[Martinjlm]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

Another example of the push for bigger footprints, when I heard that the new Silverado was getting bigger I instantly thought 'CAFE gimmicking'.

And I thought that the credits for E85 were either getting eliminated or drastically cut? FFV engines seem to be a lot rarer now than a few years ago, which would support that. I know that E85 fuel credits were extremely beneficial in the past, since the overall goal of CAFE isn't to make vehicles more efficient but for the United States to import less fuel. So a car fueled by 15% gasoline & 85% corn ethanol is, in effect, using around 1/6th the gasoline of its 'G100' equivalent. In reality, that math is very flawed ... but such was the reasoning for providing those credits in the first place.

As to Porsche/VW ... I have no idea who legally owns what. But I do remember that they were simultaneously trying to buy each other a few years ago, which struck me as rather odd. Logically, only one of them should have been in a position to buy the other. If two companies are on relatively equal financial footing, doesn't that normally results in a merger instead of an acquisition? But as I recall, the ownership structure of both companies is a bit weird to begin with so who knows what normal would ever look like.

The Mark Twain of fuel economy. Every time it comes time to drop the credits, the Corn Farmers Lobby + Election Year Politics = renewal or slight revamp. Automakers still have to engineer as if they're going away because it's never a done deal that they stick around. I'm not sure what the value of the credits is now, but I'm sure they are significantly reduced from where they were 5 - 10 years ago.