No matter that EPA chief Scott Pruitt wants to
roll back the phase Corporate Average Fuel Economy (
CAFE) standards of 2015 which
require fleet gas consumption to be cut in half over 2010 values by 2025, this horse is out of the barn.
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It will matter little what Pruitt does with the CAFE standards |
The brewing federal fight is not just between California, which vows to maintain the higher standards, but also with the rest of the world. Chiefly it won't be a fight about regulations but fighting economics and technology. Clearly the US government doesn't have an enviable position in this. It can't possibly win because nothing that becomes as uneconomical as the privately owned internal combustion engine car will endure in the long run, no matter how many incentives it has been given and no matter how long it already endured in spite of its inherent non-sustainability.
The US is also in a bad position because its auto-industry makes most of its profit from pick-up trucks and SUVs, both gas guzzlers which are artificially propped up by low gas taxes and by an energy policy favoring fossil fuels. The exception and shining star, when it comes to pivoting to the future, is Tesla and its all-electric fleet. But the Trump-Pruitt edict won't help Tesla in its financial difficulties. and it will also make it more difficult for GM to hold a significant segment in the electric market, no matter that its small and perky Chevy Bolt is an attractive product.
Japan and Korea already sell all electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles for under $30,000, i.e. at the price-point...
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Archplan Inc. Philipsen Architects