New auto fuel standard in the offing

The Government of India (GOI) is in the process of introducing a new auto emission and fuel efficiency standard. Called CAFÉ (Corporate Average Fuel Economy), the standard will require auto manufacturers to design vehicles to give mileage of 17.3km/litre of petrol compared to the existing average mileage of 14.3km/litre. Diesel cars will have to give 19.9km/litre, up from the existing 15.5km/litre. Depending on their fuel efficiency, CAFÉ will assign star ratings to cars, ranging from one star to five stars. Another factor in fuel efficiency would be the level of carbon dioxide emissions of the cars which cause global warming. The draft CAFÉ proposal stipulates that carbon emission should not exceed 135gm/km for the entire fleet by 2015. Comparative emission level for 2010 was 165gm/km. The proposal also recommends more stringent standards by 2020. Auto manufacturers not meeting the required standards will face stiff penalties in the form of fines or will be forced to phase out non-compliant vehicles.

CAFÉ standard will force auto manufacturers in India to introduce fuel efficient cars powered by bio-fuels and hybrid technologies such as petrol-electric cars and diesel-electric cars which use hydrogen fuel cells to generate electricity. BMW is already reported to be planning on producing vehicles from 2013 onwards with a mileage of 26km/litre.