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Has CAFE reached the end of its usefulness? - READ ONLY

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What is this discussion about? Fuel Efficiency (MPG)

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#539 of 560 So it's 62 mpg for cars and 44 for SUVs/Trucks by benjaminh

Jul 29, 2011 (6:02 pm)

Those two averaged make for the 54 CAFE.
 
President, automakers hail new fuel efficiency pact
David Shepardson/ Detroit News Washington Bureau
 
Washington — President Barack Obama today hailed a deal to boost fuel efficiency standards to 54.5 mpg, saying it will save consumers $1.7 trillion over the lifetime of vehicles and doubling current requirements.
 
In announcing the pact, Obama was joined by 13 automakers, including representatives of Detroit's Big Three automakers, Toyota Motor Corp., BMW AG, Honda Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co.
 
"This agreement on fuel standards represents the single most important step we've ever taken as a nation to reduce our dependence on foreign oil," the president said. "Most of the companies here today were part of an agreement we reached two years ago to raise the fuel efficiency of their cars over the next five years. We've set an aggressive target and the companies are stepping up to the plate."
 
On a conference call with reporters, administration officials said cars would have to average 62 mpg by 2025 and light trucks would average 44 mpg. The agreement gives hefty incentives to full-size pickup trucks to become mild or full hybrids, along with incentives for fuel cell vehicles and electric vehicles. But it doesn't offer any new incentives for diesel vehicles — much to the dismay of European automakers.
 
But despite repeated questioning, the administration offered no estimate on the costs or impact on jobs or auto sales. Previously, the administration said slightly more aggressive requirements could cost $2,100 or more per vehicle by 2025.
 
"We are confident that the automobile manufacturers will be able to absorb the additional costs and still sell cars for a profit," said Ron Bloom, a senior White House adviser who helped broker the deal. He added the deal would not "compromise in safety."
 
The White House said the deal will save consumers more than $8,000 per vehicle by 2025. It will save an estimated 12 billion barrels of oil.
 
Margo Oge, director of the EPA's office of transportation and air quality, said in an interview that the higher costs would be "pretty reasonable."
 
She said the administration struck a good deal — and denied they had given automakers too many "credits" to meet the standards — including letting automaker "multiply" the impact of the most expensive technologies on meeting standards for the first five years. "These are incentives to incorporate advanced technologies in pickup trucks," Oge said. Without incentives, "you aren't going to see" hybrids and other expensive technologies on pickups trucks. "They are not giveaways, they are real."
 
But the proposal will have unintended consequences. The American Road & Transportation Builders Association says the proposal will result in the loss of $65 billion in federal funding for state and local highway, bridge and transit improvements because of less gas tax revenue collected.
 
Before the announcement, automakers formally signed off on a framework deal, after working out the last hurdles.
 
General Motors Co., Chrysler Group LLC, and Ford Motor Co. signed memorandums of understanding on the 2017-2025 fuel efficiency standards, as have the other 11 companies in attendance.
 
GM CEO Dan Akerson told The Detroit News his company can live with the compromise deal.
 
The talks with automakers, California and the White House went past 1 a.m. this morning. They centered around assurances that California will abide by the results of a mid-term review that is intended to ensure that the 2022-2025 requirements are achievable.
 
The final issue dealt gave automakers the opportunity to sue if California attempts to enact its own tougher rules, if the federal government opts to lower the requirements in the final years.
 
California Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, hailed the agreement as a "banner day" and said the state deserved credit for pushing. "The auto companies have finally come onboard and the innovative rule for California was crucial," Brown told reporters on a conference call. "We have a workable formula that every year will make our vehicles more efficient."
 
Hyundai U.S. chief John Krafcik said the deal was historic and actually works out to 60 mpg for Hyundai vehicles by 2025 because of the mix of mostly passenger cars.
 
"It shows that we can work together," Krafcik said.
 
The deal will "right-size the fleet. There are going to be fewer vehicles that are bought for the occasional need to carry nine people or seven people."
 
Toyota Motor USA sales President Jim Lentz said the agreement "was the right thing to do" and said the company wasn't put at a disadvantage.
 
Toyota and other automakers "need to roll up our sleeves and start figuring out exactly how we're going to meet all these standards and what's in it for the customers."
 
