U.S. Proposes Higher Fuel Standards for Light Trucks

The Bush administration on Tuesday proposed higher fuel mileage standards for most sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks and minivans, but environmentalists assailed the plan -- which spares gas-guzzling giants such as the Hummer H2 and Ford Excursion -- as insufficient.

Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, standing next to pumps at a Mobil station in Los Angeles where premium fuel was selling for $2.99 a gallon, said the plan would raise fuel economy about 8% over four years starting with 2008 models.

Under the proposal, fuel economy for the popular class of vehicles known as light trucks would be based on size and broken into six categories, with smaller vehicles required to get better gas mileage. By 2011, that would mean the smallest SUVs -- such as a Toyota Motor Corp. RAV-4 -- must get at least 28.4 miles per gallon, while larger models such as a Chevrolet Silverado pickup have a target of 21.3 mpg.

Currently, automakers must maintain an average of 20.7 mpg for such vehicles, which account for about 60% of passenger-vehicle sales.

“This is a plan that will save gas and result in less pain at the pump for motorists without sacrificing safety,” Mineta said. He announced the proposal at a morning news conference in Atlanta, then flew across the country and delivered the same announcement in Los Angeles. Mineta arrived at the Mobil station in a late-model Lincoln Navigator SUV, which gets about 15 mpg.

The government plan does not require the largest vehicles such as the H2 and Excursion and other models that weigh between 8,500 and 10,000 pounds to meet the new fuel standards, in part because there are relatively few of them on the road. That raised the ire of some activists.

“There is no reason these large trucks should be exempted, especially when so many are now used as regular passenger vehicles,” said Daniel Lashof, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York.

He and others sharply criticized the plan, saying it failed to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil and created loopholes that would weaken fuel economy requirements.

The new goals “are embarrassingly inadequate in terms of their effect on fuel consumption,” said Eric Haxthausen, an economist at Environmental Defense in Washington. “We can and should do much better.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will take comments on the plan for 90 days and hopes to issue the final rules by April to give automakers time to meet the new standards with their 2008 models.

Several environmental groups have urged the government to increase mileage requirements by up to 1 mile per gallon each year to reduce dependence on foreign oil and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The current, 27.5-mpg required average for carmakers’ fleets of passenger cars would not change under the proposal.

Government regulators did “the right thing” with their new proposal, said Frederick Webber, chief executive of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, whose members include the Big 3 automakers. “They could have raised them sky high. The key here is feasibility, technological feasibility.”

Honda Motor Co. lobbyist Edward Cohen said the automaker was still evaluating the plan, but is concerned whether it “is fair to all competitors and whether it will lower fuel consumption.”

Safety administration chief Jeffrey Runge called the plan the most significant change in fuel economy rules since 1979. “We will get fuel savings from every size of vehicle,” he said.

Mineta estimated that the new rules would save about 10 billion gallons of gasoline over the life of vehicles built from 2008 to 2011. That is equivalent to about 7% of current U.S. annual consumption.

The new rules would replace regulations enacted decades ago when light trucks accounted for just 20% of U.S. vehicle sales. At the time, they were allowed to get poorer fuel economy than passenger cars because they were used primarily by farmers and business owners.

Since then, consumers have become infatuated with pickup trucks, minivans and SUVs, though sales of the largest models have slowed recently as gas prices have risen.

Between the model years 2008 and 2010, automakers can either adopt the new fuel standards or stick with the current formula to reach their fuel targets.

Starting in 2011, however, they must accept the six vehicle size classes.

The government estimates that the proposal would cost automakers $6.2 billion for 2008 to 2011 models.

“There’s already a lot of gaming going on, with [carmakers] subsidizing their small cars so they can sell them to offset the impact on fuel economy of their large trucks,” said Tom Libby, analyst at J.D. Power & Associates. “If this new system helps cut down on the number of loopholes, it will be a plus.”

The new standards also would influence the industry’s production plans, Libby said, “but the price of gas also has a huge impact on the mix of cars and trucks that are sold.”

The government’s proposal comes a day after the average cost of self-serve regular gasoline in California hit $2.75 a gallon, up 3.4 cents from the previous Monday, according to a survey by the U.S. Energy Department.

It marked the third straight week the statewide average had set a record, the energy agency’s figures show. The nationwide average had jumped 6.2 cents since the last survey, to $2.612 for a gallon of regular, also a record.

“It’s unfortunate, given high gas prices, that the president hasn’t taken the opportunity to offer real solutions for drivers,” said Jason Mark of the Union of Concerned Scientists, who called the planned mileage improvements “minuscule.”

Existing technology such as better engines, transmissions and aerodynamics could boost fuel economy, he said, but automakers’ inertia has slowed progress. “The industry has argued for years that consumers don’t care about fuel economy,” Mark said. “I think they are finding themselves quite surprised by the level of public concern.”

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Capping the gas guzzlers

Target mileages for light trucks -- a category that includes minivans, SUVs and pickups- -- under the proposed fuel economy standards (In miles per gallon)

*--* Group and examples of vehicles 2008 2009 2010 2011 Small SUVs, wagons (Jeep Wrangler, PT Cruiser) 26.8 27.4 27.8 28.4 Mid-size SUVs (Toyota Highlander, Ford Escape) 25.6 26.4 26.4 27.1 Small pickups, larger SUVs (Pathfinder, Trailblazer) 22.3 23.5 24.0 24.5 Minivans, mid-size trucks (Cadillac Escalade, Ford Expedition) 22.2 22.7 22.9 23.3 Pickups, large SUVs, vans (Chevy Suburban, Lincoln Navigator) 20.7 21.0 21.6 21.9 Big trucks (Nissan Titan, Dodge Ram 1500, GM H3) 20.4 21.0 20.8 21.3

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The Hummer 2, Ford Excursion and other vehicles over 8,500 pounds are excluded from the new fuel economy goals.

Sources: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Associated Press

Times staff writer John O’Dell contributed to this report and Times wire services were used in compiling it.