01.10.06

Cantwell Commends EPA Proposal to Improve Accuracy of Gas Mileage Estimates for New Cars and Trucks

EPA proposal mirrors Cantwell legislation passed by Senate in 2005Current fuel economy window stickers are based on antiquated tests that exaggerate fuel economy by 10 to 30 percent

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) applauded Tuesday’s proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide more accurate fuel economy information for new cars, pick-up trucks, and sport utility vehicles. The proposal mirrors Cantwell legislation included in the Transportation bill passed last year by the Senate, and would help consumers make more informed decisions about the vehicles they might buy.

"Consumers think they're driving cars that get better gas mileage than they actually do because tests are based on how we used to drive in the 70s," said Cantwell, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. "Current tests assume that people drive 48 miles per hour on the freeway and never use their air conditioners. We know that’s not the case."

Current gas mileage stickers that appear in the windows of new cars typically inflate vehicles’ true fuel economy performance by anywhere from 10 percent to 30 percent. The EPA proposal would adopt existing emission tests, which take into account factors such as higher speed limits, more rapid acceleration, use of air conditioning, and cold temperature operation, to make the fuel economy stickers on future model years more accurate. The proposal would put in place the first revision in the standards used to determining fuel economy ratings in two decades.

"Without this fix, consumers will continue spending several hundred dollars a year more on gasoline than they budgeted for," said Cantwell. "With better information, consumers can make more energy efficient choices to cut down on costs at the gas pump."

The new methods would take effect for model year 2008 vehicles. According to the EPA, city gas mileage estimates for most vehicles would drop 10 percent to 20 percent while highway estimates would drop 5 percent to 15 percent.

The EPA proposal mirrors efforts by Cantwell’s Fuel Economy Truth in Labeling Act, introduced in April 2005, to update federal testing procedures for gas mileage labels. Accurate consumer information about gas mileage is particularly important in view of predictions that the price of oil could remain above $50 per barrel for the rest of 2006, compared to the $30 per barrel just two years ago. Cantwell’s legislation was included in the version of last year’s Senate-passed transportation bill but was not included in the final version of the bill.