Government to release proposed fuel economy rules

The next generation of new cars and trucks will need to meet a fleet average of 31.6 miles per gallon by 2015, the Bush administration proposed last Tuesday, seeking more fuel-efficient vehicles in the face of high gasoline prices and concerns over global warming.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters outlined the plan on Earth Day, setting a schedule that was more aggressive than initially expected by the auto industry. It responds to a new energy law that requires new cars and trucks, taken as a collective average, to meet 35 mpg by 2020.

“This proposal is going to help us all breathe a little easier by reducing carbon dioxide emissions from tailpipes, cutting fuel consumption and making driving a little more affordable,” Peters said.

New cars and trucks will have to meet a fleet-wide average of 31.6 mpg by 2015, or about a 4.5 percent annual increase from 2011 to 2015. In 2015, passenger cars will need to achieve 35.7 mpg and trucks will need to reach 28.6 percent.

The rules were designed to push companies to boost fuel efficiency across their entire lineup. Manufacturers will have different requirements for cars and trucks of different sizes based on vehicle sales. Collectively, the fleet of new vehicles must meet the rules.

Among individual manufacturers, passenger cars built in 2015 by General Motors will need to average 34.7 mpg, Ford’s cars will need to reach 35.5 mpg and Toyota’s cars will have to achieve 34.6 mpg.

For light trucks, GM will need to reach 27.4 mpg by 2015, while Ford will have to average 28.8 mpg and Toyota will need to hit 28 mpg.

The plan is expected to save nearly 55 billion gallons of oil and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 521 million metric tons over the life of the new vehicles built between 2011-2015.

It will add an average cost of $650 per passenger car and $979 per truck by 2015.

Environmental groups and their allies in Congress, who have criticized the Bush administration’s handling of the requirements, said they were mostly encouraged by the proposal.

Automakers opposed increases to the regulations in previous years, but supported a compromise version of the legislation in Congress.

The changes would require the industry to implement more than half of the fuel-efficiency requirements by 2015 and push them to build more gas-electric hybrid cars and diesel-powered trucks.