Rumblings on the mojo wire indicate that new Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards from the Obama administration will be announced tomorrow, and that the new targets are 42 mpg for passenger cars and 27.5 mpg for light-duty trucks. The new standards will also set tailpipe emissions requirements for cars and trucks that will be some 30 percent cleaner than today’s emissions. The good news is that the Obama administration will enforce this as a national standard and prevent California from setting it’s own vehicle emissions standards as they already have with heavy equipment.
Still, getting 27+ mpg from a half-ton or three-quarter-ton truck is not going to be easy. I don’t see how this or 42 mpg for passenger cars can be accomplished unless the automakers switch a lot of their models to diesel engines. Perhaps we’ll find out tomorrow if Obama’s people are so powerful they can change the laws of thermodynamics.