“Right way to introduce fuel economy standards” – some issues
Posted by dipanksaha on February 25, 2007
Here I will discuss some issues related to an article “Right way to introduce fuel economy standards” published in THE HINDU BUSINESS LINE dated 23rd February’2007, authored by Mr. Chirag Shah. The write up was a good peace of reading and informative. Major objective of the article is to argue in favor and against the rolling out of an Indian fuel economy standard. Author in right manner reasoned why such a standard should be introduced and should not be left for invisible hand of market. Technically, fuel economy or more commonly mileage depends on many issues like, vehicle weight, displacement capacity of engine (you can figure this out as some number written in “c.c.” like, 100 cc, 1000cc etc.), auxiliary energy uses in the vehicle (this factor works for less economy in luxury class vehicles), transmission system, and driving style and road condition.
Author considered only vehicle weight and engine size prominently for his discussion. But others, specially driving style and road condition factors cannot be ruled out. Firstly, various luxurious facilities in high-end sedans require energy and car engine is the only source of energy in a moving car. So, more automobile gadgetry will drive down fuel economy and we cannot restrict their uses. Secondly, driving style is a very serious factor. In India getting a driving license is pretty easier job thanks to over accommodative automobile licensing officers (I think you know what I mean to say!!!!). Not only private vehicle owners but this is true also for public bus drivers, auto rickshaw drivers and other commercial vehicle drivers. Not resting engine while in red signal, over throttling are few notions of bad driving style. And that burns fuel uselessly. Thirdly, one of the most important issues is road quality and traffic condition. These two factors combinedly hampers fuel efficiency severely, especially in metros, tier 1 and tier 2 cities.
Setting a fuel economy standard will be easier job; automobile manufacturers will also comply with the norms but realization of the efficiency won’t be easy under ground reality. Until the above mention last two issues are addressed properly any norm will hardly be effective.
for more details please go through the article published in The Hindu Businessline
www.thehindubusinessline.com
