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The NHTSA wanted to double the penalties applied to automakers for not meeting CAFE regulations on fuel economy.
Hefty fines were supposed to be implemented starting August 2016, and they could have even been applied to MY2015 vehicles because they were announced in summer 2015. However, several delays have postponed the application of the new fines, which will be enforced starting with the 2019 model year.
The NHTSA has announced that it will delay the implementation of its plan to double fines for automakers that do not meet federal mile-per-gallon average fuel economy targets until MY2019 vehicles enter the production line. The penalties were supposed to be applied for each one-tenth of a mile-per-gallon in average fuel economy that exceeded the standard for a model year.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wanted to raise the penalty from $5.50 to $14 for the said measuring unit, for each vehicle that was sold in that model year without complying with the federal standard of fuel economy.
This delay came after persistent requests from groups that lobby for automakers in Washington. As Detroit News notes, the NHTSA did acknowledge that increasing penalties for non-compliance before the model year 2019 would not enhance compliance or improve fuel economy.
In other words, they figured out that the only thing that could have come from the new rules would have been a financial penalty for automakers. Those penalties could have been extensive, especially since American customers have changed their preferences back to vehicles that have a higher fuel consumption.
The current fleet-wide average sits at approximately 34 miles per gallon for cars and trucks, but it will have to reach 54.5 mpg by 2025. MY2017 vehicles were expected to have an average of over 35 mpg, and the 2018 model year was supposed to bring a 36 mpg fleet average fuel economy.
According to a lobby group, the sudden rise of those fines by such magnitude meant potentially hefty fines for some automakers, and the retroactive character of those penalties would have brought the impossibility of moderating those costs for some companies. The same group argued that the expenses of those losses would flow to consumers.
The NHTSA has announced that it will delay the implementation of its plan to double fines for automakers that do not meet federal mile-per-gallon average fuel economy targets until MY2019 vehicles enter the production line. The penalties were supposed to be applied for each one-tenth of a mile-per-gallon in average fuel economy that exceeded the standard for a model year.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wanted to raise the penalty from $5.50 to $14 for the said measuring unit, for each vehicle that was sold in that model year without complying with the federal standard of fuel economy.
This delay came after persistent requests from groups that lobby for automakers in Washington. As Detroit News notes, the NHTSA did acknowledge that increasing penalties for non-compliance before the model year 2019 would not enhance compliance or improve fuel economy.
In other words, they figured out that the only thing that could have come from the new rules would have been a financial penalty for automakers. Those penalties could have been extensive, especially since American customers have changed their preferences back to vehicles that have a higher fuel consumption.
The current fleet-wide average sits at approximately 34 miles per gallon for cars and trucks, but it will have to reach 54.5 mpg by 2025. MY2017 vehicles were expected to have an average of over 35 mpg, and the 2018 model year was supposed to bring a 36 mpg fleet average fuel economy.
According to a lobby group, the sudden rise of those fines by such magnitude meant potentially hefty fines for some automakers, and the retroactive character of those penalties would have brought the impossibility of moderating those costs for some companies. The same group argued that the expenses of those losses would flow to consumers.
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