Levin’s Bill Includes Hybrids

U.S. Sen. Carl Levin said that an alternative fuel efficiency proposal he is drafting will include at least $1 billion for advanced battery research to help auto companies make plug-in hybrids a reality. The proposal which will give car manufacturers the opportunity to comply with emission mandates will be introduced later this month.

The existing draft of the bill requires light trucks to hit 30 miles per gallon by 2025 and passenger cars 36 mpg by 2022. But Levin said that the dates and specific requirements could change before the plan is formally introduced. The announcement was made Friday at the Detroit Regional Chamber's Mackinac Policy Conference.

The growing heat on the emissions standards is expected when the Senate floor debate begins on a fuel economy proposal passed last month by the Senate Commerce Committee. Levin's bill, developed with fellow Michigan Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, is an alternative to that plan. Levin and Stabenow also are working with two or three members of the Commerce Committee. "I don't want to identify them," Levin said in his first interview since it was disclosed he had circulated an alternative proposal. "They are working quietly with us."

Levin has been meeting with many of other representatives in recent weeks, trying to filter various proposals to increase fuel economy mandates. The alarming concerns about global warming have been linked to vehicle emissions. Also, rising gasoline prices has increased the pressure on the legislature to take action.

Automakers have fought increases in the mandates since corporate average fuel economy (CAFÉ) standards were adopted in 1975. Congress mandated automakers to increase passenger car fuel economy from an average of 13 mpg to 27.5 mpg. The standard has not been raised since. Automakers said changes that require fast, dramatic increases would cost tens of billions of dollars and perhaps force them to stop selling some of their larger, more profitable models. It is also anticipated to affect auto parts like automotive electrical bits, engines, radiators, filters and more. As such, prices of vehicles are expected to rise.

"We are fighting as hard as we can to get numbers that are realistically achievable," Levin said in the interview. "We are going to do the best we can to get it down to a number the auto industry thinks is achievable."

The proposal adopted by the Commerce Committee would require a 40 percent increase in fuel economy mandates by 2020 to 35 mpg and four percent increases each year after that. The Consumer Federation of America said in a report that the Senate bill "would pay for itself - not just over the vehicle lifetime but on a monthly basis for the majority of consumers who borrow to buy." "Our analysis proves a mandatory increase to 35 mpg in ten years passes both a consumer pocketbook test and a national cost-benefit test with flying colors," said Mark Cooper, the federation's director of research. But automakers say that the targets are unattainable.

Levin spoke at length about the work he has done in recent weeks trying to convince his colleagues that the committee's bill would dramatically harm domestic automakers. "There's almost a resentment, an anger," Levin said. "I spent hours trying to persuade colleagues, showing them mileage per gallon on vehicles of the same size. There's just an instinctive negative reaction to the domestic autos, and we have to overcome it the best we can. We are going to get the best we possibly can get.”

Charles Territo, the spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group representing automakers, said that the proposal is more realistic than the Senate Commerce Committee bill.

Joe Thompson is the owner of a successful auto body shop in Ferndale, California. This 38 year old is also a prolific writer, contributing automotive related articles to various publications.