CAFÉ ? fuel economy

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Wed 6 Sep 2006 20:15
CAFÉ ? fuel economy - hillman
These dumb Americans !!

For those who don?t know (I?ve just found out) CAFÉ is an acronym for corporate average fuel economy. The American Congress has tried to pass a bill requiring an increase from 27 MPG to 33 MPG it was not passed. This would have required the American automobiles manufacturers to make a larger number of small cars to balance their production of SUVs, but they are not willing to do this. Also, the oil companies certainly don?t want to sell less fuel when they are having such a good time. Instead, the industries and the unions have lobbied congress and succeeded in getting the government to change the method of calculating the fuel efficiency so that it doesn?t look so bad. The old method used the vehicle weight. The new method will use the vehicle ?footprint? or wheelbase. Thus they have given to foreign importers the market for fuel efficient vehicles. What an effective way of burying your head in the sand.

The relative figures per area are reported to be approximately :
USA 24 mpg
Canada 31mpg
Australia 34 mpg
China 36 mpg
EU 44 mpg
Japan 47 mpg
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