Volkswagen is fuming over the Obama Administration’s proposal to double auto fuel efficiency, saying the plan unfairly values hybrid and all-electric cars over clean diesel, a technology VW has pioneered.
Volkswagen is committed to continually making fuel efficient vehicles, such as the new mid-size, clean diesel Passat TDI, available to the U.S. market. Built in Chattanooga, TN, the Passat TDI achieves 43 mpg highway and can travel almost 800 miles on a single tank of fuel.
The Obama Administration unveiled a proposed rule that would require automakers to double the average fuel economy of their vehicles to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, estimating that the change would add $2,000 to the average price of a car.
The proposal brought howls of protest from automakers who warned the changes would price millions of Americans out of the new-car market, keeping older, less fuel-efficient cars on the road longer.
VW, Europe’s largest automaker and the fastest-growing automaker in the United States, already offers turbodiesel cars, station wagons and SUVs that routinely get nearly 50 miles per gallon on the highway.