New vehicles must average 40 mpg by 2026, up from 28 mpg

[dalton99a]

https://apnews.com/article/climate-business-donald-trump-united-states-environment-f46e6892e95d83a41f75b9d56edadbda

New vehicles must average 40 mpg by 2026, up from 28 mpg
By TOM KRISHER

DETROIT (AP) — New vehicles sold in the U.S. will have to average at least 40 miles per gallon of gasoline in 2026, up from about 28 mpg, under new federal rules unveiled Friday that undo a rollback of standards enacted under President Donald Trump.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said its new fuel economy requirements are the strongest to date and the maximum the industry can achieve over the time period. They will reduce gasoline consumption by more than 220 billion gallons over the life of vehicles, compared with the Trump standards.

They’re expected to decrease carbon dioxide emissions — but not as much as some environmentalists want — and raise new vehicle prices in an industry already pressed by inflation and supply chain issues.

For the current model year, standards enacted under Trump require the fleet of new vehicles to get just under 28 miles per gallon in real-world driving. The new requirements increase gas mileage by 8% per year for model years 2024 and 2025 and 10% in the 2026 model year.

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. Smart, IMHO.

This will push the majors into Hybrid and straight battery tech, sooner. Reduce Big Oil's impact on the average consumer budget.

[Towlie]

2. Who needs scientists and engineers when the government can just legislate technology into existence?

 
?

[WarGamer]

4. And magically make 10 million Lithium battery packs appear.

MAGIC!!

[MineralMan]

5. The technology is already there.

However, the mix of electric and hybrid vehicles, compared to gas burners, will be different.

A guy will still be able to buy a big-ass pickup with a huge engine, but the manufacturers will have to sell more EVs and HEVs to balance out the mileage requirements.

[Towlie]

6. Are you sure it works like that?

 
?

You're implying that a manufacturer can sell a low gas mileage, air-polluting vehicle to someone as long as they balance it by selling a high gas mileage, clean-air vehicle to someone else. I don't think so.

[MineralMan]

7. Yes. Fleet mileage averages mean exactly that.

They apply to a composite of all vehicles sold by the manufacturer. It's an average. It will, however take several high mileage vehicles to offset a low mileage one.

So selling more EVs and hybrids offsets the vehicles that get fewer miles per gallon.

That's how that has always worked, and is why you can still buy a Ford F350 pickup with a huge V8 engine that gets less than 10 mpg. It's offset by whatever small cars Ford manufactures and sells. As long as the average mileage for ALL vehicles meets the maximum, you can sell a mix of high and low mileage vehicles.

The idea is to push car makers into producing more EVs and other high mileage vehicles.

[Spider Jerusalem]

10. 40MPG cars already exist. People will have to buy fewer massive SUVs. (n/t)

[NickB79]

12. The first Prius came out 20 years ago

And got 40 mpg then. Modern Prius models do over 50 mpg.

And fuel economy standards have been a thing for decades. We'd already be at 40 mpg if Trump hadn't been elected. Biden is just trying to get us back to where we should be.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-autos-emissions-idUSKBN21I25S

Under the Obama-era rules, automakers were to have averaged about 5% per year increases in fuel efficiency through 2026, but the industry lobbied Trump to weaken them. The new requirements mean the U.S. vehicle fleet will average 40.4 miles per gallon rather than 46.7 mpg under the Obama rules.

[WarGamer]

3. I'm really happy that I'm not young again....

I can't imagine starting over EVER making minimum wage and working my way up.

My youth was easy...

Bought a 69 Chevelle SS in the early 80's for $1200 (worth 75k now btw)

Worked at McDonalds for ONE summer to buy the car.

College was dirt cheap... bought my first house in my 20's (stayed there 20 years and sold for 400% profit)



Now... $40k avg car prices and $10/ga gas on the horizon.

[MineralMan]

8. Hmm...So you bought an old Chevelle from your McDonalds earnings.

That's not equivalent to buying a $40k new car. And gasoline is not going to be $10/gallon anytime soon.

I think you're overstating the issue. I'm older than you. I bought several cars for just $100 in the 60s and 70s. I didn't buy a new car until 2012. And it only cost $15,000. Last year, I bought another new car for $24k.

Very few younger people can afford to buy a new car. That has always been true. I couldn't. You couldn't. Young people still can't, for the most part. Many never will buy a brand new car. That, too, has always been true.

[WarGamer]

9. Maybe I didn't highlight my point sufficiently...

I think being young is harder today than it was 40+ years ago.

BTW, that Chevelle was only 12 years old back then... hardly an "old car"

[MineralMan]

11. No, I got it. Yes, it was 12 years old, but of interest.

A lot of 12 year old cars at that time, still running OK, sold for a lot less than that. Anyhow, the point is that you didn't buy a brand new Chevy when you bought that.

It is harder today to be a young person getting started. No question. But, it wasn't easy then, either. It's just that the money amounts reflect the older costs of things. Now, everything costs tons more, but $1200 wasn't easy to come by in 1981, either.

Right now, today, you can pick up a 12 year old car for about $2500. Maybe not a desirable one, but a car that will run and drive. Not a sexy car. Just a car. Heck, I recently sold a 1996 Ford Ranger pickup that ran perfectly well, had great tires, and new brakes, for $1200 to some young guy. So, stuff still exists, and ways still exist for young people to get by.

[Spider Jerusalem]

13. A 12 year old car in the '70's was ancient, rustproofing etc was a lot worse back then (n/t)

[WarGamer]

14. In SoCal... it still looked brand new!

No paint oxidation... perfect!! Even the vinyl roof was primo.

Of course when I repainted the car years later there was lots of rust under the vinyl, lol...

Kept that car for years, only sold it to raise funds to buy my first house.

[Spider Jerusalem]

15. In Southern California, sure, but not elsewhere

my mother had a '72 Ford Maverick that my grandparents ended up with when she got married; They still had it, 10 years later, and by then the floorboard had started to rust through in places. And this was in Georgia, where they don't salt the roads in winter because hard freezes are uncommon.