Fuel economy numbers are more important now than ever before, as gas prices continue to rise in North America.

Recently Dodge came under criticism for announcing its upcoming Dart compact will get 40 mpg combined.

An impressively high number, even a class-leading car like the Hyundai Elantra, which gets 40 mpg highway, only achieves an average of 33 mpg. While the exact fuel economy figures have yet to be released and a 40 mpg highway rating is still in sight, when the Dart (above) goes on sale later this year it most certainly will not get 40 mpg average; not in real world driving and not even on the window sticker.

Dodge wasn’t wrong. They’re not even entirely to blame. If fact, they were just using a different testing method to get their fuel economy numbers. Or to put it more accurately, they weren’t even doing the testing. So why would a different testing method be used? It’s a long and complex story, but the gist of it is that according to a government mandate, in order for Fiat to take control of Chrysler it needed achieve three goals, the final one being building a 40 mpg car on American soil. Being government related, that number is a CAFE number, not an EPA number. What’s the difference? Read on.

The one measure of fuel economy that we’re most accustomed to is provided by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These are found after testing a vehicle on a dynamometer and incorporating various ‘real-world’ conditions. We have another story detailing what goes on behind the EPA numbers, so if you want to know how and why the EPA tests cars for fuel economy be sure to check it out here.

But what Dodge and other car makers are talking about is the Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE numbers. CAFE is a politically driven regulation intended to improve the fuel economy of vehicles in the United States. Like the EPA number, it is expressed as miles per gallon and represents the fuel efficiency of a car manufacturer’s total cars made in the current year.

The reason CAFE numbers are important is because it helps rank the manufacturers in terms of fuel efficiency.

CAFE is a defined fuel economy standard for each year, and if a company falls below the standard, they must pay a fine. Currently, for every .1 mpg below the standard, a car manufacturer has to pay $5.50 multiplied by the number of cars manufactured.

Passenger cars and light trucks are classified by CAFE rules. Each category of vehicles has two sections. For passenger vehicles, cars with a “footprint” of 41 sq. ft. or smaller get a different CAFE standard than those that are 55 sq. ft. or bigger. For light trucks, vehicles with a footprint of 41 sq. ft. or smaller, get a different CAFE standard than those that are 75 sq. ft. or bigger. In fact, these rules are partly to blame for Ford’s decision to axe the smaller Ranger pickup. In between the two footprint ranges the CAFE targets are calculated by an average, comparing vehicle size to fuel economy.

These standards are set pretty aggressively. However, the manufacturers do get a break since mpg numbers for CAFE are based on an older version of the EPA test. New tests involving real user conditions are the main area where the EPA numbers and CAFE numbers differ. Since the EPA also tests cars for other factors, like a car being driven in cold weather, or with the AC on, they tend to have lower MPG numbers. It’s worth noting though, that the EPA test doesn’t actually put the car on the road, and makes some fuel optimizing technology untested, including start-stop systems that shut off the engine at stop signs or street lights.

However, if the automaker can prove that technologies like active grille shutters, start-stop systems, and active aerodynamics do work, credits can be issued to help an automaker meet the standard. Using technology like this can improve a manufacturer’s CAFE numbers by 3 mpg, or even more if there is data to back up the advantages of using this technology to improve fuel economy.

Additionally, there are bonuses for car companies that sell electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell vehicles. To encourage their sales the government will value each sale of an electric vehicle as two when calculating a fleet’s CAFE numbers. This helps boost numbers significantly, so car manufacturers can avoid the penalty of not meeting CAFE numbers.

CAFE standards will continue to be an important part of the car industry. For 2012, CAFE regulations for a small passenger vehicle is 36 mpg. In 10 years, it will be 53 mpg. By 2025, it will reach 61 mpg. It’s clear that the government is pushing better fuel economy numbers in an effort to rely less on costly and dirty gas.

Every new car has a bit of paper full of numbers stuck to it. No, not the price tag, the other piece of paper… the EPA label.

Displaying the car’s rated fuel economy, these numbers can make or break a car buyer’s decision. Ever wonder how those numbers are determined? Read on.

