Barack Obama

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CAFE Standards: What You Need to Know

May 26, 2009 in Biodiesel, Bioethanol, Consumer News, EVs, Hybrids, Hydrogen, MPG, PHEVs, diesel, small cars by kristen | 2 comments

Last week, President Barack Obama announced new CAFE standards. While these new numbers seem like a big leap to require auto manufacturers to make, they were a long time in coming. Fuel economy standards hadn’t been significantly revised in nearly a decade. The new standards have the benefit of being constructed with input from auto makers and states who wanted higher standards, so a bunch of potentially expensive and contentious lawsuits were dropped as a result. Whew.

Here’s how it all breaks down:

  • The average fuel economy of the manufacturers’ car and light truck fleets will increase by 5% every year beginning in 2012 and ending in 2016
  • Cars must average 39 mpg; light trucks and SUVs must average 30 mpg by 2016
  • Overall average will be 35.5; current overall average is 25 mpg
  • Will go hand-in-hand with EPA initiative to reduce tailpipe CO2 emissions by 40%

What’s not known is how extended-range electric vehicles like the Chevy Volt or hydrogen cars like the Honda Clarity will figure into the calculations. The feds say they’re working on it.

If you’d like this information in a live, five-minute video starring yours truly, check out Portland’s KGW NewsChannel 8.

Obama Raises Fuel Economy for 2011

April 7, 2009 in Biz News, Consumer News, Future Cars, MPG by kristen | No comments

On March 26, President Barack Obama pushed new fuel economy regulations for 2011 through the Department of Transportation. The regulations give some teeth to an initiative begun by the Bush administration to reduce emissions and our dependence on foreign oil.

The new standards were drafted quickly to give automakers time to retool production lines to meet the requirements. The 2011 model year was targeted so that the accelerated standards could be implemented quickly while not affecting the aggressive plans Obama has for future fuel economy and emissions standards.

Here’s how the mpgs will play out in 2011:

  • Passenger cars (sedans, compacts, etc.) must average 30.2 mpg
  • Light trucks (pickups, SUVs, etc.) must average 24.1 mpg
  • National fuel savings: 900 million gallons
  • Cost to the auto industry: $1.4 billion

These are small increases — smaller even than in the Bush proposal — that are expected to be met with little drama by embattled U.S. auto makers. Keep an eye on California, though, as it’s allowed to set its own fuel economy standards in the next few months, along with any other state that should fancy cleaner air and less time at the gas station.

All the President’s EVs

November 10, 2008 in Consumer News, EVs, New Tech, PHEVs by kristen | No comments

Baker ElectricThough motor vehicles had been around for some 20 years, the White House didn’t make the switch from horse-drawn carriages to horseless carriages until William Taft took office in 1909. According to the L.A. Times, Taft chose an electric vehicle built by the now-defunct Baker company for the first Presidential conveyance.

Fast forward 100 years to president-elect Barack Obama, who made the following promises in his “New Energy for America” speech in August:

Put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars — cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon — on the road by 2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America

Within one year of becoming President, the entire White House fleet will be converted to
plug‐ins as security permits

Half of all cars purchased by the federal government will be plug‐in hybrids or all‐electric
by 2012

Obama also wants to provide a $7,000 tax credit for consumers who purchase advanced-technology vehicles and unspecified tax credits for folks who go the DIY route (or hire a firm to do it for them) and convert their car to a PHEV or EV.

Image by Jim O’Clair, Hemmings.com.

WARNING: Fosh Auto Is a Political Scam

August 27, 2008 in Consumer News, EVs by kristen | 2 comments

I published a post last week about Fosh Automotive, saying that they hadn’t produced their promised electric miracle car. While skeptical of the car, I emailed them for details, and was told to wait. It turns out the whole project was a scam to lure in supporters of fuel-efficient cars (and the people who report on them), then use their email addresses to donate to John McCain. I’ve changed the link on the original post from the Fosh site to the AutoblogGreen site, where they detail the extent of the scam.