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Medium- and Heavy-Duty Truck Fuel Economy

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has released the Phase Two Final Report discussing fuel consumption and GHG emissions for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (downloadable here). The report focuses on a possible third phase of regulations that could be promulgated for the post-2027 timeframe.   Delivered to its sponsor (the US DOT) last October, the report relies on work conducted between 2014 and the end of 2017.  The report was originally to have been delivered by March 2018, however, a prolonged lapse of funding from the US DOT resulted in an extended delay.

EPA Heavy Duty Engine Test Procedures NPRM

On May 12, 2020, the EPA published an NPRM in the Federal Register proposing changes to the test procedures for heavy-duty engines and vehicles to improve accuracy and reduce testing burden.  In the NPRM, EPA also proposes other regulatory amendments concerning light-duty vehicles, heavy-duty vehicles, highway motorcycles, locomotives, marine engines, other nonroad engines and vehicles, stationary engines. These would affect the certification procedures for exhaust emission standards, and related requirements. EPA is proposing similar amendments for evaporative emission standards for nonroad equipment and portable fuel containers. These amendments would increase compliance flexibility, harmonize with other requirements, add clarity, correct errors, and streamline the regulations. 

Products affected by the rulemaking include:

• Light-duty vehicles
• Heavy-duty vehicles and engines
• Motorcycles (highway and nonroad)
• Marine engines
• Locomotives
• Other nonroad engines and equipment
• Stationary engines
• Portable fuel containers

Comments on the NPRM will be due June 26, 2020.

Docket reference: EPA–HQ–OAR-2019-0307.

EPA contact: Alan Stout, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, Assessment and Standards Division, Environmental Protection Agency, 2000 Traverwood Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48105; telephone number: (734) 214-4805; email address: stout.alan@epa.gov.

Fuel Economy and GHG Performance

On Jan. 11, 2018, EPA issued two annual reports that provide information on fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions from light duty vehicles in the United States.  

The Light-Duty Automotive Technology, Carbon Dioxide Emissions, and Fuel Economy Trends: 1975-2017 report is the authoritative reference for real world fuel economy, technology trends and tailpipe carbon dioxide emissions, for new personal vehicles sold in the U.S. every year since 1975.  The report shows fuel economy for the U.S. fleet continues to improve.  Model year (MY) 2016 vehicle fuel economy was 24.7 mpg, slightly higher than MY 2015, and a record high overall. Since MY 2004, fuel economy and CO2 emissions have improved in ten out of twelve years.

The Manufacturer Performance Report assesses compliance performance for individual automakers and for the U.S. fleet as a whole with the greenhouse gas emissions standards for light duty vehicles.  

Vehicle Innovation Act

On October 12, 2017, Rep. Dingell (D-MI) introduced The Vehicle Innovation Act (H.R. 4050) which reauthorizes the DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office, which works with manufacturers and suppliers to research, develop and deploy advanced vehicle technologies that improve energy efficiency. The bill also provides DOE with clear direction to build on successful research programs, such as the SuperTruck program that has produced a model tractor trailer with 115 percent increase in fuel efficiency. It also encourages the development of a wide array of technologies that have the potential to improve fuel efficiency and reduce traffic congestion, including V2V communications systems, mild hybrids, engine down speeding, hydrogen and natural gas refueling, and electric vehicle charging technology.  The bill has been referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

EPA Mid-term Review

On August 21, 2017, EPA published a notice in the Federal Register requesting comments on their March decision to reconsider the Obama administration final determination that the 2022-2025 light-duty vehicle GHG standards which were established in 2012 continue to be appropriate.

The main purpose of this request for comment is to offer interested parties an opportunity to comment on the January 2017 final determination.  EPA is also requesting comment on the separate question of whether the light-duty vehicle GHG standards established for model year 2021 remain appropriate.

According to the notice, EPA intends to make a Final Determination regarding the appropriateness of the model year 2022-2025 standards no later than April 1, 2018. 