The Detroit News obtained a two-page letter Akerson sent to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and EPA Administration Lisa Jackson outlining the deal. GM "reserves all rights to contest final actions" by EPA, NHTSA and California. GM "may not have full knowledge about the evolution and cost of technologies necessary to meet these standards, particularly in 2022-2025, the mid-term evaluation provides a basis... for adoption of standards for model years that far into the future."
 
About 10 United Auto Workers workers were present, plus many members of Congress, including U.S. Reps. John Dingell, D-Dearborn; Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township; House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Ed Markey, D-Mass. Former Gov. Jennifer Granholm also attended. "This is pretty thrilling," Pelosi said, adding it was critical that "the industry and the administration came together."
 
UAW President Bob King said Obama deserves credit for bringing all the parties together.
 
"The Obama administration listened to business, environmental and labor stakeholders. With the president's leadership, compromises were reached that show how to make real progress on important issues," he said.
 
King and Ford CEO Alan Mulally flew to the event together on a company plane; the two are scheduled back in Michigan this afternoon for the traditional handshake marking the start of contract talks between Ford and the UAW.
 
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110729/AUTO01/107290411/President--automakers-hail-- new-fuel-efficiency-pact#ixzz1TXulVrtJ

#540 of 560 the review of 2017 by benjaminh

Jul 29, 2011 (6:13 pm)

That's not entirely clear to me. Who exactly does that, what are their parameters, and how do they decide?
 
It looks, however, like the CAFE goals up to 2021 are maybe pretty much fixed. If I'm understanding it correctly, the review of 2017 would only analyze how realistic the CAFE #s are for the last 4 years: 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. And so even if that review waters things down, it looks like we'll still get the very significant progress up to 2021.
 
5% a year is very rapid progress. Those engineers are going to be very busy. They are already very busy. We've already seen some significant progress in mpg. Who would have thought that a car the size of the Elantra would get 40 mpg hwy.

#541 of 560 3 cylinder engines by benjaminh

Jul 29, 2011 (7:22 pm)

are going to be a very big thing in the future, I think. Even BMW knows it:
 
According to C & D: "...BMW’s new gas-fired 1.5-liter turbo three-cylinder, which we first reported on in April. It makes 220 hp..."
 
I bet every car maker has a crash program to make a good 3 cylinder engine.
 
And Ford already has a 1.0 liter ecoboost 3 cylinder turbo with direct injection, which is said to make about 120+ hp. That's enough to barely power a Focus-sized car, although with less power and slower acceleration than today's model. But it would have dramatically higher mpg.

#542 of 560 turbo 2 cylinder makes 100 hp by benjaminh

Jul 31, 2011 (6:50 am)

Talking to myself here, but .....
 
http://www.allcartech.com/news/1060265_fiat-twinair-2-cyl-wins-international-eng- ine-of-the-year
 
Fiat TwinAir 2-Cyl Wins International Engine Of The Year
Antony Ingram By Antony Ingram Contributing Writer May 19th, 2011
 
Fiat 500 TwinAir two-cylinder engine
 
Two cylinders. A quarter of what many Americans consider the correct number, half of what you'll find in most economy cars. It's even a cylinder and over 100cc short of the smallest car engine on sale in the United States, the one liter (61 ci) three-pot found in the 2011 smart fortwo.
 
Despite this, it's just won International Engine of the Year 2011. The motor in question is Fiat's 875cc (53.4 ci) TwinAir, inline, two-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine as found in the European market Fiat 500.
 
Other than the unusually low cylinder count, what makes the engine so special? The technology behind it, the fuel economy and the low emissions, that's what.
 
TwinAir is a development of Fiat Powertrain's MultiAir engine, as found in the 1.4-liter Fiat 500 available in the United States. It uses electro-hydraulic variable valve actuation to control air intake into the engine, rather than using a throttle valve. This optimises the amount of air drawn into the engine, allowing good torque at low engine revs, good power for the capacity and improved economy and emissions.
 
Use of a turbocharger gives the 875cc TwinAir an extra boost of power for 84bhp. A naturally aspirated version is due with 65bhp and a more powerful variant with 105bhp, more power than the 1.4-liter available in the U.S. Fuel consumption is 51mpg city, 65mpg highway.
 
