UNITED STATES AUTOMOBILE FUEL ECONOMY POLICIES AND CONSUMPTION EFFECTS

The United States automobile fuel economy program began in 1974 with the publication of a Gas Mileage Guide and the labeling of new cars with their fuel economy ratings. Since that time the program has been modified and a number of new elements added. These include new car and light truck fuel economy standards, a national highway speed limit, government sponsored research and development and a new vehicle tax based on fuel efficiency. This has occurred in parallel with rising fuel prices and increasingly stringent auto safety and emission standards. An integral part of the program has been economic and technical analysis carried out by several government departments to monitor trends and determine the effectiveness of the various program elements. Based on this analysis it has been shown that significant improvements in fuel economy (more than 60% for new cars and 23% for all cars on the road between 1974 and 1980) and major reductions in fuel consumption (800,000 b/d, 127,000 cu m/d or about 12% from 1978 to 1980) have resulted from the fuel economy improvement program and reductions in driving. The automobile fuel economy program in the future will be oriented more towards market response to rising fuel prices and less government involvement. However, continuing analysis will be required to determine if this approach is successful in achieving economically efficient improvements in automobile fuel economy.