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The
energy
bill
-
new
CAFE
standards The
effect
for
the
RV
industry
according
to
the
RVIA
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President Bush on December 19 signed into law a wide-reaching energy bill that mandates new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. New auto fleets will be required to average 35 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2020, a 40 percent increase over the current 25 mpg.
According
to
a
press
release
by
the
RVIA,
while the new levels will encompass a majority of vehicles that tow RVs, there is good news for the RV industry in the legislation. Separate fuel economy standards for cars and trucks will be maintained with different standards to be set for “work trucks” - pickup trucks with GVWRs between 8,500 and 10,000 pounds - and for medium- and heavy-duty trucks.
“Adequate towing capacity should be preserved under the new law, and that’s a solid victory for the RV industry,” said RVIA President Richard Coon. “From the beginning, the automobile and RV industry’s primary goal has been to keep the distinction between cars and light trucks.”
"We’re very pleased that the legislation will continue to maintain that separation and take functionality and usage under consideration,” Coon added.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) will oversee the development of separate CAFE standards that will apply to work-trucks and medium- and heavy-duty trucks. After working with the National Academy of Sciences and conducting studies over the next year, the agency will begin a lengthy regulatory process, during which RVIA and other industries will be able to provide input on the new standards.
“The good news is that there is plenty of time to get this right so that auto manufacturers can continue to build tow vehicles with enough power and heft to haul modern RVs,” said Coon.
"Good
news
for
the
RV
industry
in
the
legislation"?
-
what
do
you
think?
What
do
you
think?
...
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Readers'
comments:
(Latest
first)
Ken Svitko
:
The RV industry needs to get behind bio fuel and bio diesel to help reduce the cost of fuel.
If the American farmer and farm coops can develop an ethanol industry to support farmers and farm products then the RV industry and truckers can support a bio diesel industry.
America has gone too long with only one source of fuel. That dependency on oil and the oil cartels has us sending our dollars overseas. We need to develop an American fuel industry that will compete with oil on price and at the pump. If there is a little competition and an American source for the fuel we would find ourselves with Americans producing an American fuel for American consumers.
The RV industry needs to get together with the trucking industry and support bio diesel thru investments, purchase of the fuel and the development of distribution networks.
Ken Svitko
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