For everyone who lives in USA:
"The EPA has increasingly come under criticism for outdated procedures that overestimate mileage by as much as 50 percent in some cases. Consumers are likely to see lower, more accurate numbers on window stickers of model 2008 vehicles arriving in dealer showrooms in the fall of 2007."
"The real issue in need of a public airing is the federal government's inability to curb the nation's voracious thirst for gasoline, either by enforcing established fuel efficiency standards or encouraging the auto industry to adopt effective new technologies."
"The EPA's proposed ratings downshift does nothing to require automakers increase the fuel efficiency of their cars and trucks."
"The average fuel economy for today's new cars and trucks is lower than it was 20 years ago."
"The Hybrid Car Cover-up of '74
For decades, automakers have claimed they lack feasible and affordable technology to improve fuel economy. But as far back as 1974, the EPA evaluated a hybrid car prototype that doubled the fuel economy of a conventional version of the same vehicle. The agency certified that it met the strict guidelines for the EPA's clean-air auto program—and rejected it out of hand."
"Now retired from the EPA, Stork, 78, recalled in an interview for HybridCars.com, “Hybrids are just not a very practical technology for automotive. That’s why it’s going nowhere. It certainly wasn’t going anywhere then. Even today, it’s marginal.”"
"Where's the Outrage?
Wouk was forced to shelve his Buick Skylark hybrid prototype. Today, nearly 400,000 hybrids are running on American roads. The total cumulative health cost of auto-pollution-related illnesses since 1980—when Wouk’s hybrid design could have realistically been put into production—can be measured in the billions.
When the EPA changes take effect in 2007, the wide gap in mileage numbers between hybrids and conventional cars may be narrowed. But the real impact should be felt when the public realizes that every single vehicle on the road—from behemoth SUVs to modest compacts—is burning an imported, pollution-producing, non-renewable resource much faster than previously thought."
Original verison at http://www.hybridcars.com/epa-numbers/hybrids-and-the-epa-fuel-economy-controversy.html
