What are CAFÉ Standards?

John Baker|May 08, 2017 1:22 PM

The energy crisis of the 1970s led to modern CAFE standards.

Back in March, news hit that the Trump administration was considering reevaluating the corporate average fuel economy (CAFÉ) standards that mandate fleet-wide fuel economy of 54.5 mpg by 2025.

Some claim the standards are too strict, will cost jobs and will take money from people’s pockets as vehicles become more expensive. Allegations of the Obama administration engaging in last-minute shenanigans to maintain the standard ensued.

On the flip side, others say that maintaining the current standard will strengthen our energy policy, reduce greenhouse gases and create jobs.

Either way, President Trump decided to re-examine the standard and determine whether or not to scale it back. A decision may not come until April 2018. Allegations of the Trump administration engaging in shenanigans have since ensued.

I’m not getting into any of that.

Instead, what’s the point CAFÉ standards and how did they begin?

Remember the Yom Kippur War of 1973? Me, either. I do, however, recall images of the gas lines of the 1970s. My parents occasionally dust off one of those stories about waiting hours for gas – if there was any – whenever we spoiled brats complain about $2.00/gal. gas.

Well, the U.S. decided to back Israel in the Yom Kippur War, and the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) expressed its disdain by shutting off the crude-oil spigot to America. The result? The price of oil quadrupled by March 1974.

Inevitably, the price of gas jumped, too, leading to widespread gas shortages and sticker shock when drivers rolled up to the pump in their massive, gas-chugging V-8s.

Things took another turn for the worse in 1979 after tempers again flared in the Middle East, this time involving Iran and Iraq, which pushed gas to record highs. The average price per gallon hit $2.64 in 1981, higher than today’s price.

By that time, the U.S. government had responded with its first set of CAFÉ standards, enacted in 1975. Each automaker’s auto fleet would have to deliver an average of 18 mpg by 1978 or face penalties. The standard, in theory, would reduce our dependency on foreign oil and mitigate future disruptions to the supply chain.

Take that, OPEC.

Better engines = better fuel economy

The CAFÉ standards have steadily grown more strict over the years. They also include trucks today, and the number is typically reported as the average between an automaker’s cars and light trucks.

Automakers have developed several new technologies to boost average fuel economy.

Vehicles today are much lighter than those of yesteryear, with the aluminum-bodied Ford F-150 representing the poster child for modern light-weighting.
Fuel injectors replaced the carburetor back the in 1980s, allowing for more precise fuel delivery.
Cylinder deactivation has evolved from fascinating space-age marvel to ho-hum technology, helping bigger vehicles squeeze a few more miles out of each gallon.
Turbochargers help smaller engines make more power, allowing automakers to use a four-cylinder engine where they once used a V-6.
Variable valve timing adjusts when the valves open and close in relation to operating conditions, boosting efficiency.
Direct fuel injection takes precision fuel delivery to another level.
Synthetic lubricants reduce energy lost to friction, while lower-viscosity lubricants reduce pumping losses. Plus, hybrid and electric vehicles are popping up in most automakers’ fleets to help increase their fleet-wide mpg average.
And, of course, most of these advancements wouldn’t be possible without computers now performing thousands of calculations per second as you drive, endlessly searching for the ideal confluence of performance and fuel economy.

And it all started with the Yom Kippur War.

Whatever happens in the latest battle of the CAFÉ standards, you can bet the automakers are going to keep ramping up their engine technology to get the most mpg possible.

Synthetic motor oil was made for strict CAFE standards

Many of these new advancements take a toll on the engine, too, which fellow blogger Josh Kimmes talked about recently. Modern engines run hotter, suffer increased stress and generate more contaminants in the motor oil, all on drain intervals much longer than the old 3,000-mile standby of years gone by. Is there any wonder why many automakers now use synthetic lubricants in their vehicles and recommend them as the service fill?

Upgrade your vehicle to AMSOIL synthetic lubricants to take full advantage of the amazing technology we’re seeing in the market today. They deliver outstanding wear protection and engine cleanliness, while maximizing fuel economy, too.

