Markey: Toyota Meeting “Impossible Dream" of Higher U.S. Fuel Economy. . .In Japan

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Contact: Select Committee, 202-225-4081

Markey: Toyota Meeting “Impossible Dream” of Higher U.S. Fuel Economy. . .In Japan

WASHINGTON (October 4, 2007) – Toyota, intent on keeping its image as a “green” company, has responded to calls of fuel economy obstructionism by telling their customers that higher fuel economy standards being considered in an energy bill before Congress are “impossible.” Yet a thorough analysis of international fuel economy standards clearly shows that Toyota is already meeting—and exceeding—the 35 mile per gallon standard in the energy bill. In Japan.

“Apparently the only thing that separates Toyota from the ‘impossible dream’ of 35 miles per gallon here in the U.S., is a flight across the Pacific Ocean,” said Chairman Edward J. Markey of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. “The International Date Line is an invisible barrier for fuel efficiency that Toyota is unwilling to cross.”

Toyota claims that Japan does not have mandatory fleet standards comparable to the United States. This is not true. In Japan, the government first imposed weight-based fuel economy standards in 1999 and revised them in 2006 “because the majority of vehicles sold in Japan in 2002 already met or exceeded the 2010 standards,” according to a July 2007 report by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT). The same report says Japan’s fuel economy is currently at 41 mpg, and will have a fleetwide fuel economy of about 47 mpg in 2015 – 5 years before the 35 mile per gallon energy bill requirement is due to be met in the United States. A chart from the report on fuel economy levels around the world is included below.

Chart from the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) 

Japan is not alone. The European Union also currently has higher fuel economy than America, reaching above 40 mpg this year. Because automakers had not achieved the voluntary standards previously set for them, however, the EU has announced mandatory standards for emissions that ICCT says will result in a fleetwide fuel economy of 49 mpg in the EU by 2012.

“Forget 'Around the World in 80 days,' you can apparently drive around the world on 35 mpg or much higher,” said Chairman Markey. “But Toyota’s telling us, ‘just don’t try that here in America.’”

The 35 mpg standard currently in the Senate version of the energy bills set to be considered this fall would save nearly double the amount of oil we currently import from the Middle East by 2030. An energy bill that retains the best parts of the bill—fuel economy, renewable electricity, and other provisions—would also significantly reduce global warming pollution, giving America a head start for eventual comprehensive climate legislation.

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