President Barack Obama unveiled a new plan to raise CAFE standards to 35.5 mpg by 2016 just days ago, but California is already working on a new set of standards for 2017 and beyond. California has historically been one of the toughest states when it comes to fuel economy standards and was a great influence on the President’s latest mandate.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s 35.5 mpg by 2016 is already a difficult standard, reaching the 35 mpg mark a full four years before previously scheduled. However, with California likely to influence CAFE standards for 2017 and beyond, required targets could become even more aggressive.
“California will be immediately getting to work on what the standards should be for beyond 2016,” Mary Nichols, who chairs the California Air Resources Board, told Reuters. Nichols added future regulations will like be “much more stringentâ€.
California is by far the most aggressive state when it come to vehicle emissions and will likely become the first to regulate exhaust emissions this June. The California Air Resources Board hasn’t indicated what standards it will push for beyond 2016, but a number in the 40 mpg range would not be out of the question for the early 2020s
