Proposed fuel economy standards go to 35 mpg
— -- Cars and light trucks would have to be 25% more fuel efficient by 2015 under a proposed rule announced Tuesday by the Transportation Department.
Under the proposal, automakers would have to speed up the timetable for achieving an average fuel-efficiency standard of 35 miles per gallon by 2020. Today's car and truck fleets average about 25 mpg.
The proposal would require each automaker's car fleet to achieve an average of 35.7 mpg by the 2015 model year. Light trucks, which include pickups, SUVs and minivans, would have to meet a 28.6 mpg average by 2015.
The federal proposal is tougher than the fuel-economy requirements passed by Congress last year, which called for a 3.3% annual increase in gas mileage. The federal plan calls for a 4.5% annual increase from 2011 to 2015. If those increases are achieved, Transportation Department officials said automakers would need to increase fuel economy by only about 2.1% a year from 2016 to 2020.
"It's aggressive but achievable," Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said.
Dave McCurdy, CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said, "Automakers are prepared to meet that challenge."
Auto companies and environmentalists will offer comments and proposed changes to the proposal over the next two months. Peters said the rule should become final before the end of the year.
The announcement was timed for Earth Day, a day after average gas prices topped $3.50 a gallon for the first time. Peters said the plan had been adopted with car companies' product plans and technologies in mind. Automakers were cautious in their responses, while environmental groups said they wanted rulemakers to go further.
"At first glance, the proposed standards look very tough, but we won't know how tough until we see the details," Toyota's Martha Voss said.
Jim Kliesch, a senior engineer for the Union of Concerned Scientists' Clean Vehicles Program, said automakers could easily reach 39 mpg by 2020 and that the new proposal would "leave us stuck in second gear."
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