fuel efficiency

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Obama Boosts Fuel Efficiency Standards

Transportation Department, EPA make new targets official

(Newser) - The Obama administration is setting tough gas mileage standards for new cars and trucks, spurring the next generation of fuel-sipping gas-electric hybrids, efficient engines, and electric cars. The heads of the Transportation Department and the Environmental Protection Agency will today sign final rules requiring 2016 model-year vehicles to meet fuel...

Gov't Will Slash Greenhouse Emissions: Obama

Executive order requires federal agencies to reduce waste, conserve energy

(Newser) - Federal agencies have until 2020 to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 28% under an executive order President Obama signed today. The order also calls for improvements in energy efficiency, water conservation, and waste reduction. "As the largest energy consumer in the United States, we have a responsibility to...

Most Replaced Clunker With ... Another Guzzler Like This

Most common trade was old pickup (15-17 mpg) for new (1-3 better)

(Newser) - Think most who traded in a clunker under the government’s fuel-efficiency incentive program are now driving a hybrid? Guess again: The most common swap was an old, gas-guzzling pickup for a new, just-slightly-less-gas-guzzling pickup, AP analysis finds. Ford’s F150 is a prime example—it gets 1-3 mpg more...

GM Longs to Build Electric Cadillacs

Car could boost brand's image but hurt automaker's bottom line

(Newser) - Old dreams apparently die hard at GM. For months, the automaker has been yearning to build a gasoline-electric luxury Cadillac, but the Treasury Department and naysayers within the company say the price tag would be too high. Now, with the company dramatically reorganized, the Cadillac Converj could be coming to...

Toyota Plans Cheaper, More Fuel-Efficient Hybrid

(Newser) - Toyota plans to keep its lead in the environmentally friendly vehicle market with a new car to be released in 2011, Bloomberg reports. The vehicle, to be based on the company's Vitz compact, will be around 5% more fuel-efficient than its Prius and will sell for around $15,600, according...

Cash for Clunkers Buying New Guzzlers

(Newser) - The Obama administration is hyping the cash-for-clunkers program as a chance for Americans to buy more fuel efficient cars, but not all buyers are going greener. Bulky SUVs and even trucks can be purchased with the $3 billion government subsidies, reports AP. Washington is refusing to release detailed records of...

Chevy: Volt Will Get 230mpg Critics: Yeah, Right

(Newser) - GM held a triumphant press conference this morning, announcing that, using newly devised EPA methodology, its 2011 Chevy Volt will get a whopping 230 miles per gallon in city driving, by far the highest fuel efficiency rating ever. No car has ever so much as sniffed 100mpg before; the Prius...

'Cash for Clunkers' Is a Car Wreck
 'Cash for Clunkers' 
  Is a Car Wreck 
OPINION
Jul 18, 2009 5:20 PM CDT

'Cash for Clunkers' Is a Car Wreck

(Newser) - The Cash for Clunkers program should never have left the lot, Michelle Singletary writes in the Washington Post. The premise is fine: Give people a financial incentive to trade in old gas guzzlers for new gas sippers. It's the details that smell like a lemon. "The law does...

GM-Owning Feds Buy Rival Fords
GM-Owning Feds Buy
Rival Fords
Jun 11, 2009 5:30 AM CDT

GM-Owning Feds Buy Rival Fords

General Services Administration spends $129M on competition

(Newser) - The federal government isn't letting its stake in General Motors and Chrysler stop it from doing business with rivals, the New York Times reports. Ford, the only one of the Big Three not to receive bailout funds, won the biggest order in the General Services Administration's recent stimulus-funded $287 million...

House OKs 'Cash for Clunkers' Bill
House OKs 'Cash for Clunkers' Bill
Jun 10, 2009 5:50 AM CDT

House OKs 'Cash for Clunkers' Bill

Rebates up to $4,500 would go to buyers of more efficient vehicles

(Newser) - The House has passed legislation to give people who trade in gas-guzzling vehicles for more efficient new models rebates up to $4,500, the Detroit News reports. The $4 billion "cash-for-clunkers" bill, aimed at giving the auto industry a boost, passed 298-119, and its backers will now try to...

