The California Air Resources Board is proposing even tougher greenhouse gas emissions rules, which translate directly to an average fuel economy of 44 mpg by the year 2020 for vehicles sold in the USA’s most populous state.
This is significantly higher than the already high 35 mpg average automakers were faced with under the federal CAFE law passed recently, and it gets worse. Since at least another 15 states are to adopt California’s new rules, altogether accounting for about half of the new vehicle market in the US, the state law would effectively force an automaker to build all its cars to the standard, according to Automotive News.
CARB maintains that since more truck and fewer cars are sold outside of its jurisdiction, its new estimates would require cars and trucks to average 40.4 mpg, and broken down by type, that means automakers’ car lineups would need to average 50.8 mpg and trucks 33.5 mpg
Still, these numbers represent a 62 percent improvement in fuel economy compared to conventional vehicles, whereas the difference is a more modest 40 percent under the national CAFE law.
While EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson blocked states from enforcing their own greenhouse gas rules on vehicles in December, when the CAFE law was introduced, California and other states are challenging that law in courts and with a bill before Congress.
This, in turn, prompted the industry to challenge the state laws such as California’s in federal courts, insisting they’re an illegal attempt to usurp federal authority over fuel economy. Industry leaders maintain the new standards are unrealistic and, more importantly, there is no market for such products. In effect, these laws would doom some vehicle manufacturers to certain suicide, spending untold quantities of money on products customers don’t want to buy.a
