Honda says Fed could require 50mpg by 2030

John German, manager of environmental and energy analysis at Honda Motor Co., said that the fed regulators will required at least 50mpg by 2030. German said that since the Fed required a minimum fleet wide average of 35mpg by 2020, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is required to set the ‘maximum feasible” requirements for automakers through 2030 – which could force them to have an average of 50mpg by 2030.

“NHTSA is on a path already to go way beyond 35 (mpg) by 2020,” German said. “It’s going to go much, much higher than that. It’s going to be much more dramatic than we thought.”

The NHTSA isn’t an easy going either. The department proposed a 5 years of annual 4.5 percent increases through 2015. That would require automakers to average 36mpg for their passenger cars and 39mpg for light trucks – that’s 3.3 percent above what is required by Congress annually.

The Big 3 and Toyota have previously spoken out against the NHTSA asking it to ease back on its proposed increases. NHTSA said that its requirements would cost the industry $47 billion through 2015.

Source: Detroit News