Latest news with #CAFE
Hindustan Times
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- Hindustan Times
Focus on vehicle efficiency to reduce GHG emissions
Sustainable transportation is a key aspect of reducing global carbon emissions to stem the climate crisis. The avoid, shift, improve, and fuel (ASIF) framework outlines a comprehensive approach to creating more sustainable transport systems. While much attention is given to alternative fuel technologies, particularly electric vehicles (EVs), the efficiency improvement strategy remains one of the least discussed but highly effective levers of sustainable transportation. This strategy, however, often gets overshadowed by the excitement surrounding new fuel technologies. While all other strategies, such as modal shift from private to public transport or road to rail transport, are important, efficiency improvement is a crucial yet under-appreciated policy lever. Efficiency improvement is typically a technical issue dealt with at the vehicle manufacturing and regulatory levels, but it is an area often overlooked in public discourse on sustainable transportation. A prime example of this is the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) standards, which regulate the fuel efficiency of vehicles in terms of grams of carbon dioxide emitted per km. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in India has set strict fuel efficiency targets for the four-wheeler passenger vehicles segment (M1 category). Though the second phase of CAFE norms were rolled out for M1 in 2023, no such norms have been mandated for other categories of passenger and commercial vehicles. In case of heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs), a constant-speed fuel economy norm was rolled out in April 2023. Shifting to CAFE norms for HDVs can make manufacturers focus on high efficiency vehicles. This provides immediate and impactful results. As part of the regulations, both globally as well as domestically, lab-based test cycles are moving closer towards real-world driving cycles, called Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP). The WLTP is considered closer to real-world driving conditions as compared to the earlier testing cycle, such as the Modified Indian Driving Cycle (MIDC), which was criticised for being far removed from on-road realities of driving behaviour or environment. Under the CAFE norms, manufacturers must meet corporate-level efficiency targets. This means that the average emissions from all the vehicles a manufacturer sells must be below the target set by the regulator. To help companies meet these targets, the regulator offers options like super credits for efficient models like EVs and hybrid EVs (HEVs), which offers flexibility to manufacturers to sell more electric or hybrid vehicles to offset sales of heavy, less efficient vehicles. India's regulatory framework is in line with global norms but suffers some lag. In 2027, Phase III of the CAFE norm is proposed to be mandated for implementation, setting even stricter standards for vehicle efficiency. The phased implementation of these norms allows vehicle manufacturers' time to adapt their designs, engineering, and portfolio to meet the upcoming targets. Penalties for non-compliance, based on the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Act 2022, remain substantial. When we look at the European Union's CAFE targets, we see a similar trajectory. From 2020 to 2024, the target for passenger vehicles was 95 grams of CO2 per km (under the New European Driving Cycle), and for 2025-2029, the target is 93.6 grams of CO2 per km. More ambitious targets are set for 2030-2034 (49.5 grams of CO2 per km), based on the WLTP. These targets reflect the global trend toward stricter emissions regulations and underscore the importance of efficiency improvement in the transport sector. As car sales continue to grow in India, the need for efficiency improvement becomes even more pressing. The growing popularity of SUVs, which tend to be larger and heavier, only exacerbates the challenge of reducing emissions. With rising car ownership and increasing fuel demand, India faces both environmental and economic challenges, with extremely high import dependency of 88% for fuel and the associated pressure on foreign exchange. Improving the efficiency of vehicles on the road, regardless of whether they run on fossil fuels, hybrid systems, or electricity, provides an immediate and effective solution to reducing emissions. Given that India has a long way to go before achieving high levels of EV penetration, which is currently just about 2.5% of total sales, focusing on efficiency improvement in the existing fleet could yield significant benefits in terms of reduced fuel consumption and emissions in the medium to long-term. Moreover, increased efficiency would reduce India's reliance on imported oil, helping to curb the nation's trade deficit and energy security. Sharif Qamar is associate director, and IV Rao is distinguished fellow, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). The views expressed are personal
Miami Herald
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Honda Downshifts on Its EV Goals Amid Trade, Sales Woes
