Post by TonyV on Apr 1, 2010 1:14:54 GMT -5
Last Updated: April 01. 2010 1:00AM .
New York International Auto Show
Ford's Mulally: Auto industry's green shift needs more help
Bryce G. Hoffman / The Detroit News
New York -- Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally praised President Barack Obama's focus on energy policy Wednesday, but said policymakers in the United States and around the world must do more to help the auto industry deliver greener vehicles to the masses.
Mulally specifically urged Washington to do more to support the development of battery technology for hybrid and electric vehicles.
"We have kind of relinquished our lead in many of these technologies," he said during a speech at the New York International Auto Show. He later told reporters, "it's going to slow up the electrification of the world."
Mulally also said he looks forward to an announcement, expected today, that the Obama administration has finalized new federal standards for greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy.
"We really were encouraging everybody to come together on one standard across all the states, not only for miles-per-gallon, but also for emissions like CO2," Mulally told The Detroit News on the sidelines of the show. "Now we know exactly what the improvement slope is, and we've got the enabling technologies with hybrids, with EcoBoost, with electrics and all of that to meet it."
The new regulations from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency establish emissions and fuel standards for model years 2012-16. The changes will boost overall fleet fuel efficiency to 34.1 miles per gallon by 2016, and conserve 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the lifetime of the vehicles sold in the next five years. But it will also cost automakers about $60 billion and add an average $1,300 to the purchase price of a new vehicle.
"After decades in which we have done little to increase auto efficiency, those new standards will be finalized, which will reduce our dependence on oil while helping folks spend a little less at the pump," Obama said Wednesday. California and some other states had tried to impose their own, stricter regulations on fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions, which could have forced the auto industry to meet multiple standards.
Mulally said the new corporate average fuel economy, or CAFÉ, standards and national greenhouse gas emissions limits are only part of the equation.
"It starts with an energy policy for the United States," he said, adding that Obama's invitation to lawmakers to jump into the discussion is "a great step forward."
During a speech Wednesday announcing the opening of new areas to offshore oil drilling, the president urged Republicans and Democrats to develop energy and climate legislation that will lead to energy independence.
Mulally said the new rules for CAFE and carbon emissions show what can happen when government and industry work together to address their common concerns.
But industry experts say it will take more than government decrees to make green cars a viable business.
"CAFE does not address the demand side of the equation," said Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of Edmunds.com, an automotive information site, noting that automakers already offer plenty of fuel-efficient cars and trucks.
"Consumers generally aren't interested, especially when gas prices remain relatively low and no incentives are available to purchase more fuel-efficient vehicles."
Mulally, too, said incentives will be necessary to help consumers afford new powertrain technologies such as hybrids, plug-in hybrids and battery-electric vehicles, at least until demand reaches the point that they can be produced at lower costs.
"Governments around the world are going to have a tremendous role to play," he said.
On Wednesday, Ford unveiled its first luxury hybrid, the Lincoln MKZ hybrid, and said it is expanding its collaboration with Microsoft Corp. to include a software system that will help electric car owners charge their vehicles more efficiently and cheaply.
The system will work only if local power utilities cooperate, he said, adding that the government has a role to play here as well.
"Anything to support integration and collaboration like that is another big piece," Mulally said. "It's fantastic that we've moved energy up on the agenda, because we all want the same thing, right?
"We want to generate electricity cleanly. We want energy independence, energy security and energy efficiency. Everything that's associated with an energy policy is going to help us move the electric agenda forward."
bhoffman@detnews.com (313) 222-2443