corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards put in place by the Obama administration聽nearly six years ago 鈥� standards automakers claimed would鈥檝e saddled them with $200 billion in compliance costs over the next 10 years 鈥� there鈥檚 more than a little out-loud musing as to whether something similar might be attempted for the聽Phase 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) rules governing heavy trucks, trailers and diesel-powered pickups.
Right now, the betting in the main seems that the聽Phase 2 GHG rules聽won鈥檛 be scaled back to the degree being witnessed for the CAFE standards and for perhaps the best reason: long-haul truckers especially could gain a lot of fuel savings.
At the聽2017 Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) annual meeting last week, a wide range of presentations delved into the costs and potential benefits associated with the聽Phase 2 GHG rules, much less their impact on specific items such as tires, wheels, and trailers.
But I think聽Wade Long聽鈥� director of product marketing for聽Volvo Trucks North America 鈥� summed up the possibilities proffered by the Phase 2 GHG rules indirectly during a separate discussion regarding聽Department of Energy鈥� projects.
He noted that聽Volvo鈥檚 Super Truck project聽achieved an average of 12 mpg in comparison to the 7 mpg notched by a 2009 model Volvo VNL tractor and standard trailer used as a 鈥渂aseline鈥� for comparative measurement.
That 5 mpg difference translates into about $17,000 worth of fuel savings per truck per聽YEAR, Long emphasized. That would be more than enough to offset the聽predicted direct costs of the Phase 2 GHG rules, which EPA estimated to be as follows: upfront price increases of some $11,700 for tractors, $1,200 for trailers, $3,400 for vocational vehicles, and $1,300 for pickups/vans.
[FYI: those costs would be felt in the wallets of fleets mainly during the implementation of the 2021 and 2024 portions of the Phase 2 GHG standards.]
Now, certainly, not all the technologies and tweaks deployed for Super Trucks can be directly transitioned onto commercial vehicles operating in the real world. Yet those Super Trucks are the 鈥渢est beds鈥� upon which OEMs determine whether fuel-saving improvements make the grade in terms of practicality, payback, reliability, etc.
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