CAFE standards require all vehicles in the United States to meet specific efficiency requirements. This is a good thing because excessive pollution causes damage to the environment, our health not to mention the fact that it affects our dependence on foreign oil.

The regulations change with passing years and new standards were passed for 2016. By this time, all cars will need to achieve at least 34.1 mpg or risk getting fined. Since 83′ the government has already collected over five hundred million dollars in fines from auto makers which did not meet the requirements.

Many of today’s efficient and green autos are a result of auto makers meeting the strict regulations. Improvements are being made every year; the difference between mpg now when compared with numbers produced back in the seventies is staggering. Auto manufacturers are not afraid of CAFE regulations today because they have developed the technology which assists them in achieving the standards.

It’s not cheap to produce cars that are efficient; a lot of research and money goes towards the process. For example, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration forecasts that automakers will spend $51.5 billion during the next five years in order to get their 2016 model year fleet to meet the standard. Experts predict that cars will be around nine hundred more dollars expensive by then. Still, the better fuel efficiency will result in a savings of $3,000 for the car owner due to fuel savings and improvements to the vehicle.

According to major auto brands; the majority of their vehicles already meet and in some cases even exceed these anticipated requirements. In 2010 when the new standard was announced cars that exceeded the standard of 34.1 miles per gallon were actually achieving 35.5 mpg. These included the Ford Fusion Hybrid, the Mercury Milan Hybrid, the Toyota Prius, the Honda Insight, Honda Civic Hybrid and the Mercedes-Benz Smart.

New technology and innovations have allowed companies to create efficient autos. One great example of this is the Ecoboost engine which is produced by Ford Motor Company. The engine, which features dual direct fuel injection and a lot of aluminum parts, was first introduced as a six cylinder in 2009. The engine performs like an eight cylinder and improves fuel efficiency by 20 percent and reduces CO2 emissions by 15 percent. The company has since come out with a V4 EcoBoost engine that is said to perform like V6 and the company plans to offer a 1.0 liter, three cylinder engine.

There are different types of methods that companies utilize in order to maximize their efficiency. Some engine save fuel by turning specific cylinders when they aren’t needed. They have come up with Start-Stop technology on hybrid cars that turns off the engine when the car is stopped in city traffic and then restarts the engine when the driver steps on the brake or the throttle. Then there are pure electric cars such as the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf which run purely on electricity and don’t require any gas whatsoever.

Author Bio: Written by Rachel Quinn – Huntington Beach Ford has great deals on the Mustang, Edge and Flex cars. Huntington Beach Ford Focus offers great deals in Orange County. Mortgage deals can be found at GMAC

Category: Automotive
Keywords: efficient cars, caafe, efficent cars standards, fuel economy standards, fuel econymy, ford ecoboost