Compliance
Corporate Average Fuel Economy Research and Analysis
The Volpe Center supports NHTSA on
Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE)
rulemakings and related activities that require
supporting analyses. The CAFE regulations exist
to regulate and improve the average fuel
economy of cars and light trucks (trucks, vans,
and sport utility vehicles) sold in the U.S. The
Volpe Center developed a modeling system, the
CAFE Compliance and Effects Modeling
System, that calculates fuel savings and
compliance costs. The Center is currently
expanding the system to support more refined
fuel consumption analysis.
NHTSA worked closely with the Volpe Center in
setting new light-truck CAFE standards and used
its analysis in the accompanying Regulatory
Impact Analysis. These standards were published
in April 2006.
CAFE rulemakings are high-stake political
undertakings that affect corporate profits and
national energy use and dependence. It is
essential for the underlying analysis to be viewed
as credible and objective. The high-quality
analytical work that the Volpe Center performed
under intense time pressure was crucial to the
achievement of NHTSA’s regulatory objectives.
Source: Volpe Center Points of Pride, FY 2006 - p. 17
