate

While Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne believes that hybrid cars are too “costly to produce” and will only “sell at low volumes”, 2025 CAFE regulations will require the automaker to use hybrid technology to achieve the new fuel economy requirements.

And the first new hybrid, the Chrysler 300 hybrid, is due out in 2013. Read more…

BMW ramping up into hybrid and EV leadership, kind of

Can cars like this really help mainstream battery technologies?

But is that a good thing since BMW doesn’t sell to the masses?

Today, BMW already offers a few hybrid cars, but in the next few years, BMW will significantly increase its output of electrified offerings, especially ones with plugs.

While it’s great to see an auto manufacturer like BMW embrace the efficiency of the battery, is BMW motivated to mainstream plug-in technologies, or to use them to balance numerous regulatory requirements, such as CAFE and European CO2 caps? Read more…

Energy independence: 54.5 mpg, battery cars and honesty

Every gas-guzzler sold today will be on the road for another 10 - 20 years

The energy conversation is as dishonest as was the debt ceiling debate

Will America be energy independent in 2025 thanks to new CAFE regulations? Heck no. Not even close. Even if automakers built nothing but pure battery-powered electric cars beginning in 2025, it would still be at least another decade, minimally, before the US could end US foreign oil dependence. That’s 2035.

Unfortunately, the US will be nowhere near 100 percent EV sales by 2025. Even worse, real world fleet fuel economy in 2025 won’t even be close to 54.5 mpg. It won’t even be 40 mpg.

Today, nothing can impact the economy like energy, yet America is no where close to an honest energy conversation, especially as it relates to foreign oil dependence. Read more…

Revolution: Can you force consumers to buy hybrids and plug-ins?

Will CAFE make today's cars coveted classic cars into the future?

Or will commuters choose other options and hold onto older vehicles longer?

Even when gas prices blow past $4.00 per gallon and many hybrid cars actually become wise long term investments, most consumers still don’t buy hybrids. Maybe they don’t believe high gas prices will last; however, numerous studies simply suggest that consumers don’t like to pay extra upfront to save money on fueling costs down the road.

Since we’re an instant gratification society, such results shouldn’t be surprising.

Nevertheless, new car buyers are almost certain to see higher new car prices as new CAFE regulations come into effect. So, how will consumers react? Read more…

CAFE: The first step to autonomous cars, but not necessarily electrification

Self-driving Prius competing in DARPA challenge

The he said, she said of new CAFE rules

Lots of interesting news out there regarding the new CAFE rules. However, if one thing is clear, it’s that what the impact of these new CAFE rules will be is almost anyone’s best guess.

Nevertheless, the most noteworthy idea I’ve seen so far isn’t the change coming to the auto industry in terms of powertrains, but in terms of safety — and how that translates into autonomous cars. Read more…

Everything a hybrid or plug-in by 2025?

Is the future battery-powered powertrains, or just compact cars?

Why does 54.4 mpg mean something more like 37 mpg?

At the most recent LA Auto Show, Hyundia North American CEO John Krafcik essentially mocked the hype around plug-in vehicles at the show while debuting the Hyundai Elantra — the kind of car Krafcik claimed was the future of the auto industry. According to Krafcik, even if the government passed 62 mpg by 2025, Hyundai would be able to meet that requirement without much reliance upon batteries.

Since 54.4 mpg, rather than 62 mpg by 2025, actually means something more like 37 mpg in terms of EPA window stickers, will batteries be the key to meeting new CAFE requirements by 2025? Read more…

A few more CAFE details — and loopholes — emerge

New CAFE requirements are better than nothing, but full of loopholes

The good, the bad, and the ugly

Here’s the good news. CAFE standards are increasing and will push automakers to further embrace new technologies, such as hybrid and plug-in powertrains. For instance, by 2025 passenger cars will have to achieve a CAFE rating of 60 mpg, which means an EPA window sticker of around 42 mpg — a figure numerous hybrid cars already achieve today (and I mean combined, not JUST on the highway).

The bad news is that pickup trucks, and possibly SUVs and crossovers, will have much easier fuel economy requirements.

But it’s the loophole news that is really ugly. Read more…

CAFE rewrite set to protect gas-guzzling pickup truck sales even more

Time to build more pickup ups!

Could lead to an increase in pickup truck production and sales

Well, new CAFE requirements are threatening to once again turn into a major boondoggle. According to the DetroitNews, the Big 3 are set to agree to 54.5 mpg by 2025, which really means about 40 mpg according to the EPA and often even less in the real world.

However, 54.5 mpg won’t apply to pickup trucks and loopholes could ensure that pickups never have to increase fuel economy significantly through 2025. Read more…