What good is driving the most advanced engine in the world if you don’t protect it with an oil just as advanced?

Wherever you stand on the issues, we can all agree on that.

Gasoline is the source of your vehicle’s power – and many of its problems.

Gasoline quality is vital, yet often overlooked.

Dan Peterson - AMSOIL Technical Development

AMSOIL’s Dan Peterson.

Dan Peterson | VICE PRESIDENT, TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT

Gasoline’s influence on our lives can’t be overstated. Remember how the gas lines of the 1970s disrupted daily life? People waited hours to fill up – if there was any gas available once they finally pulled up to the pump. Odd-even rationing dictated that motorists could only fill up on even-numbered days if the last digit on their license plate was even. The fallout of the gas shortages of the 1970s was a driving force behind the government mandates to increase fuel efficiency that continue to influence the industry today.

A few years ago, when gas hit $5 a gallon in some places, stories populated the Internet and airwaves about people willfully losing money to sell their giant SUVs in favor of small, fuel-efficient cars. Some people even took a loss on their houses in the suburbs to move closer to work.

In many ways, gasoline makes the world go ‘round, yet many of your customers likely know almost nothing about it, including the negative effects it can have on their vehicles.

Gasoline is distilled from petroleum crude oil. Typically, a 42-gallon barrel of crude will yield about 19 U.S. gallons of gas. The final blend can contain hundreds of different ingredients, among which are detergency additives designed to prevent harmful deposits from forming inside your engine.

In 1995, the EPA introduced its minimum gasoline detergent standard, known as lowest additive concentration (LAC). The intent was to ensure that all gasoline available in the country contained sufficient detergent additives to combat formation of deposits that reduce fuel efficiency and performance.

The widespread use of electronic fuel injection in the 1980s was a driving force behind the introduction of the LAC mandate. It quickly became evident that fuel injectors were especially sensitive to deposits, and the gasoline of the time didn’t contain sufficient detergents.

Deposit formation on the injector tips disrupts the spray pattern, which reduces fuel economy and results in less-efficient combustion. This contributes to increased tailpipe emissions since unburned gasoline can escape the combustion chamber on the engine’s exhaust stroke.

Deposits can also form on the intake valve, piston crown and in the ring grooves. They can prevent the intake valve from closing completely, reducing engine compression and horsepower. Deposits in the ring grooves can lead to ring sticking, which also reduces engine compression since a stuck ring won’t seal the combustion chamber completely. Piston crown deposits act like a sponge that soaks up gasoline. This can result in preignition, where the fuel/air mixture ignites sporadically, reducing performance and potentially damaging the engine.

Many automakers today don’t think the LAC mandate goes far enough. In fact, many gasoline marketers have reduced detergent levels by up to 50 percent, according to www.toptiergas. com. TOP TIER Detergent Gasoline is a performance specification designed by several of today’s top automakers.

Today’s vehicles run even hotter than they did in 1995. Since then the number of engines that use turbochargers, which increase heat, has grown substantially. So, too, has the number of vehicles that use direct fuel injection, which locates the injectors directly in the combustion chamber, exposed to intense heat. Plus, injectors today are more highly engineered with tighter tolerances, meaning even minute deposits can interfere with performance.

Gasoline is the source of your vehicle’s power – and many of its problems if you don’t perform proper maintenance. We formulate AMSOIL P.i.® to be one of the most potent additives on the market. It contains a very high dose of fuel detergents proven to combat the problems associated with gasoline, keeping injectors clean and functioning properly. In fact, testing showed dirty injectors returned to >95 percent flow after only one tank of gas treated with P.i. Just take a look at the dramatic before/ after images above.

As vehicles become more sophisticated and sensitive to gas quality, make sure you understand the importance of maintaining them with a quality fuel additive. AMSOIL provides solutions to problems you may not even be aware of.

Let AMSOIL Sioux Falls be your gasoline fuel additive source! Depend on us for the best products which will always be the state of the art for all Nebraskans! Thank you for your business. We love being here in Sioux Falls!

Tag: fuel economy