WASHINGTON -- The first significant mandatory improvements in fuel efficiency for light trucks in a decade are likely to come in the 2005 model year, a top federal highway regulator told a congressional hearing yesterday.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chief Jeffrey Runge said there was little time left for considering big changes to model year 2004 vehicles that would hit showrooms in late 2003.
According to a Reuters report, Runge said NHTSA was weighing recent studies on new fuel-saving technologies. “However, we are not prepared at this time to recommend specific changes to the fuel economy law,” he told the Senate Commerce Committee.
Some automakers have warned lawmakers that new fuel economy standards could result in expensive vehicles that consumers might not buy. They have also cautioned that lightening vehicles to make them more fuel-efficient could compromise safety.
The current Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, first adopted by Congress in 1975 after the Arab oil embargo, require passenger cars to average 27.5 miles per gallon and light trucks to get 20.7 mpg. At the time, light trucks were allowed to get lower mileage because they were used mostly by farmers and small businesses. Now, sport utility vehicles and other light trucks account for half of U.S. vehicle sales.
“CAFE is determined primarily by what people choose to buy, that choice reflects consumer needs and the abundance of gasoline,” Tom Davis, vice president for product development, said in prepared testimony. Davis added that there are 50 models on the market getting over 35 miles per gallon but they attract less than 1 percent of all sales.
But Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) who chaired the hearing, questioned auto industry arguments that raising CAFE standards would hurt business, cost jobs and reduce consumer choice. Senate Democrats are considering setting CAFE limits as part of a broad energy bill. One draft included a provision, later removed, that would have required fuel efficiency of cars built between 2007 and 2010 be raised to 36 miles per gallon while boosting the light truck standard to 27.5 mpg. according to Reuters.
"Congress should show some leadership and try and set a standard. There will be some effort to deal with it," Kerry said.
