75 mpg Looms in Car Makers' Future
For automakers who complained about a 35 mpg fleetwide average by 2020, we’ve got some bad news: According to an EPA official who spoke this week at the SAE International World Congress, cars and light trucks may have to average 75 mpg by the 2030s. That’s if the country wants to meet the scientific community’s proposal to cut greenhouse gases by 50 to 80 percent by 2050.
The problem? Currently, all the trends are going in the wrong direction. The world consumes 85 million barrels of oil each day, but that will probably reach 120 million barrels per day by 2030. There are 820 million vehicles on the roads worldwide right now, but that could easily hit one billion by 2030.
In the U.S., transportation remains the primary target of those concerned with climate change and oil consumption, as it accounts for two-thirds of oil use and a third of greenhouse emissions.
The key for automakers will be to plan for the long-term. Whether anyone can predict what a “mpg” will even mean in 2030 — especially if the fuel itself changes to something like hydrogen — is yet another unresolved wrinkle.
Car Makers Could Face 75 mpg Rules by 2030s, EPA Says (Detroit News)
