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2016 autos a mystery

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 27, 2009

As usual, the Tampa Bay International Auto Show was a roaring success for the public, with gleaming new vehicles on display from most major automakers.

The wide range of exciting offerings included some high-mileage hybrids, but the car of the future was a no-show at the expo.

At least we hope so.

By car of the future, we mean the everyday, affordably priced, super-efficient car envisioned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. These agencies are proposing that automakers increase the average fuel economy of their fleets to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016.

Passenger cars would need to average 38 miles per gallon.

The buyer's guide provided by Motor Trend magazine and handed out at the show listed the fuel economy for 300 cars and trucks. Only a few go 38 miles on a gallon, even on the open road.

Unless the federal government provides smarter incentives and soon, buyers unable to afford the premium prices for hybrids and diesels appear destined to be required to drive very small cars with very small engines.

Or, more likely, they will keep their old cars and trucks on the road for much longer than they otherwise would and largely defeat the goals of the stricter standards.

The incentives and taxes in force today clearly are not getting the country where it needs to go.

A tax incentive to encourage people to buy electric cars is not putting electric cars on the road. Instead, it is helping golfers buy electric golf carts that they are under no obligation to use for anything except golf.
Tax incentives for hybrid vehicles, which use both electric motors and gasoline engines, are using taxpayers' money to help folks buy big, low-mileage gas-electric vehicles, including certain models of the Escalade, Tahoe, Silverado, Yukon and Durango.

Tax credits also are available for so-called lean-burn vehicles. That means taxpayers are subsidizing buyers of the upscale European brands: Audi, Mercedes, Volkswagen and BMW.

The biggest clean-burn tax break - $1,800 - this year goes to the diesel Mercedes GL 320 and the BMW Sports Activity Vehicle.

While subsidizing diesel buyers with fat tax credits, the government also penalizes them with a counterproductive tax: 6 cents more per gallon for diesel than gasoline.

Because modern diesels burning the ultra-low-sulfur fuel now available are getting about 30 percent better fuel economy than comparable gasoline engines, diesel fuel should have a lower tax than gasoline, not higher.

Tax rebates for new-car buyers need to be reconfigured to encourage production of high-mileage family cars that families can afford.

If members of Congress think the best way to reach 38 miles per gallon is to give a tax break to someone buying a 6,000-pound vehicle and nothing for someone buying a car a third that size, they need to get out of Washington and visit a few car shows.

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