U.S. carmakers continue long lag in efficiency -- EPA

ClimateWire, 23 November 2009 - Light-duty vehicles featured better fuel economy and emitted less CO2 for the fifth year in a row, U.S. EPA said in an annual report on Friday.

But the averages mask substantial variation among automakers. Honda is a three-year leader in fuel economy based on 2007 and 2008 numbers and 2009 projections. Among the nine major automakers, the top six are foreign manufacturers.

Detroit's Big Three fall to the bottom of the list, with Chrysler coming in dead last at 19.3 miles per gallon in 2008. The report projects that, in 2009, Chrysler's average fuel economy will actually get worse, reversing gains made the previous year. General Motors and Ford will continue to make gains, it says.

The 2008 fleetwide fuel economy average was 21 miles per gallon, EPA said. The agency projects that the 2009 numbers will nudge up just slightly to 21.1 mpg.

Increasing fuel economy directly seesaws with dropping tailpipe CO2 emissions. The report marks the first time EPA has included CO2 numbers in its annual fuel-economy trend analysis. Earlier this year, EPA proposed the first greenhouse gas regulations for light-duty vehicles, to be implemented in tandem with increased fleetwide fuel economy standards through model year 2016.

Overall, cars and light trucks sold in 2008 emitted, on average, 424 grams per mile, the report says. EPA projected that in 2009, emissions will be 422 grams per mile -- an 8 percent drop from 2004, when emissions hit an all-time high since 1980. Tailpipe CO2 emissions represent 90 to 95 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions of vehicles.

In general, all of the 2009 projections are tenuous at best, EPA noted. They were based on data submitted by the industry in 2008, before sales hit a free-fall, before automakers were bailed out by the government, and before the wildly popular Cash for Clunkers program, which spurred sales of fuel-efficient vehicles. Sales are expected to drop by 30 to 40 percent, the report says.

EPA noted that it could not predict how its projections will fare against actual data next year.

Demise of 'Clunkers' tweaks efficiency upward

Mark Cooper, director of research for the Consumer Federation of America, said the Cash for Clunkers program may boost 2009's fuel economy numbers. The some 700,000 vehicles sold in that program averaged nearly 25 mpg, he said. Based on a back-of-the-envelope calculation, Cooper estimated that those sales could bump up EPA's 2009 fuel economy projections by 0.2 mpg.

That number may not seem like a lot, but Cooper believes it is significant. "If I take this one program that lasted for one quarter -- that actually is big to what usually happens in the industry," Cooper said.

He said that though the last five years have seen slow improvements, automakers have moved like molasses in responding to consumers' demand for more fuel-efficient vehicles, which he said began in earnest during fuel price spikes nine years ago.

"You look at this page and you can see why the automakers got in such trouble," he said of the data. "The Americans [automakers] remain way behind, and if they catch up, it's rounding error," he said.

The report details the turbulent relationship that the auto industry has had with gas-guzzling vehicles over the last three decades. Fuel economy rapidly improved during the oil shocks of the late 1970s, and then slowly increased until 1987, followed by a long and gradual decline through 2004. It is only in 2005 that average fuel efficiency began to increase.

Since 2002 models emerged, SUVs, vans and pickup trucks have steadily accounted for about half of the light-duty vehicle market after a rapid rise in popularity in earlier years, the report notes.

Author Jessica Leber Publication Date 23 Nov 2009 Document Type News articles Issue/Topic Energy & Climate Mobility Region North America Country United States Source ClimateWire Include In RSS Business & Sustainable Development News Energy & Climate News Sustainable Mobility News