From the South Pacific, as economists here talk about fuel staying above $3.00/litre for the immediate future, it’s hard to imagine the same fuel being $1.10 a litre.
It’s equally hard to imagine casting fuel efficient and practical small and medium SUVs as fuel ‘baddies’.
In the USA, things are different. From the land of cheap fuel, fracking technology and ratings in gallons per mile comes news of a tough new fuel efficiency standard.
Fuel (petrol) costs around $4.20 in the USA. A gallon. That’s $1.10 a litre, and it’s not an old historic price; the price has just risen to that level. For context, the average wage across the whole continent is just over USD $70,000
The NHTSA’s* directive represents a significant increase in efficiency compared to the current requirement of 9.8l/100km (24mpg). The new standard will be enforced in 2026.
“Four out of the eight best-selling vehicles in the US in 2022 don’t meet the new 5.88l/100km (40mpg) fuel economy standard. The auto industry must catch up quickly if it hopes to meet the standard in time.”
The Nissan Rogue (Qashqai), Toyota RAV4, and Honda CR-V compact crossover SUVs are just shy of the new standard. To meet the new standard, full-size pick-up trucks like the Chevy Silverado, Ram 1500, and Ford F-150 will need to significantly improve their fuel economy by 2026.
The Chevy Silverado (recently introduced to New Zealand) is the “worst offender” on the list, with a fuel economy of 13.44l/100km (17.5 mpg). In 2021, there were 519,774 Silverado truck sales in the US, making it the third most popular vehicle in the country.
The NHTSA increased the fuel economy standard in order to cut down on the amount of fuel consumption. It is part of the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and their negative contribution to global warming.
According to officials, the new fuel economy standard could reduce overall fuel consumption by more than 220 billion gallons over the lifetime of current-model cars and trucks. It’s reckoned to also reduce carbon emissions by 2.5 billion metric tons.
The question in New Zealand must be: would those who can afford any of those big American nameplates also be worried about their fuel efficiency performance?