The Auto Rule Rollback That Nobody Wants, Except Trump
The president is trying to sabotage an enormous climate achievement that much of the car industry supports.
California has stricter vehicle pollution standards than the federal ones, which other states may opt into. Ford, Honda, BMW and Volkswagen voluntarily agreed to comply with California’s rules. Trump's administration is going to extraordinary lengths to roll back gas and fuel efficiency standards, suggesting that it may amount to an illegal conspiracy.
It’s a senseless exercise of apparent presidential pique. Worse, it threatens to undo what would be the country’s most important climate achievement, the doubling of vehicle fuel efficiency to about 55 miles per gallon by 2025.
Read the opinion piece at The New York Times.
Trump Zeros In On California’s Deal With Automakers
After California reached a deal with Ford, BMW, Honda and Volkswagen on fuel economy and emissions standards, the Trump Administration called on the Justice Department to investigate, claiming potential antitrust violations.
Trump is also calling for revocation of California’s exception to the standards which are tougher than the federal mandates.
The deal is important not only because California is the country’s largest automotive market, but also due to the fact that 18 other states use California’s standards for their own mandates. Some of the states have also opposed the Trump administration plan.
Read the article at The Detroit Bureau.
Rising Commercial Van Sales Are Good News For The Economy
It turns out that of all vehicles, it's commercial van sales that hold the strongest correlation to the health of the overall economy.
American businesses actually purchase far more work vans than anything else. There's an overlapping use case across a variety of industries for a big old van than a pickup truck.
The core businesses buying these tough vans are themselves good early indicators—things like construction, trades, and shipping.
Read the article at The Drive.
Ride-Sharing Companies Contribute Greatly to Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Beginning in 2023, California transportation network companies will be required to reduce their cumulative climate pollution.
These companies, like Uber and Lyft, are allowed to treat their drivers as independent contractors passing on all the externalized costs to their drivers—for fuel, idle time while waiting on fares, and vehicle maintenance.
The new law would ensure that companies assume their responsibility to provide core employment protections to drivers and assume their lawful responsibility to pay for employee equipment - zero emissions cars.
Read the article at CalMatters.
How Automakers Can Meet Strong 2025 Efficiency Standards
Using known fuel-saving strategies, manufacturers can make existing vehicle models that comply with emissions standards for 2025 while saving consumers money and dramatically reducing fuel consumption.
Lightweight materials can serve a dual purpose, offering both enhanced stiffness for handling and safety while also reducing the amount of power needed to move the vehicle.
As an example, VW has already developed the 1.5L “evo” engine and 48V mild-hybrid system deployed now in Europe could drastically reduce fuel used by the next generation Jetta.
Read the article at Union of Concerned Scientists.
