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Latest EPA report says vehicles gain power but not fuel economy

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#1 ·
May 12, 2003
By HARRY STOFFER | Automotive News

Automakers could be building vehicles that get 33 percent better fuel economy than the ones they are selling, the EPA says.
The catch: Americans would have to be satisfied with the performance, size and utility of the vehicles they bought in 1981.

As the Senate resumes debate over a giant bill to update and alter national energy policy, the EPA's latest report on trends in motor vehicle fuel economy suggests that automakers could meet tougher Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, standards.

Automakers have developed powertrains that extract more energy from each gallon of gasoline, according to the EPA report. But the industry does not use the gains to produce vehicles that use significantly less fuel. Instead, it makes vehicles that are heavier and more powerful. Many more of them are trucks.

Comparing 2003 models with 1981 models clearly shows that.

The average 2003 model will be 24 percent heavier than the average 1981 model, the EPA says. And the 2003 model has 93 percent more horsepower, helping it accelerate from zero to 60 mph 29 percent faster. But the 2003 model has only 1 percent better fuel economy than the 1981 vehicle.

Environmental groups say this misguided "progress" by the industry is a reflection of weak federal CAFE standards and that automakers don't do any more than the minimum to meet standards.

The EPA estimates that all 2003 models in operation will average 20.8 mpg, down 6 percent from a peak of 22.1 mpg in 1987 and 1988. Under EPA's analysis of horsepower and weight, this year's fleet fuel economy could be 33 percent better - or more than 27.6 mpg.

Elizabeth Lowery, General Motors vice president for energy and environment, disputes the claim.

"It's very difficult to do an average that way," she says. But if automakers were building vehicles with the attributes of 1981 vehicles, they would have "no customers," she adds. EPA's estimates of real-world gasoline mileage are about 15 percent lower than the mileage rates that are derived from laboratory tests and used for the government's CAFE program.

Senate debates energy

Environmental groups have argued for years that automakers, using available technology, could build vehicles with better fuel economy, if they wanted.

Automakers say they produce vehicles people want to buy. The EPA routinely has noted the increases in vehicle weight and power.

But the latest report was released with more fanfare than usual by what is supposed to be the industry-friendly Bush administration, just in time for the resumption of debate on the energy bill.

The bill, as written, says little about fuel economy. But in the coming weeks, senators will offer a variety of amendments aimed at curbing gasoline consumption.

It appears a majority of the Senate remains opposed to dramatic CAFE increases. Cars must average 27.5 mpg - on the higher scale used for the CAFE program. The light-truck standard is 20.7, rising by regulation to 22.2 by 2007.

Still, industry lobbyists are watching Senate maneuvering closely. Environmental groups pin some of their hopes on an expected amendment that would require U.S oil consumption to be cut 5 percent from what it otherwise would be in 2013. The administration would have the job of determining how to accomplish the savings. Higher CAFE standards would be one option. Fuel economy even surfaced last week as an issue in the early stages of the 2004 presidential race. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, seeking the Democratic nomination for president, says his energy independence plan would eliminate oil imports within 20 years.

CAFE standard

The plan includes a proposed industrywide, car-and-truck CAFE standard of 40 mpg. Lieberman also wants more money for fuel cell development and tax credits as much as $5,000 for each buyer of a fuel-saving gasoline-electric hybrid or natural gas-powered vehicle.

Meanwhile, the Detroit Project, an anti-SUV campaign organized by media commentator Arianna Huf-fington and the Natural Resources Defense Council, launched a round of advertising, also calling for vehicles to average 40 mpg.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger says the advertising is misguided and unfair, slamming the Big 3 while import-brand automakers sell more of their own pickups, SUVs and other low-mileage vehicles.
 
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