Combustion Engine Gains Are Not Exhausted
A story in the Financial Times about the future of gas-powered cars cites RFF researchers Benjamin Leard and Joshua Linn.
“'Automakers don’t have the right incentives to offer more efficient vehicles and so, consumers are losing out on these savings,' explains Prof Josh Linn from the University of Maryland.
This year, the Trump administration revised CAFE to mandate annual fuel economy gains of 1.5 per cent until 2025, rather than an implied 5 per cent annual gain implied by this date under Obama-era rules. This rolling back of regulations has happened before. From the late 1980s until 2004, CAFE standards flatlined at around 27.5 mpg for passenger cars and 20 mpg for light trucks. 'During that period, we observed how new cars were becoming more and more powerful and improving their acceleration times, but there was a reduction in fuel economy,' says Benjamin Leard, fellow for transport policy at think-tank Resources for the Future."
