Quote:
Originally Posted by greenrail
CAFE is an acronym for:
Corporate AVERAGE Fuel Economy
The key word is average.
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I was going to post this, but greenrail beat me to it. The new CAFE standards are tougher to hit, to be sure, but we've been massaging the good old internal combustion engine for around 100 years and it got progressively better over time and will continue to get better until a more efficient, economical and robust powertrain replaces it. Given the flexibility (i.e. freedom to go anywhere at a moments notice), current infrastructure (gas stations on every corner), time to refuel (5 minutes and you're going again) and relative low cost vs. other options, I don't see the internal combustion engine going away anytime soon. Electric has limited range and takes a lot of time to recharge and I don't see many hyrdogen stations for fuel cell cars right now either. That means we're stuck with making all versions of the internal combustion engine better.
Consumers buy vehicles to meet different needs and it's the manufacturer's challenge to fill those needs while still hitting CAFE. People that haul lots of stuff, tow boats and push snow need big V8 powered trucks. They will consume more gas due to the laws of physics. Other consumers like V8 powered sports cars to race or just go fast, but some (actually more over time) are also happy with the same style and less power. Some consumers (and as a enthusiast and possibly can't comprehend why) just want to get from point A to point B safely, reliably and economically without any concern for how fast they do it or how they look. By meeting all these consumer needs with various products we will hit the CAFE standards.
Big V8 trucks and V8 powered sports cars are not going away. We will just need to improve fuel economy over time with new technologies and sell a lot of the new 40 MPG Chevy Cruze and 32 MPG Equinox to offset the lower fuel economy of the V8 Camaros, Silverados and Corvettes. The American consumer has a funny way of voting with their dollars. They tell us what they want by what they buy. They will eventually tell their elected representatives what they want too by not allowing them to keep their jobs if they don't like the direction the country is going. Bottom line...the consumer always wins eventually! Don't worry about your V8 Camaros. They will be around a long time as long as Fbodfather and I have something to say about it!