GM's Car of the Future Sparks Doubt in the Present

Even top exec fears hybrid will fail to herald new start for automaker

(Newser) - Success has many fathers, and for the forthcoming Chevrolet Volt, paternity claims could stretch from Detroit to Washington. But if the GM hybrid turns out to be an orphan, it could be because many of its backers, including a top GM exec, are ambivalent about its potential to rejigger the...

Schwarzenegger Happy to See Hummer Go to China

Calif. Gov. believes Chinese owners will be able to ratchet up mileage

(Newser) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger helped popularize the Hummer by driving one, but he's not worried that its days of American ownership are over, reports the Los Angeles Times. The gas-guzzler has come to symbolize Detroit's failure to innovate, and the brand's new Chinese owners will be able to double the...

Fuel-Efficiency Standards May Threaten Safety

Experts say tight rules could push automakers to make smaller cars

(Newser) - President Obama’s new vehicle fuel-efficiency rules have safety experts worried that automakers will comply by churning out smaller, lighter cars—the more likely to kill you with, USA Today reports. Smaller vehicles are an easy route to boost efficiency that can also mean thousands more crash fatalities, but administration...

With Emissions Plan, Obama Swings for the Fences
With Emissions Plan, Obama Swings for the Fences
Analysis
May 19, 2009 9:44 AM CDT

With Emissions Plan, Obama Swings for the Fences

(Newser) - The new, strict and streamlined national fuel efficiency standard President Obama will announce today could be a victory on three fronts, the Climate Change argues in a piece running on the New York Times web site. Obama will boost his climate change cred, help floundering automakers, and resolve the federal...

Congress Nears 'Cash for Clunkers' Deal

Compromise would put voucher at $4,500, nix buy-American clause

(Newser) - Congress is nearing agreement on a “cash for clunkers” plan that would pay Americans to give up their gas-guzzling vehicles. A House plan outlined yesterday focuses on cars and light trucks that yield less than 18 miles per gallon. Owners who junk those will receive a $3,500-$4,500...

US Auto Market Going Sane
 US Auto Market Going Sane 
Analysis
May 4, 2009 12:50 PM CDT

US Auto Market Going Sane

(Newser) - After years of big cars and even bigger sales numbers, forces are conspiring to turn the US auto market into something much more like its European counterparts, the LA Times reports. Fashion statement SUVs are giving way to more efficient, more reliable cars, analysts say, which people are expected to...

'Cash for Clunkers' Plan Hits Skids With Auto Experts

Critics call green scheme misguided, too narrow

(Newser) - “Cash for Clunkers,” a congressional effort to remove older, gas-guzzling cars from the road, is gaining traction on Capitol Hill, but remains controversial elsewhere, MSNBC reports. The plan would offer drivers a $4,500 voucher toward new, fuel-efficient cars in exchange for trading in their environmentally unfriendly vehicles....

Death Traps Vs. Gas Guzzlers Split Automakers

Are there any good choices for consumers in the car size debate?

(Newser) - In the push to curb America’s fuel intake, consumers must often make a choice between safety and fuel economy, Joseph White writes in the Wall Street Journal. The real problem, though, may be that small cars have to share the road with SUVs. “A much bigger issue is...

Forget Hybrids: Just Drive Like Your Grandma

Americans can save gas just by driving differently: Ball

(Newser) - Driving like a grandma can save more gas than fancy hybrid technology, Jeffrey Ball writes in the Wall Street Journal. Accelerating slowly, shifting gears early, and coasting to avoid stop-and-go driving can bump gas efficiency of even the largest gas guzzlers. The catch? "I've been honked at. I've been...

Mileage Be Damned, SUV Remains American Darling

(Newser) - Despite predictions of its demise, the SUV is alive and well at the New York auto show this year, Dan Carney writes for MSNBC. Sure, more fuel-efficient models of classic 4x4s make up the majority of the cars on display, but reports that the gas guzzler is passé, emanating from...

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