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U.S. Won’t Raise Fuel-Economy Penalties Until 2019

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has agreed to postpone until the 2019 model year a plan to hike the penalties carmakers pay for failing to meet corporate average fuel economy standards.
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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has agreed to postpone until the 2019 model year a plan to hike the penalties carmakers pay for failing to meet corporate average fuel economy standards.

CAFE penalties currently are $5.50 per 0.1 mpg shortfall, multiplied by the number of vehicles sold. NHTSA proposed in July to hike the fine to $14 beginning with 2015 models. Carmakers complained at the time that the increase would have applied to vehicles already sold and for model-by-model CAFE averages that NHTSA had not yet specified.

Separately, NHTSA and the Environmental Protection Agency have agreed to align EPA’s carbon dioxide emission rules with NHTSA’s CAFE standards. For vehicles that burn carbon-based gasoline or diesel fuel, CO2 emissions and fuel efficiency are directly linked.

Carmakers have said discrepancies in the two existing standards can sometimes penalize them for one law as they attempt to meet the other one.

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