Wanted: A safe, American-built vehicle with excellent fuel efficiency in 2015.
While this does not sound like a tall request, American automakers have been joined by Oriental and European giants, like Toyota and Volkswagen, in proclaiming they cannot make such a vehicle with a consumer-friendly price tag.
Mandated fuel economy
Proposed Federal fuel economy regulations aims to speed up the schedule for producing fuel efficient cars to combat oil consumption and carbon emissions. Manufacturers are on a slower paced plan.
Since 1975, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program have increased fuel economy in manufacturers' fleets to 27.5 miles per gallon (MPG). Current CAFE regulations are codified in United States Code Title 49, Sub. VI, Part C, Ch. 329. CAFE sets the fuel economy for each year, which increases annually 3.3 per cent.
The proposed amendment would increase that rate to 4.5 per cent. Passenger car and light truck MPG would be 31.6 by 2015.
Safety factor
Manufacturers are balking at the price tag for producing cars with this fuel efficiency. In order to preserve jobs and make a profit, they will need to price these cars above the reach of the average consumer.
No manufacturer has publicly commented it would sacrifice safety for fuel economy, although environmental impact statements (EIS) of current models profess body weight as the biggest deterrent to fuel economy.
Since 1950, manufacturers have striven to improve crashworthiness, the vehicle's ability to survive a crash with its occupants alive or unharmed. Internal safety advances include seat belts and air bags. While those do not impact fuel economy, advanced roll cages, the car's skeleton, are the heaviest components in the car. External advances included bumper systems and crumple zones. These have varied effects on the weight of the vehicle.
Uncrashworthy cars are a liability for owner and manufacturer. When cars do not survive crashes, occupants sue the owners of other vehicles and the auto maker who produced the unsafe car.
Practical fuel economy
Technological advances in fuel economy are the first attack in producing more fuel efficient cars. Manufacturers declare this avenue as exhausted: The engine cannot be more economical.
Aerodynamics are next. Vehicles have smoother lines to resist air drag. Consumers have rejected the most fuel efficient designs as undesirable, even though the cars are economical to drive and safer than most other designs.
The last is weight: Where crashworthiness meets fuel economy.
Safety/Weight connection
Engines are now built with alloys to make them lighter. The single drawback to this practice is sacrificed safety during a crash. Alloys are not as strong as steel in holding fuel, which can catch fire during a crash.
Cars with lightweight roll cages are more dangerous in a crash than heavyweights. Lightweight metals, such as aluminum, in body parts are not as safe as steel when vehicles collide with one another or fixed objects, like trees.
Polymers are used in bumper systems to increase safety without increasing weight. They are not viable for hoods, trunk lids, doors or truck beds because polymers cannot absorb enough shock to protect passengers.
Lighterweight cars must also protect against heavierweight predecessors. Even if the lighter car can fare well against fixed objects and other lightweight cars, it must survive a crash with a hulking, all-steel car made prior to Congressional mandates.
Final impact
With fines and penalties including loss of privileges to sell cars in the United States, pressure is great to force manufacturers to produce fuel efficient vehicles. American manufacturers are claiming they will close factories and lay off employees to meet the obligation, even though consumers will not buy the cars.
While this may prove horrific for the American economy, the commitment to maintaining both safety and fuel economy standards is paramount. Governmental enforcement of both must follow.
Auto makers know if they produce a car with sacrificed safety to meet fuel economy demands, the increase in fatalities and injuries will increase their legal liability to those injured.
Consumers must act to prevent auto makers from manufacturing uncrashworthy cars, by buying the safest of the most fuel efficient cars. When consumers withhold profits from manufactures, they hold the power to demand: A safe, American-built vehicle with excellent fuel efficiency in 2015.