Most cars will reduce their consumption by turning off the engine at traffic lights. (Cars idle 19% of the time during the EPA fuel economy test). So, we will see many cars failing to start back again? Even with the more efficient technology, only a compact car can get as high as 35.5 mpg. Goodbye SUVs? Goodbye full-sized (even decent sized sedans)? Goodbye passive safety? Hello ER?
We have the technology to have high MPG cars. I onced owned a 1991 Honda CRX HF that got 49 mpg freeway. Paid $7k for it in 1992. Geo metros in the 90s got 50 mpg too. Its 20 years later...why dont we have 70 or 80mpg cars now that are inexpensive? 20 years of technology later and nobody wants to make an inexpensive fuel efficient car.
35-40mpg is no problem in a full-sized car. Direct injection with or without a turbocharger can do it without issues. In petrol or diesel. Without exotic 'hybrid' technology or anything like that. A complete non-issue. Its a real travesty that automakers need to be legislated into such a requirement, when using better technology in engines is just common sense. Anything for the manufacturers to save a buck, eh? SUVs need to go to h*ll anyways. No need for them on the road whatsoever. Dangerous and uneconomical.
Most cars will reduce their consumption by turning off the engine at traffic lights. (Cars idle 19% of the time during the EPA fuel economy test). --------------------- To the best of my knowledge most engine wear results from or at start ups. This sounds like a recipe for premature failure. I used the rule of thumb a gasoline engine burns about a gallon of gas per hour at idle. Not much, imo but the UPS guys shut down every time they leave the truck, I wonder how the numbers work out for them re maintenance vs fuel savings.
just more bs from "regulators"... peilthetraveler 100% correct..there is no real need for 3-5 L engines for car with one person in it..the proper way should be to tax based on engine size,with rebates for small,efficient diesel or gas technologies...do you like your hummer? 3K in taxes each year...bought new jetta tdi? 35$ for registration and that's it..hybrids are nonsense..environmental my ass with those 7K battery changes and their disposal costs..bs and more bs from gov and their buddies from auto industry..
Why complicate things? When oil hit $150/bbl, sales of larger SUVs fell off a cliff. IMO, the proper way is to stop subsidizing the price of gasoline and letting the market take care of it naturally.
most engine wear is at startup when the engine is cold (and the motor oil has all dripped to the bottom.) Turning it off at lights is not a big deal if you start it up relatively quickly.
Safety regulations are keeping our MPGs down. They're requiring the use of heavier and heavier steels to turn our cars into rolling padded-wall asylum cells. Emissions regulations are keeping our MPGs down. Our fixation with NOx emissions and lower HC and CO limits with every passing year prevents our engines from operating at peak efficiency, as motors burn excessively rich to keep the catalytic converters warm. It also doesn't help that cars these days are getting bigger and bigger, and ever more garish wheels. 22" wheels and up, no limit! Bigger wheels have a very detrimental effect on gas mileage, as they increase unsprung weight by a great deal. And finally, cars these days are obscenely powerful. Family sedans with 300 horsepower where they only had 200 a decade ago are keeping up with advances in engine design to maximize power, but not fuel efficiency. Instead of 3.5, 3.7 and 4 liter naturally aspirated V6 motors, they could have kept power at the 200hp threshold but instead installed turbocharged four-cylinder motors. All of that being said, compare a 2004-up Prius to the high-MPG econoboxes of years past, and the Prius feels like a Rolls-Royce, all the while getting amazing gas mileage. I took one through a 2.5 mile urban loop and pulled 150mpg in a friendly competition a couple of years ago - and I didn't even get the best mileage! One of my friends just got a 2004 Prius for $6500. With their price coming down to this level, anyone can afford them and have a modern, safe, reliable, and highly fuel-efficient vehicle. Living in Southern California, I may buy one for myself in a couple of years.
consumers didn't demand high-MPG cars until gas hit $3 after katrina. in the US, hybrids were as rare as ferraris back in 2003. the new CAFE numbers will just increase the price of gas-guzzlers because the CAFE rules allow for manufacturers to simply pay a fine per vehicle when they break the mileage limit. this is what bmw, porsche, mercedes, et al, have been doing for years.