The existing labels on new-car windows focus on miles per gallon, but some electric vehicles don't use any gas at all. One proposed redesign includes a prominent letter grade.
October 16, 2010|By Gregory Karp
It might not be as much fun as voting for your favorite performers on "American Idol" or "Dancing With the Stars," but the federal government wants your input on new fuel-economy labels for cars.
The sticker that consumers find on new-car windows is more than 30 years old and focuses on fuel consumption and annual fuel costs. But the miles-per-gallon information isn't an effective measure anymore because some electric models, for example, don't use any gallons of fuel at all.
So the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are looking at two label designs, both of which would provide additional information on fuel economy and emissions to help consumers compare makes and models, be they electric, plug-in hybrids, gas or diesel.
But one of the proposed redesigns has environmental groups applauding and the auto industry crying foul because only the most fuel-efficient models, regardless of vehicle category, can score well. The most controversial component of that design is a prominent letter grade ranging from A-plus to D that takes up nearly half the label and reflects the vehicle's fuel economy and tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions.
Electric vehicles that get 117 mpg or more would rate the A-plus under the proposal, while a car like Ferrari's 612 Scaglietti that gets 12 mpg would earn a D.
During a public hearing Thursday in Chicago, representatives of automakers and auto dealers agreed a new window label was necessary but said assigning a letter grade across vehicle categories would be akin to comparing apples and oranges. And the auto industry has said that a grading system is imbued with school-time memories of passing and failing. One other public hearing on the new labels is scheduled for Thursday in Los Angeles.
Letter grades "are at best of virtually no value and at worst counterproductive," said Desmond Roberts, a Chevrolet dealer in the Chicago area and an official with the National Assn. of Minority Automobile Dealers. "Seeking to evaluate and rate vehicles without attempting to hold constant attributes such as seating or hauling capacity renders such ratings meaningless."
Consumers also could confuse the letter grades with overall vehicle quality or safety, said Giedrius Ambrozaitis of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.
But environmental advocates contend that letter grades would be a simple evaluation system that all consumers understand.
U.S. wants consumers' advice on fuel-economy stickers - Los Angeles Times