Here are the issues for which EPA is looking to receive input on:

• The availability and effectiveness of technology, and the appropriate lead time for introduction of technology;
• The cost on the producers or purchasers of new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines;
• The feasibility and practicability of the standards;
• The impact of the standards on reduction of emissions, oil conservation, energy security, and fuel savings by consumers;
• The impact of the standards on the automobile industry;
• The impacts of the standards on automobile safety;
• The impact of the GHG emission standards on CAFE and a national harmonized program; and
• The impact of the standards on compliance with other air quality standards;
• The extent to which consumers value fuel savings from greater efficiency of vehicles;
• The ability for OEMs to incorporate fuel saving technologies, including those with “negative costs,” absent the standards;
• The distributional consequences on households;
• The appropriate reference fleet;
• The impact of the standards on advanced fuels technology, including but not limited to the potential for high-octane blends;
• The availability of realistic technological concepts for improving efficiency in automobiles that consumers demand, as well as any indirect impacts on emissions;
• The advantages or deficiencies in EPA’s past approaches to forecasting and projecting automobile technologies, including but not limited to baseline projections for compliance costs, technology penetration rates, technology performance, etc.;
• The impact of the standards on consumer behavior, including but not limited to consumer purchasing behavior and consumer automobile usage behavior (e.g. impacts on rebound, fleet turnover, consumer welfare effects, etc.).

The deadline for filing comments is Oct.5, 2017.

Docket reference: EPA–HQ–OAR–2015–0827

EPA contact: Christopher Lieske, Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ), Assessment and Standards Division (ASD), telephone number: (734) 214-4584; email address: lieske.christopher@epa.gov.

Monthly Regulatory & Legislative Tracking Reports Available for 2013 - Sign Up Now!

Since 1995, Dale Kardos & Associates, Inc. (DKA Inc.) has been supplying automakers, automotive suppliers and their trade associations with comprehensive detailed regulatory and legislative tracking reports.  Each month, DKA Inc. publishes the following three related, but uniquely-focused, tracking reports:

The Reg Update

The Reg Update is a monthly report that tracks the status of all North American regulatory activity concerning emissions, fuel economy (CO2) and safety (we track all regulatory actions of NHTSA, EPA, California Air Resources Board, Transport Canada, Environment Canada, and Section 177 States (i.e., states that have adopted CA’s Low Emission Vehicle program rules). For each rulemaking, the Reg Update provides electronic links to the latest official publications and includes information concerning comment period deadlines, anticipated future actions, projected implementation dates, and more.  In print since 1998, the Reg Update also serves as a tremendous archive of past actions. 

U.S. Motor Vehicle Safety and Legislative Update

The U.S. Motor Vehicle Safety & Legislative Update is a monthly report summarizing the past month’s legislative and regulatory activity concerning motor vehicle safety, emissions, and fuel economy/GHG issues.  The report provides brief summaries of and electronic links to key Federal Register notices, Congressional bills, public laws, NHTSA interpretation letters, recall listings, defect reports, NCAP test results, etc.  The report also covers financial incentive program announcements coming out of the Department of Energy, California and elsewhere.

Status of Motor Vehicle Related Legislation in the 113^th Congress

This report is devoted to keeping automakers and supplier up-to-date on the status of all legislation pending in the U.S. Congress that may potentially affect the auto industry.  We cover the introduction of all new bills and track their status over the course of the next two years.  We’ll provide updates on any official new activity related to the bill, increases in sponsorship, etc.  The report typically groups bills into the following categories:  Appropriations, Climate Change/GHG/Environment, Financial Incentive Programs, Biofuels and Flex Fuel Vehicles, Funding for Vehicle Development, Safety, Toxic Chemicals, misc.

 Report samples are available via the links below:

1.  Download REG UPDATE (SAMPLE - DEC 2012)

2. Download US Motor Vehicle Regulatory and Legislative Update (Dec 2012)

3. Download 111TH CONGRESS MOTOR VEHICLE LEGISLATION TRACKING SUMMARY (SAMPLE)

Pricing: The above reports can be purchased individually or at a discount (as a package).  A one year subscription is required (12 monthly updates).  For pricing and/or questions, please send an email to Dale Kardos (dale.kardos@motorvehicleregs.com).

 

PRESS RELEASE

MOBILIS TRADING TO ASSIST AUTOMAKERS COMPLY WITH NEW FUEL ECONOMY AND CO2 STANDARDS

New Washington DC-based startup offers online compliance credit trading for automakers, engine manufacturers, fuels producers, and alternative fuel vehicle fleet operators

Washington, DC, Oct. 15, 2012 – In today’s Federal Register (77 FR 62624), EPA and NHTSA published their final fuel economy and GHG emissions standards for 2017-2025 model year light duty vehicles.  On average, by 2025, light duty vehicles will be required to achieve roughly 54.5 mpg.  For some companies like BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar Land Rover, VW and Volvo, this will be a tough nut to crack because 54.5 mpg is a big leap from where most of them are today (roughly 30 mpg).  On the other hand, there are manufacturers like Toyota, Hyundai, Nissan, Honda (and let’s not forget electric vehicle manufacturers like Tesla, Fisker, Coda and Wheego) who are already meeting tomorrow’s standards.  Some of these companies, in fact, have generated and banked hundreds of millions of CAFE credits.  In fact, there are over 1.6 billion CAFE credits currently in the bank at NHTSA waiting to be sold to other manufacturers at a serious profit.  As the CAFE standards increase and the IRS CAFE penalties become prohibitively expensive, these credits are likely to become increasingly more valuable to those who hold them.