When a car is released, the manufacturer provides its own fuel economy numbers. These are tested in-house and can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Many drivers don’t get the same numbers that the manufacturer says they should. It’s the government’s job to set them straight. However, due to the high number of cars released, only about 15% of the vehicles are actually tested.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tests cars so that as a buyer, you can have accurate expectations of what that car can achieve. The tests are designed to simulate different real world driving conditions.

 A car will usually step onto a dynamometer, (sometimes called a rolling road) where the car’s drive wheels are moving, but the rest of the car isn’t.

 From here the tester will go through a schedule of driving that mimics different driving conditions. For city driving, the tester will take the car through the routine of being stuck in stop and go traffic. The city test covers a distance of 11.04 miles at an average speed of just 21.2 mph.

Another test is done, this time simulating the highway driving experience.  The car is brought to a much higher engine speed and kept there for the majority of the test. This test covers a distance of 10.26 miles and the average speed is 48.3 mph.

This is important because fuel economy can change drastically depending on how you’re driving. A car being driven in the city is subjected to stop and go traffic, or shorter commutes, where the engine is colder.

 A car that spends more time on the highway will be warmed up, and will be less prone to sudden acceleration. It’s important to note the distance of the highway test, is just 10.26 miles long, something many drivers would feel isn’t long enough. This is a significant reason why real-world fuel economy numbers don’t match the EPA digits.

A deviation from these tested methods can result in very different fuel economy numbers. According to fueleconomy.gov, changing your driving habits can result in a 33% change in your fuel economy numbers. 

Starting in 2008, the EPA began doing more testing to get more detailed information to car buyers. Tests are now conducted to include factors like driving in colder weather, using the air conditioner, and high-speed accelerating and braking. As a result, modern EPA ratings are closer than they used to be.

Recently, new additions to the EPA sticker label have been made, including a QR code – something tech-savvy buyers may have noticed. By using a barcode reader app on your phone, the QR code will direct you to the mobile version of www.fueleconomy.gov. From there you can read what the EPA numbers are on the car, personalize them to your driving conditions, and see what other owners of the car are reporting. That’s all pretty handy stuff to have with you when you’re shopping for a new car.

“It’s important to compare vehicles. Get the right information,” says Bo Saulsbury, of fueleconomy.gov. “Saving one mile per gallon is key and can save you lots of money over the length of a year.” Saulbury points out that “No two people drive alike, which is why this information is great.” Being able to see different numbers from different owners certainly is an easy way to see whether the EPA numbers are telling the whole story.”

In the hunt to find the best fuel economy, this new mobile site is a powerful tool. Additionally, users who aren’t interested in buying a new car right now can use the site to help out to-be car buyers. By using the sites “Your MPG” section, users can track their own mileage and fuel costs, and upload that information to the site’s database.
As mentioned, the EPA doesn’t get to test every single new vehicle on the market, so be sure to check out the various resources available to you when looking for a new car, especially the numbers provided by fueleconomy.gov. Fuel economy numbers can vary wildly based on how and where you drive.

Just when CAFE loosened standards and lowered from 56.5 MPG to 54 MPG by 2025, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has decided to propose new and more stringent conditions for automakers that sell cars in California. The California Air Resources Board will not only enforce CAFE, but will also require at least 15.4 percent of all cars sold by any major automaker in the state to either be fully electric, plug-in hybrid, or hydrogen fuel cell by 2025.

Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board, observes 15.4 percent as, “a relatively modest goal, but that’s all that we’re mandating. Probably the most heartening aspect of this whole rulemaking was the level of cooperation that we received from the industry… Overall, the degree of support for the package was just extraordinary.”

It is worth noting that earlier this month, researcher LMC Automotive discovered that hybrid sales in the United States have decreased in 2011 to 2.2 percent compared to 2.4 percent of all vehicle sales in 2010. These numbers are far below the proposed 15.4 percent mandate. Despite high profile unveilings of gas-electric products at auto shows across the world,  consumers find the cost premium of owning a hybrid over conventional combustion engine vehicles too expensive.

According to the California New Car Dealers Association, this plan would cause automakers to increase the average price of a new vehicle by an estimated $3,200 in order to develop technology that will accommodate the new rules. Appropriately, Mary Nichols also said, “direct incentives to people who buy these cars (like) rebates and credits” are also being worked out.

California’s new regulation will likely be adopted by an additional 10 states, resulting to the projected total number of advanced green vehicles near three million total units by 2025, 1.4 million of which would be in California.