Japanese automaker Honda is scaling back its once-ambitious electric vehicle investment and sales targets in light of changing emissions regulations and the unsteady international trade environment affecting the largest markets served by the automobile industry. At the company's annual business briefing in Tokyo on May 20, Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe revealed plans to erase nearly 30% of its original multi-trillion-Yen investments, dialing down its EV and software research and development budget from ten trillion yen (~$68.97 billion) to seven trillion yen (~$48.28 billion). The CEO stated that the budget shift comes as auto emissions regulations in North America and Europe have loosened at the same time that trade restrictions make selling cars a more unpredictable business. "It has become increasingly clear that the environmental regulations, which held promise for the widespread adoption of EVs, are becoming relaxed, mainly in the U.S. and Europe," Mibe said. "In addition, the recent development in trade policies of various countries makes our business environment increasingly uncertain." The figurehead also predicted that the onset of the Trump Administration and its attitude toward electric car-friendly policies like the IRA tax credits and the loosening of EPA fuel economy standards will stunlock EV demand for some time, even after a new president takes the seat at the Resolute desk. On May 19, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently submitted the interpretive rule, "Resetting the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Program (CAFE)," to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review. In a statement, Duffy claimed that the Biden administration overreached the government's legal authority by including electric vehicles in setting fuel economy guidelines for automakers, which were set to increase to 50.4 miles per gallon by 2031 from the current 39.1 mpg for light-duty vehicles. As a result, Mibe is now shooting for EVs to account for 20% of the automaker's sales by 2030. Previously, Honda had a target of 30% by the end of the decade, and it now expects to sell just 700,000 EVs among reduced sales goals of 3.75 million cars in 2030. "If the EV penetration period is pushed back a little, I feel that it will be pushed back by about five years, especially in North America," Mibe said. "The Trump administration will remain in power for four years, but that doesn't mean that EV demand will bounce back immediately. I think it will be pushed back by about five to six years." In lieu of its EV evolution with models like the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX, gas-electric hybrid vehicles like the hybrid versions of models like the Accord, Civic, and CR-V are making the biggest sales dent amongst its selection of electrified vehicle offerings both in the U.S. and around the world. Data from American Honda shows that in 2024, Honda and Acura sold 40,408 Prologues and ZDXs, but at the same time, over 308,254 hybrid Civics, Accords, and CR-Vs were sold in the United States. Though Honda's worldwide sales took a 4.6% dip to 3.81 million vehicles in 2024, it sold 64,444 EVs and 868,265 hybrids, accounting for 23% of its global sales. Mibe's May 20 announcement signaled that the brand is doubling down on its gas-electric hybrid technology. He said that starting in 2027, Honda will reveal 13 new hybrid cars underpinned by a next-generation hybrid vehicle platform over the next four years. Specifically in North America, this new next-gen hybrid system will find its way onto its larger offerings, which it claims will improve their towing and rough-terrain driving capabilities. The Honda CEO claims that the upcoming hybrid platform will be at least 10% more fuel efficient than Honda's 2018 hybrids and will cost half as much to build. Furthermore, Mibe said that its customers aren't entirely sold on EVs over hybrids or pure gas cars just yet, noting that "the main reason why customers have not yet jumped on the EV bandwagon" is that they see "the value of battery-electric vehicles is not yet equal to or greater than the value of the existing hybrid or plug-in hybrid vehicles." Though the situation sounds as if a demoralized Honda is giving up on EV technology research and development for good, Mibe said it'll take this lull period as an opportunity to improve its future offerings. "We should take advantage of this period and take the technological evolution to another level, so that customers can buy our BEVs and we will be able to make a profit," Mibe said. "We will take these difficult times as an opportunity to advance our technology one more cycle, and create value that surpasses the current gasoline-powered cars and HVs within five years." I am no automotive executive, but I think that Toyota has a slight edge over Honda because of its fearlessness in making hybrids fairly mainstream. The 2025 Camry is one great example, as all trims, including the base LE model, come with a hybrid engine. Believe it or not, Honda is the first automaker in the United States to sell a hybrid vehicle. The first-generation Insight went on sale in the U.S. in December 1999, and seven months later, the first Toyota Prius was released. I hope that the decision Honda makes at this point builds on the legacy they already have. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
E&E News
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- E&E News
DOT sends cryptic rule on fuel economy to White House for review
The Transportation Department said on Monday it has sent a rule 'resetting' the vehicle fuel economy program to the White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review. DOT only vaguely described the action from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and OIRA's website does not describe the rulemaking either. NHTSA declined to detail the rule's content, saying only that more information will be available when it is published in the Federal Register in the coming weeks or months. However, it is listed as a final rule that is not 'economically significant,' and thus does not appear to be the Trump administration's expected repeal of the Biden-era Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards themselves. That kind of rulemaking would have to go through public notice-and-comment rulemaking. Instead, DOT described the action as an 'interpretive' rule. Advertisement 'The Biden-Buttigieg administration illegally used CAFE standards as a backdoor electric vehicle mandate — driving the price of cars up,' Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement. 'Resetting CAFE standards as Congress' intended will lower vehicle costs and ensure the American people can purchase the cars they want.'
