Carmakers Back Strict New Rules for Gas Mileage

[Undertoad]

It turns out they thought of that, and have some sort of formula worked out that includes other engines. But they're not telling us what the formula is:

Over all, the new standards will require a 54.5 miles per gallon corporate average for 2025. That standard will be made more easily achievable by credits that automakers can earn by producing battery-powered vehicles, hybrids and alternative-fuel models. Details of how the credits will work have not yet been made public.

The devil's in those Details because the mix of different kinds of engines is going to get crazy. How do you account for things like the Volt, which runs on battery but switches to gas if the battery runs out? What if the Volt was Flex fuel? Shit's gonna get weird.

Every innovative car maker should have three different maps of their future worked out. One plan for cheap petroleum, one plan for expensive petroleum, and one plan for no petroleum.