[Source: Autoblog]

Hyundai might still be under fire by consumers that aren’t having such stellar mpg results with their Elantra, but the Korean automaker had no problems announcing that they’ve achieved the 36-mpg corporate average fuel economy four years ahead of the US government’s rule for 2016.

Hyundai America CEO John Krafcik refuses to step down from the claim that the Elantra is able to achieve its 29/40-mpg claims in the real world, despite owners and even the media stating otherwise. Last month advocacy group Consumer Watchdog petitioned the EPA to re-test the Elantra while Hyundai has been reaching out to unhappy Elantra owners through its dealers to help educate them on their driving patterns and how to increase fuel efficiency.

“I don’t fully understand some of the accusations, but part of it is due to the fact we’re doing better in the marketplace now, and people are aware of and know Hyundai a little bit better than they did a few years ago,” he says. “Probably every car in every car maker’s lineup has people complaining about the real-world fuel economy they’re getting.”

[Source: Wards Auto]

Corporate Average Fuel Economy targets for 2015 and beyond mean that all automakers selling vehicles in the US need to find a way to improve fleet efficiency without facing the risk of hefty fines.

For luxury automakers, traditionally seen as standard bearers of large displacement engines, this has meant a radical re-think when it comes to engine technology. Audi‘s flagship sedan, long recognized as a home for V8 power, is now joining the fray, with two downsized engines, a 3.0-liter supercharged V6 and later a 3.0 diesel in the works.

This will mark the first time that either engine has been offered in the A8, though with some 333 hp and 325 lb-ft of torque on tap, the V6 supercharged should prove no slouch.

As for the diesel, not much information is currently available, suffice to say that it will likely differ in power output from the European version due to emissions requirements for oil burners here in the US (at present the engine is undergoing certification). Stay tuned for further developments.

GALLERY: Audi A8L 3.0T

Hyundai CEO John Krafcik will keep his company’s focus on being a fuel economy leader, and has ruled out a high-performance sports car, even as he discussed the various ways in which the new CAFE regulations can be gamed to produce low fleet fuel economy ratings.

With large vehicles being held to less stringent standards under CAFE (as well as a different formula for measuring MPG than the one used for consumers), Krafcik said that auto makers may not have as strong an incentive to produce compact, fuel efficient vehicles.

Giving the full-size truck market as an example (full-size trucks will be able to comply with more lax regulations) Krafcik told Ward’s Auto that “every well-intentioned action has an unintended negative consequence. This is a classic one. Because of the new CAFE guidelines, the most fuel-efficient segment for pickup trucks, the small ones, aren’t going to be available in the U.S. market. That’s crazy.”

While Hyundai had the best fleet average fuel economy of any auto maker in the 2010 model year, Krafcik said that hitting the 2025 target of a 54.5 mpg fleet average will be tough. Krafcik also ruled out the idea of a high-end sports car, stating “… it would be expensive, and what would it really do for us?”

[Source: Ward's Auto]

Most automakers have gotten in line with the White House and accepted (even welcomed) the new CAFE regulations. Not Volkswagen. In fact, they criticize the new CAFE standards as being biased towards trucks—which of course, they don’t build.

The proposal “places an unfairly high burden on passenger cars, while allowing special compliance flexibility for heavier light trucks,” according to a statement from Tony Cervone, vice president of communications for Volkswagen America. Furthermore, “the largest trucks carry almost no burden for the 2017-2020 timeframe, and are granted numerous ways to mathematically meet targets in the outlying years without significant real-world gains.”

Long story short, Volkswagen fears that manufacturers will find ways to skirt the CAFE regulations by building larger vehicles and classifying them as trucks, rather than finding ways to improve the mileage of their current lineup. The largest vehicle in VW’s lineup is the Touraeg, which luckily for them counts as one of those larger trucks (along with the Routan minivan, somehow).

VW’s point isn’t new: classifying smaller vehicles as light trucks to cheat efficiency regulations is something every manufacturer is guilty of, and hell, it’s basically what kept GM and Ford alive during those dark days of the early 2000s. But VW finds itself outspoken when raising this matter, as every other major manufacturer has supported the government’s new CAFE standards. Will VW hold its ground?

