Stricter Efficiency Standards Actually Discouraging EV Development

There is no doubt that alternative means of propulsion could have become more popular if they were backed by honest and good intentions, not shifty politicians - but sadly, nothing is, anymore. A further example to prove the point is an editorial published on autonews.com which states that the ever-stricter US fuel efficiency standards are, in fact, restricting the growth and development of alt-fueled vehicles, and primarily EVs.

For example, Mazda has announced that they will be bucking the trend of making dedicated ‘green’ models (hybrids or EVs), focusing instead on making all their conventionally-powered vehicles more efficient - a more than valid option given the current economic climate, with dedicated ‘green’ technology putting huge strain on the automakers.

Despite having to meet President Obama’s mandate of Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) with which all manufacturers who plan on selling their products in the States have to comply. The aim of CAFE is to increase the average fuel economy to 4.3 l/100km (54.5 mpg) by 2025, a number which represents an 80% improvement over current fleet values.

To us at least, burning fossil fuels is not our ticket to the future, and with petrol-powered cars only converting between 15 and 25% of the energy stored in the fuel into actual propulsion we are literally still stuck in the 20th century, when, at first EVs actually outnumbered oil-fuelled cars, so we’re even lower than that.

We’ll have to wait and see, but with a history of promoting oil use, US and automaker officials may have lost credibility in the eyes of the public, which may should take action in order to get what they want, instead of merely reading articles on the internet.