Seeing the need to provide automakers with a platform for trading CAFE and other types of regulatory compliance credits, Mobilis Trading LLC (www.mobilistrading.com) recently introduced the first of its kind online platform providing automakers the opportunity to trade compliance credits by running forward and reverse auctions.  Using the Mobilis trading platform, companies needing credits to comply can run reverse auctions allowing companies with excess banked credits to profit by selling their credits to the company with the shortage.  The reverse auction option makes it easy for companies short on credits to get exactly what they need and nothing more.

In addition to helping automakers comply with CAFE, Mobilis is also set up to assist automakers trade motor vehicle CO2 credits and California zero emission vehicle credits.  Mobilis has also established trading exchanges for engine manufacturers, fuels producers, and alternative fuel vehicle fleet operators.  Mobilis is particularly excited about a new Department of Energy final rule that is due out soon that should put a stop to the Department’s historic practice of granting fleets waivers from the EPAct requirement that requires a specified percentage of new vehicle acquisitions to be alternative fuel vehicles.  As discussed in the notice of proposed rulemaking issued October 5, 2011, DOE has proposed to modify the exemption process so that, in the future, noncompliant fleets will need to make a good faith effort to purchase credits in the market place prior to applying for an exemption from the requirements.  Mobilis is also very excited about California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard regulation and the opportunities for credit trading that exist within that program.

Mobilis is now in the process of signing up customers and the company anticipates that the first trades via the platform will take place later this summer. To open an account with Mobilis, a company must be regulated under at least one of the credit trading programs for which the platform has been designed. Companies that establish an account with Mobilis in 2012 pay no fee to access the platform. Mobilis will generate revenue by charging credit buyers a fee for each credit transfer that results from an auction run using the Mobilis platform.

For more information on the new Mobilis compliance credit trading platform, please go to www.mobilistrading.com.

About Mobilis Trading:

Mobilis Trading’s mission is to make credit trading a practicable compliance option for vehicle manufacturers, engine manufacturers, fuels suppliers, and alternative fuel vehicle fleet operators. Mobilis has developed an online trading platform which makes it possible for regulated parties to trade emissions compliance credits by running forward and reverse auctions.

Contact:

Dale Kardos
Mobilis Trading, LLC
325 7th St., NW Suite 400
Washington, DC 20004
Tel: (202) 567-2926
Email: kardos@mobilistrading.com

Mobilis Trading Launches Online Platform for Compliance Credit Trading

 

PRESS RELEASE

Washington, DC - July 17, 2012 -- Today, Washington, DC-based Mobilis Trading, LLC ("Mobilis") launched a new trading platform (at www.mobilistrading.com) with four credit exchanges to help motor vehicle manufacturers, engine manufacturers, fuels producers, and alternative fuel vehicle fleet owners achieve compliance with increasingly more stringent environmental standards. Using the Mobilis trading platform, companies subject to the regulatory programs listed below will now have the opportunity to trade compliance credits online by running forward and reverse auctions:

  Vehicle manufacturers:

NHTSA's Light Duty Vehicle Fuel Economy Program 

EPA's Light Duty Vehicle GHG Emissions Program

NHTSA's Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicle Fuel Consumption Program

EPA's Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicle GHG Emissions Program 

California and S.177 State Low Emission Vehicle Programs

Engine manufacturers:

EPA Emissions Standards for Heavy Duty Highway Diesel Engines

EPA Emissions Standards for Heavy Duty Gasoline Engines and Vehicles

EPA Emissions Standards for Non-Road CI Engines

EPA Emissions Standards for Snowmobile SI Engines

EPA Emissions Standards for Small Non-Road SI Engines

EPA Emissions Standards for Marine SI Engines

EPA Emissions Standards for Locomotive Engines

Fuels producers:

CARB's Low Carbon Fuel Standard Program

EPA's ABT Program for Benzene

Alternative Fuel Vehicle Fleet Operators

DOE's Alternative Fuel Vehicle Transportation Program (AFTP)

The Mobilis trading platform was developed by veteran auto industry regulatory affairs consultant, Dale Kardos.  According to Kardos, the Mobilis trading platform will eliminate the uncertainty associated with negotiating a credit trade in a vacuum with a single trading partner.  He said, "Our goal at Mobilis is to take the guesswork out of credit trading by offering regulated parties the opportunity to buy and sell compliance credits via a competitive online bidding process." 

