KNOWN KNOWNS:

To boost future mileage, carmakers are likely to rely on today's advanced technology: To hit a 54.5-mpg target, the key will be applying what's already known or on the drawing boards to almost every vehicle, not just a relative handful. (Neela Banerjee, 7/28/11, Los Angeles Times)

From pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles to hybrids and subcompact cars, almost every vehicle sold in the U.S. is likely to feature the kinds of advanced technology now confined to the most fuel-efficient.

Although the new standard will be a big numerical step upward, experts say, the secret to achieving it is not some huge breakthrough. Rather, the key will be applying what's already known or on the drawing boards to almost every vehicle, not just a relative handful.

"You have to look at a vehicle not just as one thing that will put you over the goal line but all sorts of different things that will help you," said Richard Truett, a Ford Motor Co. spokesman. "We have a head start on that. But everyone has to do it."

Double it and force some actual research and development.

Posted by oj at July 27, 2011 6:41 PM
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