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Old 05-13-2009, 07:24 PM   #1 (permalink)
aerohead
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Gasohol & CAFE allowance

Last night I found the paper I was looking for which dealt with the 110 mpg Mustang.----------- In 1988,U.S.Congress passed legislation affecting alternate fuels.---------- Any vehicle burning 85% Methanol and 15% gasoline(Gasohol) would be given a Corporate Average Fuel Economy(CAFE) rating based only on the 15% gasoline used to cover the distance.------------------- MPG on M-85 would be divided by 15% to yield the CAFE "allowance".---------- For instance,a car which achieved 20 mpg,divided by 0.15= 133.3 mpg.------------ The law allows a manufacturer to use these credits to boost their overall CAFE rating by up to 1.5 mpg.------------- I presume,so not to discriminate against Ethanol alcohol,the same rule applies.---------- If this is the foundation for the claims made for the Mustang,and we apply the same linear logic,then 110 mpg X 0.15= 16.5 mpg.-------------- It is my understanding that only automakers are allowed to use this allowance when calculating a sales-weighted CAFE for their fleet.--------------- Beyond this context numbers are groundless.

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