Not guzzling but still thirsty

A new federal fuel-efficiency law gives a break to makers of SUVs — and the customers who, despite the rising cost of gas, can’t live without them

With gas prices headed for record highs, Roy Berkeridge thought about swapping his pickup for a more fuel-efficient car. But instead, the 52-year-old Halethorpe resident recently decided to lease a new Ford Edge — an SUV that gets slightly better gas mileage than a truck but is still roomy and hefty.

“I like the nice sturdy, heavy vehicles,” said Berkeridge. “I don’t really like small compact cars. I just don’t feel secure in them. I like to feel armor around me for protection.”


A new federal fuel-efficiency law is designed to make sure that motorists like Berkeridge can continue to buy the SUVs they prefer — and that Detroit can continue to make them.

The law, passed by Congress and signed by President Bush last month, will require new vehicles sold in the U.S. to get better mileage starting in 2011 and, by 2020, to be 40 percent more efficient than today on average.

But even though smaller, lighter vehicles get better gas mileage, the legislation doesn’t require reductions in size. Big vehicles will become more efficient mostly through the installation of more frugal engines, rather than any loss of size or weight.

And big trucks won’t have to meet the same miles-per-gallon limit as smaller vehicles. The new law creates a sliding scale of fuel efficiency requirements, with big SUVs having easier targets than smaller SUVs and big cars having lower standards than small cars.

Baltimore Sun