Trump and the Auto Industry

[trollbait]

The automotive lobbying group asking for this includes nearly all the manufacturers.

Toyota did crush some of their Rav4 EVs at the time before bowing to public outcry. The Prius got government support back home.

[cuts_off_prius]

EPA to Reopen Fuel Efficiency Review Next Week: Report

EPA to Reopen Fuel Efficiency Review Next Week: Report
By Steph Willems on March 4, 2017

As we reported last week, automobile industry groups wasted no time lobbying newly minted Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt to reopen the book on the country’s fuel efficiency targets.

That volume had previously been slammed shut by Pruitt’s predecessor, putting an end to a midterm review and cementing the Obama-era light-duty vehicle target of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. Automakers would prefer not to be held to this rule, citing higher sticker prices caused by the addition of fuel-saving technology. Meanwhile, consumer and environmental groups have lobbied to keep the targets in place.

Well, according to a new report, the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standard might not survive for long. Automakers, apparently, are about to see a wish come true.

First reported by Reuters, sources claim that the EPA will announce a reopening of the midterm review next week. After seeing a draft order for the restart, the source said the EPA is expected to work with the U.S. Transportation Department on the file.

The move would give almost all automakers, including the Detroit Three, a chance to see CAFE rolled back, even though the EPA previously stated that reaching 54.5 mpg was within the limits of existing technology.

Past EPA officials aren’t happy. Margo Oge, director of the EPA’s office of transportation and air quality from 1994 to 2012, told the Washington Post that its earlier decision was the right one.

“If the Trump administration were to rely on facts and sound science, they would come to the same conclusion that the EPA staff and outside experts reached: The 2025 standards are achievable and in a way that will save consumers trillions in fuel costs,” Oge said.

California seems ready to throw up legal barriers to stop any rollback of CAFE, or of its authority to set emissions rules for automakers. The state will “vigorously parti*cipate and defend ourselves,” said California Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols.

California’s legal defenders include former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, hired as a legal adviser earlier this year.

[Draigflag]

"If the Trump administration were to rely on facts and sound science, they would come to the same conclusion that the EPA staff and outside experts reached"

Trump relying on facts and science?! Haha

[gregsfc]

Ford Motor Company has come a long way with pickup FE as measured by my own personal experience, regardless of what the naysayers have been claiming, but that has happened only recently, and it appears these gains are appreciable only when consumers choose pickups that are on the lower scale of the mass, power, axle ratio, and bling level. I'd like to see the CAFE standards stick. They are definitely helping push technology on this current round. I've owned and/or driven at work, several std cabs or scab F150s, 2WD, short beds with high gearing. A 1989 with an I6 returned me 18 lifetime; a '97 small V8, 15.5; a '99 V6 16.5; a 2010 small V8, 20; and now a 2.7 liter DI turbo V6 returns me 24 commuting the same speeds, routes and driving style as those other trucks.

Professional reviewers and Fuelly do not reveal the same great results as my real-world experience, but I think the main problem is that most Americans and reviewers choose the $40K plus crew cabs with lots of extras; 4WD; large wheel/tire combos; add drag enhancing accessories; push hard on the gas; and then claim there is no benefit to these smaller-displaced engine choices with turbo charging. But I know for a fact that I cannot take an NA choice from any manufacturer of a full size truck that has any decent amount of low-end torque and get near the mpg that I'm achieving with my current F150 Ecoboost. The Ram Ecodiesel is even better, but the price starts at almost $11K more than my truck and its sales are currently banned due to an FCA emissions cheating scandal.

[ChewChewTrain]

Originally Posted by Draigflag

"If the Trump administration were to rely on facts and sound science, they would come to the same conclusion that the EPA staff and outside experts reached"

Trump relying on facts and science?! Haha

Keep it up, Paul. Just remember that he who laughs last laughs best.

[R.I.D.E.]

I remember what air pollution was like and Trump does also. It would be like London going back to Bituminous Coal. Those who grew up prior to the passing of the various laws that started with Positive Crankcase Ventilation in 1963 remember engine blowby going out a pipe directly into the atmosphere.

No sane person wants to go back there. The deaths and hospital admissions would skyrocket. Health care costs would follow suit.

If the predicted transition to electric and self driving cars is anywhere near factual, the inertia is inevitably going to go that way. My brother told me personal transportation is doomed. No insurance company would touch the last motor vehicle operator. The question remains, when.

Trillions of dollars in transportation assets rendered obsolete. No need for traffic lights or any other "impediments" to the conservation of momentum, which is essential for efficiency.

Worrying about pollution or emissions seems to fall to the irrelevant wayside, since the transformation is inevitable.

If you think a single individual can significantly alter that global evolution of transportation, I have trouble following that thought train, since the rest of the planet will just leave them behind.

[cuts_off_prius]

^Every American should visit a smog-choked developing third world country. I've been to India a few times and I am VERY grateful for our air quality here in the US, as well as other things like clean streets.

"Trump to Undo Vehicle Rules That Curb Global Warming"
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/u...tion.html?_r=0

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is expected to begin rolling back stringent federal regulations on vehicle pollution that contributes to global warming, according to people familiar with the matter, essentially marking a U-turn to efforts to force the American auto industry to produce more electric cars.

The announcement — which is expected as soon as Tuesday and will be made jointly by the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Scott Pruitt, and the transportation secretary, Elaine L. Chao — will immediately start to undo one of former President Barack Obama’s most significant environmental legacies.

"Trump Said Open to Relaxing Obama’s Auto Fuel Efficiency Targets"
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...sion-standards

They seem to keep repeating the same thing every week, not being very specific on what exactly will be changed. Only mention the 2025 targets. There will be an announcement on Tuesday...

[Draigflag]

If that's true, it would be a great shame. The auto industry has spent billions researching and developing EV's over recent years, and they're not far of the point of being affordable for mass market.

Cleaner, greener renewable energy is now cheaper in over 30 countries, the cost of setting up a solar farm is now less than a coal plant. There's no excuse to go back to fossils now when green energy is this affordable.

[R.I.D.E.]

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/28/n...pgtype=article

No way we go back to this. Automakers have been complaining about meeting emissions standards as long as Obama has been alive, so it's disingenuous to attribute clean air to his EOs and the Times should know this.

All Newspapers in the US are obsolete and will soon become as extinct as the dinosaurs.

[cuts_off_prius]

Still no announcement yet by the Trump administration regarding EPA fuel economy standards. But this is significant:

Eleven senators send letter to EPA's Pruitt calling for fuel economy standards not to be rolled back