A jury of 76 journalists and industry experts from 36 different countries placed the TwinAir unit not only at the top of the tree overall, but also awarded it wins for best engine below 1,000cc, Best New Engine 2011 and Best Green Engine 2011.
 
Will TwinAir make it to the States in the future? It remains to be seen. The upcoming 105bhp variant proves that small engines need not be underpowered (remember, the 500 isn't a large, heavy car) but we expect Fiat will wait to see how the 500 performs on the U.S. market before expanding the engine lineup.

#543 of 560 50 mpg Fiesta? by benjaminh

Jul 31, 2011 (7:36 am)

Ford might get close with its new 3 cylinder Ecoboost engine.
 
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2011/06/50-mpg-ford-bringin- g-three-cylinder-engines-to-us/1
 
50 mpg? Ford bringing three-cylinder engines to U.S.
 
    Comments 187
 
By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY
Updated 06/05/2011 08:50 PM
 
CAPTION
Ford Motor
A three-cylinder engine? It's been more than a decade since we've seen one, but now Ford is bringing a three-banger to America.
 
It's going to be a 1-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine that will launch worldwide, including the U.S., and conceivably go into Ford's smallest cars, like that Fiesta shown above.
 
The tiny 1-liter engine is being designed at a Ford technical center in the United Kingdom. The goal is to create an engine that gets the same or better miles-per-gallon as a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine. Ford isn't saying how many miles a gallon such a miserly powerplant could develop, but it already has some 40-mile-per-gallon models for the highway, and 50 mpg on the highway doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility.
 
The last time we remember three-cylinder engines being sold in the U.S. was on some Suzuki Swifts and a sister version from General Motors, the Chevrolet Metro, in the '90s. They got such astounding mileage ratings that even beaters were selling for top dollar when gas prices hit all-time highs in 2008.
 
"Consumers are telling us they want to buy affordable vehicles that get many more miles per gallon," said Derrick Kuzak, global product development chief. "Our new 1-liter EcoBoost engine will give consumers looking for hybrid-like fuel economy a new, more affordable choice."
 
He describes the new engine as "a little dynamo." Features of the new engine include:
 
    An offset crankshaft that helps improve fuel economy.
    An advanced, Ford-designed split cooling system that allows the cylinder block to warm up before the cylinder head. Faster cylinder block warm-ups save fuel, especially in cold weather.
    An exhaust manifold cast into the cylinder head. The one-piece assembly lowers the temperature of the exhaust gases. This enables the engine to run in a wider rpm band with the optimum fuel-to-air ratio. The new design also saves weight and allows the engine to operate more smoothly.
    EcoBoost technologies, such as turbocharging, direct injection and twin independent variable camshaft timing.
 
First seen in the Ford Start concept car that appeared at Beijing in 2010, the engine more recently made its European debut in the Ford B-MAX at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show. More details will be released in September at the Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany.

#544 of 560 2 cylinder hybrid? by benjaminh

Jul 31, 2011 (7:47 am)

I'm beginning to see how you might be able to hit 70 mpg in a car...Take a 2 cylinder turbo, add Toyota's synergy hybrid drive, and then put it in a Fiesta sized car.
 
With a 7 gallon tank you'd have a range of almost 500 miles. Even at $4 a gallon a fill up would be less than 30 bucks.

#545 of 560 NADA fights CAFE by steve_ HOST

Sep 14, 2011 (3:43 pm)

"More than 400 dealers are set to fly to Washington in coming days to press legislation that would block the automobile rules for at least a year. They argue the new rules—which would raise the average fuel economy of new cars and light trucks to 54.5 miles a gallon over the next 14 years—would be too costly and lead to job losses."
 
Auto Dealers Oppose Proposed Mileage Rules (WSJ)

#548 of 560 mpg yet, loss of features, no by steve_ HOST

Oct 21, 2011 (8:24 pm)

"In some opinion surveys, consumers have said they want fuel-efficient cars. What people say they want and what they buy are miles apart, however. Small cars amounted to just 18 percent of U.S. vehicle sales in September, according to Edmunds AutoObserver. Alternative-fuel cars, including hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles, represented 2 percent of auto sales in September."
 
What Do You Think About CAFE Standards? (Inside Line)

Messages Page 55 of 57

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