Filed under: Ethanol, Flex-Fuel, MPG, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Legislation and Policy, Green Daily, USA, Greenlings
It was big news when the Obama Administration updated CAFE requirements in May to a new and higher national MPG standard of 42 mpg for cars (26 mpg for light trucks) by 2016. The higher standards will start increasing with 2011 model year vehicles. But what is CAFE? And how do these new numbers - before the raise, cars needed to average 27.5 mpg and trucks 24 mpg - change what will be available in dealerships in the coming decade?
Let’s start with the official government wording. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is in charge of establishing CAFE standards, so let’s use their definition:
Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) is the sales weighted average fuel economy, expressed in miles per gallon (mpg), of a manufacturer’s fleet of passenger cars or light trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 8,500 lbs. or less, manufactured for sale in the United States, for any given model year. Fuel economy is defined as the average mileage traveled by an automobile per gallon of gasoline (or equivalent amount of other fuel) consumed as measured in accordance with the testing and evaluation protocol set forth by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Clear as mud? We break it down after the jump.
[Image: Tim Boyle/Getty]
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Greenlings: What is CAFE? originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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