Regulations

NHTSA proposes fuel economy standards for MY 2027 and beyond cars and light trucks

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has proposed Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for MY 2027 – 2032 cars and light trucks.

 

Here’s a quick look. A long-form article will be written up and also emailed to subscribers in the coming days, sign up below.

Preferred Alternative : ~ 3.5% reduction in fuel consumption each year

As is typical for such far-reaching proposals, several alternatives have been provided in this near-700 page proposal. The “preferred” alternative is summarized in the chart here.

 

There are two curves, one for passenger cars, another for light trucks. While the CAFE standards are expressed in miles per gallon, it is instructive to convert this to gallons per mile, to then relate to fuel consumption reductions.

 

As is seen below, cars are expected to reduce fuel consumption by ~ 2% each year beyond 2027 and trucks require a 4% reduction each year. The reduction from 2022 to 2027 is much higher, at ~ 5% each each year.

 

Again, this is just the first look at this long proposal, more to come. This article will be updated and most likely a summary sent out by email to subscribers. Please sign up at the link below. It’s free, you can’t go wrong.

 

p.s. In case you are wondering, this is expected to be controversial, with automakers suggesting that this is out of sync with the EPA multi-pollutant rule and the related electrification requirements.

 

Fuel economy standards for light-duty vehicles in the US

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