Car manufacturers may have overestimated the cost needed to fit vehicles with new carbon-saving technology. This has been stated by the same group that has looked at Volkswagen's cheating anomaly. The study made by the group shows that fuel efficient technology can be feasible to 2030.
The analysis made by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) has found costs to implement carbon-saving technology on vehicles have been overstated by as much as 40 percent. According to its analysis, complying to the standards for fuel efficiency isn't going to have a dramatic impact as claimed. The ICCT analysis has looked at the cost that goes all the way to 2030.
EPA projection of the costs to implement fuel-efficient technology has been made only until 2025. However, the ICCT has said that even if implementation goes beyond that time, costs won't be as great as originally estimated. Nic Lutsey is the ICCT's program director, and he has said that their estimates have put into question automakers' claims that the standards for implementation would be expensive to meet.
The findings by the ICCT has shown that compliance costs by 2025 would be 34-40 percent lower than what has been projected by the EPA, according to Automotive Fleet. Combustion emission would also see improvement by 8-10 percent mileage improvements by then as well. This is in contrast to the EPA's projections.
Advanced technology towards fuel efficiency will mostly drive costs lower by then, as ars technica reported. Even now the auto industry has already met fuel efficiency standards. This is through improved engines and more aerodynamic vehicle designs. Technology continues to improve towards even more efficient engines that would save much on fuel as well as lessen emissions.
The ICCT report has looked at different technologies, including emerging vehicle fuel technology such as electric and hybrid plug-in electric engines. Even if government regulations would become stricter by 2030, the cost to produce efficient fuel technology won't affect the auto industry too much. Consumer savings would also be greater by then, going as much as two to three times greater than today.
Fuel efficiency is a goal which the auto industry is trying to achieve. A report has noted that fuel efficient technology won't cost much even years later. The group has said that the estimated costs for fuel efficient technology have been overstated. A new fuel technology is used in the 2017 Honda Clarity, as a report stated.