Toyota, Honda, and Nissan all support the White House’s revised CAFE standards, but still view market response as an obstacle.

All three companies dabble in hybrids or electric vehicles, so it’s less of a surprise that they’re willing to accept these higher standards. All three CEOs of their North American divisions have issued statements, to the extent that they see this increase as a challenge.

“Honda embraces this new challenge and we welcome the competition we will have with other automakers that will result from these new standards,” said John Mendel, vice president of sales for Honda America, “because it will benefit both our customers and the health of the planet.”

“Obviously, there is still a great deal of uncertainty as to how the market will respond and what vehicle technologies consumers will embrace, which is why we are rolling out and testing a range of alternative fuel options,” said Jim Lentz, president of Toyota USA.

“Nissan is a company built on innovation and we’re up to the task,” said Scott Becker, vice president of Nissan America, as he cited the Leaf and upcoming Infiniti M Hybrid as examples of Nissan’s “multifaceted approach to meeting consumer demand for increased fuel economy.”

The White House announced earlier that it would be lowering its CAFE standard from 56.5 MPG to 54. The proposal, however, won’t be finalized until Friday—and until then, the White House is looking towards automakers to approve the change.

Automakers have yet to officially endorse the new limits, but many are expected to favor any CAFE lowering. Despite this, German manufacturers such as Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz still oppose even the new regulations, at the potential cost of stiff penalties if they don’t accept these terms and conditions.

These terms and conditions are still the same, of course: passenger cars will have to improve their mileage 5% every year from 2017 to 2025; by 2016, the average mileage standard across the industry will be 35.5 MPG.

[Source: Left Lane News]

The CAFE situation dictates that cars will have to be 5% more fuel-efficient every year, from 2017 to 2025. On the one hand, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration believes that this would add $2,100 to a car’s base price. On the other, according to the Consumer Federation of America, with the earlier 56-mpg revision consumers would save over $6,000 in gasoline costs throughout the car’s lifetime.

As you can tell, even with a revised CAFE target the debate won’t be over anytime soon.

[Source: TheDetroitNews]

Given current and future proposals for Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards it probably isn’t surprising that General Motors is focusing on gas mileage when it comes to new product offerings.

Having launched a spate of new passenger cars recently, including the Cruze and Sonic, GM is now turning its attention to trucks, with new full-size pickups due in 2013 for the ‘14 model year, followed shortly by big SUVs and a small crossover for GMC, known as the Granite.

In an effort boost fuel economy, in order to come into line with the 35.5 mpg CAFE regulations, its likely the new generation of big trucks will feature GM’s new eight-speed automatic transmissions as well as turbocharged engines and eAssist light hybrid technology.

Besides the trucks, other new vehicles in the pipeline include a baby Cadillac, the new ATS, along with a XTS sedan, as well as new vehicles for Chevrolet, such as the Korean built Spark mini car and the updated 2013 Malibu mid-size sedan.

[Source: Automotive News]

Back in September, the US Department of Energy, in conjunction with Nissan Motor Co, green lighted a proposal to test a Cummins four-cylinder turbo-diesel in the full-size Titan pickup.

The program was largely conceived to help big trucks like the Titan achieve better fuel economy, in lieu of the 35.5 miles per gallon CAFE requirements (that now also include light trucks), scheduled to be phased in in 2015.

The test engine, a 2.8-liter unit cranks out 350 lb/ft of torque at 1800 rpm making it comparable with the Titan’s existing 5.6-liter V-8. However substantial gains in fuel economy have already been achieved, the diesel is said to currently allow a 2WD Titan to achieve around 28 miles per gallon, a sizeable improvement on the V-8 truck’s 13/18 mpg (city/highway).

Cummins says this new diesel can be built in either 2.8 and 3.5-liter forms and thanks to the use of high strength steel pistons, is not only a sturdy engine but also rather compact by diesel standards, not that compactness is of real concern when installing one in a Titan.

The test program is scheduled to run through September this year and it will be interesting to see what further results develop when it comes to capability and fuel economy. However, regulators are now proposing even tougher fuel economy standards for 2025, as much as 62 mpg. With such shifting targets, in such a short period time, the ability of any pickup truck manufacturer to meet them is going to prove challenging at best.

[Source: Automotive News]