Sit in a lighted room 24/7 for a few years and see what it does to you. Constant light is bad. If you think it impedes criminals think again, you make it easier because they don't have to hold a flashlight and that lack of flashlight will be less of a clue someone is breaking in your door.

Obama administration, auto industry strike deal on vehicle fuel efficiency

www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-s...IQA72mKdI_story.html

This will help with the economy. I didn't check the numbers to see if they made sense, maybe someone else would like to do the math for a change. Off the top of my head I think the fuel savings would be far greater than $8200 over the life of a 2025 car.

Just a note. All the latest gasoline efficiency revolves around buying a new car with the latest EPA requirements. (Electric or Hybrid Cars) What is lost in the equation is that to do that on big scale requires most of the (US working class) to purchase them). Since I see the figures show that 40% of the country is below the poverty level (Let us use $20,000 a year) then how are they going to buy the efficient car? (Assume about $40,000). If you can barely make it on $20K income how will you be able to buy the car? Next I noticed that the cost of gas/gal is rising so that compounds the problem. Seems like something is missing in this equation. Right now the Auto Industry is doing well with the Auto mix. To mandate how they mix their auto manufacture seems to be a little much control.

upnort wrote:



The percentage of adults below the poverty line has been below 15% for a few decades, No doubt that has bounced up temporarily due to the recession, but 40%? I don't think so.

The average new car now costs $30,000. Anyone near the poverty line has no business buying a new car at any price. New cars are bought by people in the upper 30% of income levels - roughly speaking. People making 20K are in the low end of the used car market. As these fuel efficient cars work their way into the used market buyers will appreciate the fuel savings. That's why Prius has such great resale value, there are not enough fuel efficient cars to meet the demand in the used car market where they are more sensitive to operating costs. That will change.


I heard the head guy from Chrysler today say they expected to meet these new mpg standards with IC engine and drivetrain improvements. Personally I think it will be a mix with the high end, ~upper third, being electric and PHEV and the other two thirds IC engines - many diesel. The extra cost for those lower end cars will be very small compared to the fuel savings and the high end cars will still be cheaper overall due to the fuel savings.

Another benefit that is difficult to put a number on is that this will nearly halve the demand for oil which will lower the price of oil and fuel. So while we will save by using less fuel we will also save on each gallon we do buy compared to what we would pay without these new standards. Some of the savings will be lost because people will drive more miles, still I think it will be a net savings. The savings will apply to heating oil as well. And it will dramatically reduce the trade deficit.

And what extra upfront costs might be added to a car to meet these new standards will largely go to American engineers, workers and business instead of mid-east despots.

This is probably one of the most economically productive pieces of regulation to come out of Washington in years. It is a win win win.

Woa, CAFE Standard's mpg is not the same as the more realistic EPA mpg.
They started out the same, but changed the EPA calculation twice over the decades, but didnt' change the CAFE calculation so they are now very different.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_Average_Fuel_Economy

For example 61 mpg CAFE is only 43 mpg EPA. No wonder the auto makers accepted these new CAFE standards so readily. It also screws up my prediction of the portion that will be electric or hybrids, probably won't need nearly so many.

Dissapointing

Occam wrote:


Force them to make a fleet of useless Volt Edsels and keep them available even though they lose money and nobody wants them. At least the average MPG will meet the new standard and people may still be able to

Of course this will add considerable expense across the board as other models will need to make up the lost capital on the albatrosses, but hey, isn't that what "stimulus" is for?

I have a hybrid. They are not cost effective except for a finite number of cases. The vast majority of consumers will not benefit, but Greenies feel good and that's the most important part.

BTW, there is no "peak oil" there is peak politics, Obama being the Ring Leader. Please explain how skyrocketing energy prices are good for Americans. Time to face the facts Occam, the ICE is not going to the wayside anytime soon. Electric cars are not and will not be prime time for many, many years to come. Reality sucks I know.
The Americas, Not the Middle East, Will Be the World Capital of Energy