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My work has appeared in a number of major publications either as writer, photographer, or source. I enjoy talking about all things automotive. Recent Posts
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CarSpace Hudson's BlogAll around the car world there are stories and these are just a few of them. A new blog is posted every Monday. Sometimes more often. May 21, 2009 - Why We Should Not Fear 39mpg CAFESenators and Representatives debating the benefits and, more importantly, the pitfalls of requiring cars and trucks to get better gas mileage may be in the news, but these same elected officials along with television talking heads seem to forget that this happened 35 years ago. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) regulations came about in the 1970s as a response to the combination of skyrocketing fuel prices and gas guzzling vehicles. The answer to the problem was to require manufacturers to make more fuel-efficient vehicles. Sounded good at the time…simply force them to increase the fuel economy from 12 mpg to 27.5 mpg in just over a decade. Arguments against this new requirement included a reduction in weight of vehicles and, by extension, a reduction in safety of said vehicles. Cars would transition from 2 ½-ton compact cars spewing toxic waste to 1-ton subcompact rolling deathtraps by 1985. And prices would shoot through the atmosphere. Well, that’s how it looked from 1975. When the 27.5 mpg level was finally reached, just a few years late, cars were smaller. Against all odds, cars and trucks remained affordable and got SAFER! How did that happen? It came down to engineers doing what they do best…engineering. They solved problems and made better vehicles at the same time. Another two decades pass and the decision is made to increase CAFÉ regulations for the first time in well over 30 years, but a (mostly) new generation of elected officials return to the same well for the same tired arguments against this progression. Oh, cars will get smaller. Oh, cars won’t be as safe. Oh, the government is dictating choice. Let’s start off by saying that I am NOT for CAFÉ. GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz once stated that “forcing automakers to sell smaller cars to improve fuel economy” was akin to “fighting the nation's obesity problem by forcing clothing manufacturers to sell garments in only small sizes" (reiterated in a recent David Letterman interview). And that’s how I feel. But I also feel that engineers can overcome many obstacles to create fuel efficient vehicles that get nearly 40 mpg. Whether it’s with turbodiesel engines or hybrid powertrains, it’s possible. Additionally, we NEED to transition from the current petroleum economy to something else. ANYTHING else. The way to get the public out of gas-guzzling vehicles and into more practical models is to raise the price of fuel. Europe and Japan know about this because their gas prices have been double, triple, and quadruple that of US gas prices for ages. They drive four-cylinder cars that regularly return 30 and 40 mpg…and diesel engines are very reasonable alternatives to gasoline engines in almost every size vehicle. In the US, a gallon of gas costs far less than a gallon of milk and a fraction of what Americans typically pay for bottled water! Since no politician wanting another term on the elected-official gravy train would introduce any bill recommending raising gas taxes by two or three dollars a gallon, we’re stuck with artificially low gas prices and consumers wasting untold barrels of oil on the freedom to drive 400hp SUVs to the corner donut shop for a cappuccino. Which brings us back to the CAFÉ regulations and putting the pressure on manufacturers to build something other than what the public wants to buy. But the arguments against CAFÉ are borrowed from politicians and pundits of 35 years ago, which make politicians and pundits of today look stupid. I know it’s their job to assume Americans are dumb. But I know too many bright Americans who see right through their lack of education. The automotive industry is too short-sighted to take the current downturn and create a range of vehicles and flexible plants that can weather any economic trouble this side of the apocalypse. When the market returns, which it will, hybrids will continue to be anomalies and powerful V6 and V8 engines will continue to be the norm. And somebody will find a way to weasel out of any regulations forcing consumers to waste fewer natural resources. Isn’t it in the Constitution ensuring our right to Life, Liberty, and a 350hp Hemi V8?
Jan 7, 2008 - CAFE and Your Car ChoiceIn a previous life, people relied on me to keep them abreast of the goings-on in the automotive world. My current life makes knowing the restoration market a little more important than the global production of cars and trucks, but that doesn't mean I've stopped paying attention. All the buzz in the American automotive industry today, aside from "when is the market coming back," is about CAFE. CAFE stands for Corporate Average Fuel Economy. It's the basis for improving the fuel economy of vehicles sold in the US and has been for well over 30 years. The fuel economy of each manufacturers fleet of vehicles sold in the United States is averaged together, weighted by the number of vehicles sold, to generate a CAFE number. Currently, up to three CAFE numbers are generated per manufacturer: domestic car, imported car, and light-truck. The idea is that each manufacturer would be required to sell more fuel efficient vehicles to keep their CAFE number above a set level or else face a stiff penalty. The CAFE levels peaked in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the car number set at 27.5 and the light-truck number set around 23.5. (Please understand that the CAFE number is not the number, city or highway, found on the EPA sticker on every new car. Rather it's the "combined" number formulated way back when before the gas mileage rating system was revised...twice.) In reality, CAFE has done very little to help improve the economy of the American fleet. Since the mid 1970s, the advent of fuel injection and other technologies have made engines smaller, more powerful, and more fuel efficient so the manufacturers have been able to keep up with the rising CAFE (which was slowed because manufacturers petitioned the government in the mid-1980s). By 1990, the average fleet fuel economy in the US was TWICE what it was only 15 years earlier. But fuel prices didn't rise as expected in the 1980s and early 1990s. Demand for larger, more fuel hungry vehicles rose but since CAFE didn't allow for the supply of large cars to meet the demand, manufacturers turned to trucks. And the SUV market bloomed! From just a couple hundred thousand vehicles in the early 1980s, the SUV market in the US peaked at about 2 million vehicles a year in the early part of this decade. Car production made up less than half of all vehicles built in North America just a few years ago, mostly due to CAFE regulations. Another "benefit" of CAFE was to be the added domestic production of small cars. General Motors tied up with Toyota to produce some small models in California. But Ford, on the other hand, moved production of the large Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis to Canada (later NAFTA would make Canadian vehicles "domestic" in CAFE formulas). The whole concept was to get more fuel efficient vehicles on American roads. Bob Lutz, former Vice Chairman of Chrysler and current Vice Chairman of GM (and a real "car guy"), described CAFE as being akin to getting everyone to lose weight by requiring clothing manufacturers to produce smaller clothes. And now CAFE is potentially on the rise again. How will vehicles change with the rise of CAFE from 27.5 to 35? How will truck sales change with an increase there? Whatever will capitalistic Americans do without gas guzzlers? We'll be just fine. Cars today are much smaller on the outside than they were before CAFE, but have much the same interior space. Cars today have more power, far better fuel economy, are much more reliable and dependable, pollute far less and are safer. All of this, and cars are just as affordable as ever. I expect the same in the next 15 years. And I don't expect gasoline to fall from its perch as the number one fuel for personal transportation. I, personally, am looking for a commuter car that doesn't tie me to oil companies. When oil companies get government assistance and generate record profits, I can't imagine why gas prices jump every few days. Are they at risk of losing money because a barrel of oil went up a few cents? Why should I continue to fuel (pun intended) their record profits? And why should ANYONE worry about CAFE do any harm to the car as we know it? The first 30 years of CAFE didn't hurt the car...or the oil companies. I'll keep my gas-consuming cars for fun, but I'm in the market for a good, used Standard-Vanguard Citicar electric for my daily commute. If you've got one sitting around, I'd sure like to talk to you, but it seems like many people have the same idea as me. Have you seen the price of a Citicar on eBay? As Economics professors taught me....supply and demand!
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