Mobilis developed the new compliance credit trading platform anticipating that some regulated parties may experience difficulties complying with future fuel economy and emissions standards.  With motor vehicle fuel economy standards poised to top 50 mpg in the near future, Kardos believes that automakers will welcome the new service.  He is equally confident that Mobilis will be a hit with companies that must comply with programs such as California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard and the Department of Energy's Alternative Fuel Vehicle Transportation Program.  He said that with all of these programs, the regulators have built credit trading into the regulations because they know that, without such provisions, some companies simply will not be able to comply.  According to Kardos, however, the regulators have not created the trading exchanges necessary to make credit trading practical and so Mobilis has stepped in to fill that void.  Using the Mobilis trading platform, companies that need credits can run forward or reverse auctions to buy credits from companies that have generated excess credits through over-compliance with the standards.  Kardos calls it a "win-win-win" situation because companies facing compliance difficulties will be able to get the credits they need to comply, companies that exceed the standards will benefit from their over-compliance, and the regulatory agencies will achieve their goals without putting anybody out of business in the process.

Mobilis will now begin the process of signing up customers and they anticipate that the first trades via the platform will take place later this summer.  To open an account with Mobilis, a company must be regulated under at least one of the credit trading programs for which the platform has been designed.  Companies that establish an account with Mobilis in 2012 pay no fee to access the platform.  Mobilis will generate revenue by charging credit buyers a fee for each credit transfer that results from an auction run using the Mobilis platform.

For more information on the new Mobilis compliance credit trading platform, go to www.mobilistrading.com. For an electronic brochure about Mobilis, click here. 

About Mobilis Trading: 

Mobilis Trading's mission is to make credit trading a practicable compliance option for vehicle manufacturers, engine manufacturers, fuels suppliers, and alternative fuel vehicle fleet operators.  Mobilis has developed an online trading platform which makes it possible for regulated parties to trade emissions compliance credits by running forward and reverse auctions.  

Contact:    Dale Kardos

                 Mobilis Trading, LLC

                 325 7th St., NW Suite 400

                 Washington, DC 20004

                 Tel: (202) 567-2926

                 Email: kardos@mobilistrading.com

 

GHG Emissions Standards and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles

On October 25, 2010, EPA and NHTSA released a joint proposal to establish a federal program to reduce GHG emissions and increase fuel efficiency for on-road heavy-duty vehicles.  The proposal covers essentially all heavy duty vehicles and the engines used in HD vehicles over 8,500 lbs GVWR (except MDPVs).  The requirements vary depending on vehicle category.  Three vehicle categories are defined: 1) tractor combinations, 2) vocational vehicles, and 3) heavy duty pickup trucks and vans.  EPA’s proposed GHG emission standards would begin with MY2014 while NHTSA’s proposed fuel consumption standards would be voluntary in MY2014-2015 and become mandatory in 2016, except for diesel engine standards which would be voluntary in MYs2014-2016 and become mandatory in MY2017.  Fuel economy improvements in the range of five to seventeen percent would be required and cost implications vary from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars depending on vehicle type. 

Comments on the NPRM will be due 60 days after the rule is published in the Federal Register.

Two public hearings are scheduled to be held. One hearing will be held in Chicago on November 15 with the other taking place on November 18.

Docket reference: EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0162 & NHTSA-2010-0079

Agency contacts: EPA: Lauren Steele, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, Assessment and Standards Div., Ann Arbor, MI (734) 214-4788, steele.lauren@epa.gov.  NHTSA: Rebecca Yoon, Office of Chief Counsel, (202) 366-2992.

 

NAS Report on Ways to Regulate and Improve Fuel Economy of Tractor-Trailer, Buses, Work Trucks, and Other Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles

On March 31, 2010, NAS published a report evaluating technologies and methods that could improve the fuel economy of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, such as tractor-trailers, transit buses, and work trucks.  Prepared for NHTSA at the request of Congress, the report also recommends approaches that federal agencies could use to regulate these vehicles' fuel consumption. A copy of the report and press release can be obtained online at http://national-academies.org/morenews/20100331b.html.