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
US expected to declare Biden fuel economy rules exceeded legal authority
The US Transportation Department is expected to declare that fuel economy rules issued under then President Joe Biden exceeded the government's legal authority by including electric vehicles in setting the rules, automaker officials said Monday. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the department's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Friday submitted its interpretive rule, "Resetting the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Program " to the White House for review. The prior administration had "illegally used CAFE standards as a backdoor electric vehicle mandate - driving the price of cars up," he said in a statement. Removing EVs from the calculations for credits and the regulatory mandates could result in lower overall fuel economy requirements. NHTSA in June said it would hike CAFE requirements to about 50.4 miles per gallon (4.67 liters per 100 km) by 2031 from 39.1 mpg currently for light-duty vehicles. Last year, 120 Republican lawmakers said NHTSA exceeded its authority by adopting fuel economy standards "that effectively mandate EVs while at the same time force the internal combustion engine out of the market." The lawmakers said the agency "accounted for EVs in its regulatory baseline and factored that baseline into its determination of the maximum achievable CAFE standards." House Republicans last week proposed killing the EV tax credit and repealing fuel efficiency rules designed to prod automakers into building more zero-emission vehicles as part of a broad-based tax reform bill. Federal law requires NHTSA to set CAFE standards at the maximum feasible level. The Environmental Protection Agency also plans to reconsider parallel vehicle emissions rules and rescind California's legal authority to ban sales of gas-only vehicles by 2035. The US Senate this week may take up legislation passed by the House to rescind the approval for California's rules. Automakers like General Motors and Toyota are aggressively lobbying for repeal. NHTSA said last year the rule would reduce gasoline consumption by 64 billion gallons and cut emissions by 659 million metric tons. The agency said while some vehicles would be more expensive to buy, consumers would save on fuel costs with estimated net benefits of $35.2 billion.
New Straits Times
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- New Straits Times
US expected to declare Biden fuel economy rules exceeded legal authority
WASHINGTON: The US Transportation Department is expected to declare that fuel economy rules issued under then President Joe Biden exceeded the government's legal authority by including electric vehicles in setting the rules, automaker officials said Monday. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the department's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Friday submitted its interpretive rule, "Resetting the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Program" to the White House for review. The prior administration had "illegally used CAFE standards as a backdoor electric vehicle mandate – driving the price of cars up," he said in a statement. Removing EVs from the calculations for credits and the regulatory mandates could result in lower overall fuel economy requirements. NHTSA in June said it would hike CAFE requirements to about 50.4 miles per gallon (4.67 liters per 100 km) by 2031 from 39.1 mpg currently for light-duty vehicles. Last year, 120 Republican lawmakers said NHTSA exceeded its authority by adopting fuel economy standards "that effectively mandate EVs while at the same time force the internal combustion engine out of the market." The lawmakers said the agency "accounted for EVs in its regulatory baseline and factored that baseline into its determination of the maximum achievable CAFE standards." House Republicans last week proposed killing the EV tax credit and repealing fuel efficiency rules designed to prod automakers into building more zero-emission vehicles as part of a broad-based tax reform bill. Federal law requires NHTSA to set CAFE standards at the maximum feasible level. The Environmental Protection Agency also plans to reconsider parallel vehicle emissions rules and rescind California's legal authority to ban sales of gas-only vehicles by 2035. The US Senate this week may take up legislation passed by the House to rescind the approval for California's rules. Automakers like General Motors and Toyota are aggressively lobbying for repeal. NHTSA said last year the rule would reduce gasoline consumption by 64 billion gallons and cut emissions by 659 million metric tons. The agency said while some vehicles would be more expensive to buy, consumers would save on fuel costs with estimated net benefits of US$35.2 billion.
