Report Confirms New Fuel Economy Standards Will Cost The Consumers Thousands More

The huge leaps in fuel economy that regulators are seeking are possible for mainstream cars, even without heavy use of electrification technologies -- but consumers must be prepared to pay more for them.

That’s one of the key findings of a report on the feasibility and costs of technologies that automakers likely will use to meet the Obama administration’s aggressive fuel economy and tailpipe emissions regulations. Those regulations call for boosting fleetwide fuel economy to a 54.5 mpg average by the 2025 model year.