Biden administration sets 50 miles per gallon fuel economy standard for 2031

Don't worry, we'll just get even larger trucks that nobody actually wants to bypass these standards.

Supposedly they want us all in EVs, but American manufacturers aren’t producing shit except for Tesla which are safety hazards, and they effectively banned Chinese competition that could have actually accomplished it. US car manufacturers will likely ignore these new standards by pushing more “light trucks” that are exempt.

And pickup trucks will be the size of a Mack truck.

if it doesnt apply to suv's then it is useless

The fuel savings translate into about $600 less in gas costs over the life of a new vehicle, NHTSA projects.

I don't understand this. Let's be extra safe and say I currently drive a car that gets 30 mpg 15k miles per year and the average fuel price was $3.60. If I switched to a vehicle that got 50 mpg, my savings per year alone would be $720.

15,000 mi / 30 mi/g x $3.60/gal = $1,800

15,000 mi / 50 mi/g x $3.60/gal = $1,080

$1,800/yr - $1,080/yr = $720/yr

Still being extra safe, let's assume the car only makes it 100k miles, that's a savings of ~$4,800 for the life of the vehicle.

100,000 mi / 15,000 mi/yr = 6.67 yr

6.67 yr x $720/yr = $4,802.40

$4,800 > $600

Again, this is being safe with a car that is fuel efficient, a person that travels a relatively short amount, and with low fuel prices. What am I misunderstanding??

Stupid EPA laws sacrificed all the cool lightweight sports cars and utility trucks for giant hunks of useless metal which people use exclusively to drive on the highway.

Big 3 already deleted all their compact car production teams, they make all their bank from SUVs and mega sized trucks.

This will change basically nothing.

It's not enough.

My old Geo Metro could do that.

Not sure why this is news. The current economy standard is 46 mpg.

Why don’t politicians ever set these targets in their own terms?

This is six years away from when he’ll get back in, effectively punting the problem to the next president.

Iirc, the original target was supposed to be something like 58 mpg; he's lowered it. We're fucking doomed, all of us, because a bunch of rich boomers don't like change.

I like the idea in principle, but hasn't the market already said that it cannot produce more efficient ICE vehicles? We can legislate better cars, but can we actually build such cars and sell these? This sounds off (hybrids exist), but bear with me and let me explain.

As another commentator wrote, it's much more cost effective to simply sell larger cars to go around the rules. Why is it better to sell much larger, much more expensive cars? Maybe it's because there is not a good, cost effective solution in this problem space. Many consumers don't want to buy electric cars due to lack of infrastructure, and it's a complete non-starter if you can't charge at home such as if living in an apartment. Right now, the EV market is seeing trouble moving inventory. Automakers prefer not to produce or sell smaller cars because it doesn't make sense for some reason, and part of that reason could be an impracticality of a small, low cost, mass market, yet efficient car that people will actually buy. Maybe a small hybrid that meets this goal is still too expensive for enough of the consumers who want to buy a compact car. The trend to larger cars might be telling us something.

Overall, I think I favor the legislation, but I'm concerned that we're not thinking this through enough. We can legislate the requirement. Are we also taking steps to expand charging access and have a plan to make such cars with consumer appeal outside of the premium segment?

Does that stipulation include hybrids or just ice? Seems like it would be more easily attained in hybrids

I like electric vehicles, but when will the charging infrastructure get better? People without garages, ones that live in apartments and cities don't have a convenient way to charge an electric vehicle. Most people living without a convenient way to charge their vehicle can't afford an electric vehicle either. Hybrids are a lot easier to have now until the infrastructure gets better and they meet the 50mpg.

Most new cars can do that already though can't they? I'm not part of the 'new car demographic' but even when buying used cars, i wouldn't buy one that had lower mileage that that.

I was looking at a Ford Focus station car from 2011 that did 21km/l and the target above translates to that too!

How many amps is that?

By 2031 hilltops will be the new beach front property