Prior posts have noted the earlier mileage standards set for automobiles and light trucks, and noted that current technology was capable of significantly increasing mileage without major alternations in fleet makeup (e.g., more gasoline-electric hybrids, switch to plug-in hybrids).
The U.S. Department of Transportation has posted the new fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks for the 2011 model year. The new standards will raise the industry-wide combined average to 27.3 miles per gallon, a two mpg increase over the 2010 model year average, as estimated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The standard for cars will average 30.2 mpg, up from 27.5 currently, and 24.1 for light trucks, up from 23.1 mpg for 2009 models. DOT says the new standards will save about 887 million gallons of fuel and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 8.3 million metric tons.
The new rule can be found at http://www.nhtsa.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/menuitem.43ac99aefa80569eea57529cdba046a0/.
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