Vehicle Carbon Emissions Reductions- European Automobile Manufacturers Association Commitment

Vehicle Carbon Emissions
The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) has offered, and the European Commission (EC) has accepted, a voluntary commitment to reduce the CO2 emissions from new light-duty passenger vehicles, with firm fleetwide targets of 140 g CO2 /km (B41 mpg for gasoline) by 2008, measured under the new European test cycle (Directives 93/116/EC and 99/100/EC). This represents approximately a 25% reduction from the 1995 average of 187 g/km (B30 mpg) on this cycle. The European cycle is likely to produce lower fuel economy ratings than the U.S. combined urban/ highway cycle, so the ‘‘U.S. equivalent’’ miles per gallon ratings of the year 2008 European fleet will likely be higher than 41 mpg if the targets are met. (more…)

U.S Government Sponsorship For Vehicle Efficiency Technology R&D

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Although the automotive industry is a vigorous sponsor of research and development in vehicle efficiency technology—worldwide, nearly $20 billion U.S. worth in 1997—governments throughout the world sponsor additional automotive R&D, both separately from and in partnership with the industry. This work focuses primarily on four areas: emissions reduction, safety, fuels, and fuel economy. Within the past few years, government sponsorship of automotive R&D has moved sharply in the direction of attempting to advance the performance and cost-effectiveness of automotive fuel cells vehicles, which address three of the four areas: emissions, fuels, and fuel economy. (more…)