Your Next Car Will At Least Be 18.2kmpl Fuel Efficient; Mandate May Come Soon!

United States, Germany, Japan and China have norms specifying the fuel consumption efficiency for passenger vehicles. These norms are strictly enforced with harsh penalties for violation. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) is considering bringing in similar measures to India.The BEE is the nodal agency for these norms and the efficiency standards, if and when came to fruition, shall be implemented by The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

New-Honda-City
At 26kmpl, New City is the most fuel efficient car in India

The BEE is suggesting at least 14% increase in the mileage of passenger vehicles to be made mandatory by law starting 2016-17 and 38% five years thereafter according to Economic Times. Currently, on average, cars, vans and utility vehicles return about 16 km on a liter of fuel and BEE says it should be 18.2kmpl by 2016-17 and 22kmpl by 2021-22.

Nothing doing, says the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). The reason – new norms will entail huge investments, they say. Besides, SIAM has been expecting the proposed norms to come in force from 2017-18, not a year earlier as is the case.

The new norms are called the Corporate Average Fuel Consumption (CAFC) standards and will be applicable to the entire automobile industry and all fuel types – petrol, diesel, and gas. The standards will lead to huge savings, says BEE, and puts a figure of INR 90,000 crore per annum.

SIAM; however, says the targets are “too unrealistic” and their implementation will result in “cost escalations” in motor manufacturing.

So, how does it affect us petrol heads? If the norms are applied, the vehicles could become dearer. Shrewd channelling of the INR 90,000 crore back into the motor industry; on the other hand, could abate the initial pinch as well as prove rewarding in the long run.

1 thought on “Your Next Car Will At Least Be 18.2kmpl Fuel Efficient; Mandate May Come Soon!”

  1. The norm if implemented would also lead to a drop in performance figures for the sake of improved fuel efficiency. Diesel vehicles could be a preferred choice for customers as diesel engines are capable of churning out substantial power without sacrificing much on fuel economy numbers.

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