Small school buses, heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans are among the new fuel efficiency standards announced by The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in addition to its final rule for passenger car and truck corporate average fuel economy standards.
In addition to large school buses, many school districts own and operate a fleet of Type A school buses, vans and SUVs, and support vehicles. NHTSA defines heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans as Class 2b and 3 work trucks, fleet SUVs, work vans and cutaway chassis-cab vehicles, which could be a Type A buses.
The new fuel efficiency standards announced last week for heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans (HDPUV) are set to go into effect for model years 2030-2035. The final HDPUV fuel efficiency standards increase at a rate of 10 percent per year in MYs 2030-2032 and 8 percent per year in MYs 2033-2035.
NHTSA aims for a fleet-wide average of around 35 mpg by MY 2035, with a press release stating that heavy-duty pickup and van owners will save more than $700 in fuel over the lifetime of their vehicles.
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Meanwhile, the corporate average fuel economy or CAFE standards for smaller passenger vehicles go into effect with MY 2027-2031 and establishes standards that would require an industry-wide fleet average of approximately 50.4 miles mpg by MY 2031 for passenger cars and light trucks. The final CAFE standards will increase at a rate of 2 percent per year for passenger cars in MYs 2027-2031 and 2 percent per year for light trucks in model years 2029-2031.
NHTSA projects the final standards will save consumers $23 billion in fuel costs and avoid the consumption of about 70 billion gallons of gasoline through 2050. The agency adds that it projects the standards will prevent “more than 710 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, reduce air pollution, and reduce the country’s dependence on oil. The final standards provide critical savings at the gas pump for American consumers and set goals that are consistent with Congress’ direction to conserve energy and provide flexibility to industry on how best to meet those goals from proven, available fuel-saving technologies.”
NHTSA’s fuel economy standards do not set emissions goals but complement the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s emissions standards for similar fleets.
