Japan Proposes Tougher Fuel Economy Regulations; Passenger Car Fuel Economy to Increase 23.5% by 2015
15 December 2006
Nikkei. Automakers in Japan would be required to boost the fuel efficiency of their passenger cars by an average of 23.5% by fiscal 2015 under new regulatory proposals unveiled Friday by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in partnership with the Ministry of Transport. (Earlier post.)
Under the proposal, passenger car fuel efficiency will need to increase from an average 13.6 km/liter (7.35 l/100km or 32 mpg US) in 2004 to 16.8 km/liter (6 l/100km or 40 mpg US)—an increase of 23.5%.
For cars in the lowest weight class of 600kg or less, 2015 target consumption is 22.5 km/liter (4.4 l/100km or 53 mpg US); for cars in the top weight class of 2,271kg and above, 2015 target consumption is 7.4 km/liter (13.51 l/100km or 17.4 mpg US).
The Ministries are soliciting opinions from the public before finalizing the plan and revising the regulations, which are slated to go into effect next spring.
Japan first introduced fuel-efficiency regulations in fiscal 1999, mandating automakers to boost mileage some 23% by fiscal 2010 compared to levels in fiscal 1995. Most automakers have already met that goal.
Currently, separate rules govern diesel and gasoline vehicles, while the new regulations will band them together. The requirements will be set according to 16 different categories depending on the vehicle’s weight. The new rules will also modify how fuel economy is gauged to include heavy traffic and other driving conditions. Because the new method will more accurately reflect fuel efficiency under actual driving conditions, published figures are expected to decline 10-20%.
| Proposed Average Fuel Economy | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle class | 2004 value | 2015 est. value | % change |
| Source: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. | |||
| Passenger cars | 13.6 km/liter 7.4 l/100km 32.0 mpg US |
16.8 km/liter 6.0 l/100km 39.5 mpg US |
23.5% |
| Small buses | 8.3 km/liter 12.0 l/100km 19.5 mpg US |
8.9 km/liter 11.2 l/100km 21.0 mpg US |
7.2% |
| Light cargo trucks | 13.5 km/liter 7.4 l/100km 31.8 mpg US |
15.2 km/liter 6.6 l/100km 35.8 mpg US |
12.6% |
Resources:
Fuel economy values proposal (Japanese)
In the Japanese language, the word "crisis" is represented with two characters: "danger", and "opportunity". Perhaps that sheds some light on why they are so anxious to adopt new technology, and improve what they already have. As a matter of fact, the total amount of energy used in Japan for all reasons (residential, commercial, transportation), does not even equal the amount of energy "wasted" in the United States (fr. The Hydrogen Economy by Jeremy Rifkin).
Posted by: Bike Commuter Dude | 15 December 2006 at 11:25 AM
Correction: I gave both the wrong book and the wrong author. The correct citation is:
Romm, Joseph J. The Hype about Hydrogen: fact and fiction in the race to save the climate
Washington [D.C.]: Island Press, 2004.
Posted by: Bike Commuter Dude | 15 December 2006 at 11:28 AM
Please give the roomaji for the Japanese word for crisis.
Posted by: Patrick | 15 December 2006 at 12:11 PM
"Kiki" (危機)
Posted by: DHofmann | 15 December 2006 at 01:33 PM
Wow. Their light cargo trucks are getting 31.8mpg? Thats almost the same as thier cars!
Their busses get 2x the mpg of the average hummer h2. Kinda amazing!
Posted by: hampden wireless | 15 December 2006 at 05:41 PM
I assume that all of those figures are from the Japanese 10-15 mode?
I believe those ratings are generally around 25% below the US ratings.
http://www.pewclimate.org/document.cfm?documentID=412 [PDF, p.18]
Posted by: Planck | 15 December 2006 at 06:14 PM
Regardless of the rating system used, the percentage reduction is interesting and they will probably to much better.
Posted by: Harvey D. | 16 December 2006 at 08:35 AM
I think it's "Anxiety" not "crisis". It'd say it fits either way. Of course this is helpful but doesn't really solve much because the rate of increase in miles driven will, I bet, outstrip the rate of FE increases. Unless we implement something completely different we're not really solving much.
Posted by: Tripp | 16 December 2006 at 08:39 AM
Also keep in mind vehicles roughly the size of a Scion xB are considered cargo trucks over there.
Posted by: Sid Hoffman | 16 December 2006 at 12:10 PM
I'd say this is after the barn door was closed. By 2015, anyone who thinks gasoline will still be used to power cars is living in OZ. These are meaningless, politically correct gestures whose most likely effect will be to encourage drivers to keep their existing cars, killing their auto industry and their economy. Nice move Japan, Still practicing hari kari, aren't you? Notice that the Japanese government isn't spending any of their money to accomplish anything.
Posted by: kent beuchert | 17 December 2006 at 07:13 AM
You mean Hara Kiri?
I must be living in OZ because I see no way possible that the entire automotive landscape will drastically change in 8 years such that gasoline will not be used as a fuel. In 8 years I'd be surprised if the total numbers of gasoline powered vehicles in the US auto fleet did not increase over present day levels (not percentages, but total numbers).
Posted by: Patrick | 18 December 2006 at 11:04 AM
Gasoline may still be used as a transportation fuel in 2030. It might be expensive and scarce, but probably will be used. Look at predictions 30 years ago, you may find many of them were way off the mark.
Posted by: SJC | 20 December 2006 at 09:55 AM