Will electric cars have a window sticker like this? You can help decide.
This post, part of a series we're running all about electric cars, was written by Akweli Parker from HowStuffWorks.com.
If you've ever purchased a new car in the United States, or even if you've ever just stepped on a new car lot, you're no stranger to the assortment of placards affixed to the windows. In addition to the assorted options, pricing and warranty information, you'll find a sticker with a fuel efficiency rating for that model of vehicle.
It's there to let buyers know at a glance how thirsty they can expect any given steed to be at the pump, before they decide to purchase it. For some time, especially during the "bigger is better" SUV craze of the late Nineties and several years into the new millennium, fuel efficiency was one of the last concerns of most U.S. motorists.
But with repeated shocks at the gasoline pump over the years, and increasingly more people thinking about their personal environmental footprints, fuel efficiency has crept up to become a major consideration for auto buyers.
Responding to the need for more comprehensive efficiency and pollution information for new cars and trucks, two government agencies have plans to revamp the familiar mileage rating placards that have been with us in some form or another for the past 30 years. The new labels will apply to new cars and light-duty trucks starting with the 2012 model year.
They will also come in different flavors for traditional gasoline and diesel vehicles, plug-in electric vehicles, and hybrids. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), along with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, were, at the time of this writing, soliciting public input on redesigning the new vehicle fuel efficiency stickers.
As a result, the final decision on what the new design will look like has yet to be made. But here go a few features that you can possibly expect, judging by prototype stickers the EPA has online:
- An "A,B,C,D" letter grade that indicates how efficient and emissions-friendly the vehicle is in comparison with other new vehicles. For instance, an "A+" indicates high efficiency and low tailpipe carbon emissions. A "D" indicates a low energy-efficiency and or relatively higher carbon emissions.
- A dollar amount, displaying either how much the vehicle would consume in fuel per year, or how much it would save over five years (compared to the "average vehicle"), helps potential buyers view efficiency in monetary terms.
- An optical "QR" scan code that could be read by smartphones to pull up additional information about the vehicle
- Visual bar graphics that use a "slider" to show how the vehicle ranks on a continuum for mileage, CO2 emissions per mile, and other pollutants per mile.
If you'd like to check out the designs for yourself and comment on them to the powers that be at EPA and NHTSA, visit the comments page. They'll be taking comments until November 22.
