Fuel Efficiency

Pete Buttigieg, secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, headlined a recent groundbreaking event for the Brightline West High-Speed Rail Project; a 218-mile high-speed, all-electric, zero-emission rail line that will operate between Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga, California.

[Above photo by USDOT]

The Nevada Department of Transportation received $3 billion in funding from the USDOT’s Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program in December 2023 to help build the Brightline West high speed rail line, which the company expects will open in 2028.

That $3 billion grant to Nevada DOT brings the total federal support for the Brightline West high-speed rail line up to $6.5 billion in grants and financing.

“I want to thank Governor [Joe] Lombardo for his leadership and support demonstrating in a project this complex that it has support across state lines, across jurisdictional lines, and across party lines; that is what it takes to get big things done,” USDOT’s Buttigieg noted in his remarks at the groundbreaking event.

“We’re going to be working closely with the Nevada DOT [and] Brightline West to meet their ambitious 2028 target,” he said. “This train will move people at 186 miles an hour between Southern California and Las Vegas in just over two hours – which is about half the time that it can sometimes take to drive on that road. There will be a million fewer cars stuck in traffic. So even if you don’t use it, you’ll be benefiting from the people who do.”

Buttigieg added that, because Interstate 15 such an important freight route, the expected reduction in traffic congestion due to the Brightline West high-speed rail line should have a “material benefit” to America’s supply chains – all while reducing carbon emissions from motor vehicles to the tune of 800 million fewer pounds annually.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued new Corporate Average Fuel Economy or CAFE standards that require an industry-wide fleet average of approximately 49 miles per gallon for passenger cars and light trucks in model year 2026.

[Above photo of GM plant via Wikimedia Commons]

The agency said in a statement that the new standards would increase fuel efficiency 8 percent annually for model years 2024-2025 and 10 percent annually for model year 2026. They will also increase the estimated fleet-wide average by nearly 10 miles per gallon for model year 2026, relative to model year 2021.

NHTSA added that its new CAFE standards for model year 2024-26 should reduce fuel consumption by more than 200 billion gallons through 2050, as compared to the old standards.

The agency also noted that this final CAFÉ rule follows President Biden’s Executive Order 13990, which directed NHTSA to review the 2020 “The Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule for Model Years 2021-2026 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks” final rule.

NHTSA also emphasized, however, that “real-world fuel economy” is generally 20 to 30 percent lower than the estimated required CAFE level stated above, while also noting that actual CAFE standards serve as a “footprint” or “target” curves for passenger cars and light trucks. That means ultimate fleet-wide levels would vary depending on the mix of vehicles that the industry produces for sale in those model years.

This agency added that its final rule reflects a conclusion “significantly different” from the conclusion it reached in the 2020 final rule. However, this is because “important facts have changed” and because NHTSA has reconsidered how to balance the relevant statutory considerations in light of those facts.

NHTSA concludes that these significantly more stringent standards are feasible and vehicle manufacturers can achieve them during the period covered by this new final rule. Standards that are more stringent than those finalized in 2020 appear economically practicable, based on manageable average per-vehicle cost increases, large consumer fuel savings, minimal effects on sales, and estimated increases in employment, among other things.

The Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing new federal greenhouse gas or GHG emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks for model years 2023 through 2026 – establishing a 55 miles per gallon corporate average fuel economy or CAFE target for model year 2026 vehicles.

[Above photo by Ford Motor Co.]

The EPA expects its new rule – consistent with an executive order issued by President Biden in August 2021 – to “unlock” $190 billion in net benefits by reducing climate pollution, improving public health, and saving drivers money by reducing vehicle fuel consumption.

The agency also calculates that American motorists will save between $210 billion and $420 billion through 2050 on fuel costs due to this new rule.  On average over the lifetime of an individual MY 2026 vehicle, EPA estimates that the fuel savings will exceed the initial increase in vehicle costs by more than $1,000 for consumers.

The agency added in a statement that it plans to initiate a separate rulemaking to establish multi-pollutant emission standards under the Clean Air Act for MY 2027 passenger cars and light trucks and beyond to “speed the transition” of the country’s light-duty vehicle fleet toward a zero-emissions future consistent with the president’s abovementioned executive order.

The EPA also expects its new rule to spur increased production and sales of electric vehicles or EVs. As the GHG standards get stronger over the four-year period encompassed by the new rule, the agency said sales of EVs and plug-in hybrid vehicles should grow from about 7 percent market share in MY 2023 to about 17 percent in MY 2026, the agency projects.

Those increasing levels of EVs will position the United States to achieve aggressive GHG emissions reductions from transportation over the long term, EPA noted.