Revised EPA Fuel Economy Labeling Rule Issued
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 02. 6.06
Direct from the US Federal Register: "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing changes to the test methods used to calculate the fuel economy estimates that are posted on window stickers of all new cars and light trucks sold in the United States. A fundamental issue with today's fuel economy estimates is that the underlying test procedures do not fully represent real-world driving conditions. Although no single test or set of tests can ever account for the wide variety of conditions experienced by every driver, the new fuel economy estimates would more accurately reflect a number of important factors that drivers are likely to experience on the road. These changes will take effect starting with 2008 model year vehicles. Under the new methods, the City MPG estimates for most vehicles would drop 10 percent to 20 percent from today's labels, depending on the vehicle. The Highway MPG estimates would generally drop 5 percent to 15 percent for most vehicles.
Although today's proposed fuel economy test methods would provide more accurate estimates for many consumers, there will always continue to be drivers who get higher or lower fuel economy than the window sticker numbers. Currently the same test procedures are used for both the window sticker estimates and the fuel economy values used to determine a manufacturer's corporate average fuel economy (CAFE). However, this proposal would not alter the test procedures, driving cycles measurement techniques, or the calculation methods used to determine CAFE".
We note that USEPA has simultaneously notified the World Trade Organization of this proposed rule so that foreign car makers can take fair notice, and be able to properly label their products for US sales in 2008.
Remember TreeHuggers: the rule, as ust proposed, won't take effect for nearly another two years. Until then, you can use the estimated percentages cited for commonsense adjustments to your "ROI" projections.
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FYI - I think that this will actually take effect any where from spring to fall of 2007 as it is for the "2008 model year" which always comes out the year before. We won't have to wait too long, and should start to see the new labels by next summer.
If this is for 2008 model year vehicles, we should start seeing the new labels about half way through 2007. 90% of the 2008 vehicles should start appearing on dealer lots in September/October if they follow past trends.
It will be interesting to see what the dealers do when they have a new label car next to an identical vehicle from the previous year.
They'll probably say the new one isn't as good so they can try to get rid of lingering stock =)
-Riskable
http://www.riskable.com
"I have a license to kill -9"
The old test parameters were so odd. They were based on driving in LA - with it's wall to wall traffic jams - so the simulated "highway" speeds were actually slower than the "city" driving and the stops were more frequent.
I'm wondering if the new test will reflect the average highway driving speeds that regularly go well above the speed limits. (When the engine's efficiency goes way down.)
i think there's plenty time for domestic carmakers to 'persuade' congress not to let this pass. . .
Turil- The highway speed test is done at 45Mph (Not realistic at all). All tests are without AC.
CPT - They can fight it but I think it will get through. Many consumers are complaining that the numbers posted for many vehicles are wrong including hybrids with people getting 10+ Mpg worse.
My car has a MPG display for realtime and mena average MPG. This direcctly affects how I drive. Just having such a display is probably more important than agonizing over a few MPG difference in an EPA rating.
I still expect car sales people to lie and say that the score is really 10-5% better then the sticker...
plus, Trucks and SUV are still exempt right?
It doesn't matter much to me if all cars drop the same amount. What matters is that if car A gets better real-world mileage than car B, but car B has a better rating, then the environmentally conscious among us are led to make bad choices. The relative ratings are what I care about.
I think the re-rating of the system is foolish. For one thing, I have always gotten about what my sticker said I would, give or take 5-10 %. It depends on how I drive. If I stay within the speed limits and drive with my head instead of my foot, I get better than the predicted rating. In fact, my mixed average for combination driving on every car I have owned in the past 20 years has been about 10-15 % higher than predicted. If I speed, drive like a jerk, or I am driving in cold and snow, I get lower fuel economy. I check it with every fill-up, so I know very well what effects fuel economy.
I am afraid that with these ratings being adjusted down, both the user and the producers are going to see this new standard as a new "business as usual" target. As expectations are adjusted down, we may find actual results to be lower still ! Why doesn't the EPA educate in the area of how to operate a vehicle more efficiently instead ?