Thomas wrote:Thomas wrote:Foxfyre wrote:So what was all that about the other day when Thomas (and others? I can't remember) were criticizing the U.S. CAFE standards and thought we ought to hike up our taxes instead?
The EU standards have been introduced quite recently. Not owning a car myself, I didn't know they existed. Judging by Walter's link, they indeed seem to resemble America's CAFE standards -- and I don't like them one bit for it.
On second thought, I do like the EU version better. The EU standards classify vehicles into categories, which serve as the basis for a vehicle tax. CAFE standards, by contrast, directly tell manufacturers how fuel efficient their fleets have to be. CAFE (which stands for "Corporate Average Fuel Economy") thus enacts a more meddlesome form of regulation.
I guess its all in your perspective. The way I understand it is that U.S. auto manufacturers are not REQUIRED to comply with the CAFE standards but that they pay a penalty (tax) for each mpg that an automobile or light truck produced that doesn't meet the CAFE standards. The tax then of course will be included in the cost of the automobile or truck. The net result is that more fuel efficient cars and trucks are also more economical to buy.
Believe it or not, most of us really like the economy of good gas mileage and we brag about how many MPG our vehicles get. And conversely we all hate paying taxes and really resent what we see as excessive taxes, especially those designed to manipulate our choices and freedoms.
So to be competitive against European and Asian imports, our auto makers have in fact increased fuel efficiency of American cars, even the big heavy ones. When I started driving, 12 mpg was the norm and 16 mpg was considered excellent gas mileage. The big Lincolns, Chryslers, and Cadillacs got about 8 mpg. Now I wouldn't consider buying a car that got less than 30 mpg and look for better results than that. If I was in the market for a big, heavy car or truck, I would expect gas mileage in the 22+ mpg range.
Couple these figures with the fact that the American people hugely approve of the CAFE standards and consider them far less intrusive and oppressive than an unavoidable ongoing tax would be, and you have a prescription for happy campers over here. When the choice is tax the car or tax the gas, they'll approve taxing the car every time. So we do, in the ticket price and each year at registration time.
Now if we could just produce American cars with reputation for better reliability, quality, and people friendly features than the Asians are producing, we would be even happier campers.
