Effectiveness And Impact Of Corporate Average Fuel Economy Cafe Standards

Since CAFE standards were established 25 years ago, there have been significant changes in motor vehicle technology, globalization of the industry, the mix and characteristics of vehicle sales, production capacity, and other factors. This volume evaluates the implications of these changes as well as changes anticipated in the next few years, on the need for CAFE, as well as the stringency and/or structure of the CAFE program in future years.

Report of the National Academy of Sciences on the effectiveness and impact of corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards : joint hearing before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, One Hundred Seventh Congress, first session, August 2, 2001.

Presents an overview of the economics literature on the effect of Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards on the new vehicle market. Since 1978, CAFE has imposed fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks sold in the U.S. market. This paper reviews the history of the standards, followed by a discussion of the major upcoming changes in implementation and stringency. It describes strategies that firms can use to meet the standards and reviews the CAFE literature as it applies to the new vehicle market. The paper concludes by highlighting areas for future research in light of the upcoming changes to CAFE. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand edition of an important, hard-to-find report.