U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires EVs to be "new"

In order to solve the problem of how the public distinguishes after the emergence of electric vehicles, the US Department of Environmental Protection recently proposed a reform proposal for fuel economy labels. The new label will unify the disclosure of various indicators such as electric vehicle performance and exhaust emissions.

From this label, consumers will see the economy of the car's energy consumption and emission levels reflected by a letter grade. It will also show the gap between the energy costs of this new energy vehicle and the same type of gasoline-powered vehicles produced in the same year.

For electric cars or plug-in hybrids, for example, the label will indicate the ratio between the amount of electricity that the car uses for each mile of its run and how many gallons of gasoline it uses to run the same distance. For pure electric vehicles, this conversion is more straightforward, and the label will directly indicate the converted value of 100 miles per kilowatt-hour in order to make it easier for the owner to calculate the cost of using electricity.

Easy-to-understand rating indicator

For the US Environmental Protection Agency's introduction of this logo, its fundamental goal is to make the indicators easier to understand, and at the same time it is easier to perform value conversion between different energy sources. In addition, in order to give consumers a more intuitive impression, the label also directly scored the energy-saving rating.

For example, in terms of energy-efficiency rating recommendations, electric vehicles may get a +, and if Toyota's hybrid Prius will get an A-; Toyota Corolla gets a B +, and Chevrolet models fall below C-class. And Ferrari models have harvested four -.

"As new technology emerges and we begin to rush out of the lab and come to us, a new label is absolutely necessary. It will help consumers make judgments on new situations. This is responsible for the taxpayer's wallet. A manifestation," said a related person from the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Currently, on the official website of the US Environmental Protection Agency, the government is making public announcements and gathering opinions for a period of 60 days. A hearing will follow. If the progress is successful, the label will be officially designed in early 2011 and will be used for cars that will be listed in 2012. Full logo.

The biggest change in 30 years

The changes in car labels can almost be said to have been the biggest change in car identity in the United States in the past 30 years. The reason is, "We do this label, in part, also hope to promote the automotive industry to further invest in new energy vehicles to promote sales growth," rather than follow the old road to make efforts in the traditional power, the above-mentioned EPA officials said.

In fact, while the current U.S. President Barack Obama vigorously promotes the new energy policy, the price of the international crude oil market has been on an upward trend. For GM and Chrysler, representatives of the U.S. old-time auto industry that has embarked on the path of bankruptcy and reorganization, investment and reform in new energy vehicles are of utmost importance.

However, the reform of the fuel label is a complicated task. It is not just a change of paper. This must be coordinated by all parties such as the US Environmental Protection Agency and the transportation department. The reason is that the conversion between the price of gasoline in traditional gasoline vehicles and the power in new energy vehicles is not a fixed value. At the same time, greenhouse gas emissions are not an easy measure and comparison for cars.

In the past, “car dealers would make such marks themselves, and there were also standards for trade associations.” US Environmental Protection Ministry officials stated that, however, to rise to the national level, effective labeling requires a complicated authentication and verification process. "We don't want the signs we posted to become meaningless." This is, after all, an important reform for the future.