The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed new window stickers for all cars/trucks sold in the United States. The mandates come from a 2007 law (not implemented by the Bush Administration) that requires labels to put a new vehicle in context with the rest of the herd. The EPA’s mandate must take into account (1) fuel economy, (2) greenhouse gasses and (3) smog-forming pollutants. It also must contextualize your average car/truck with a gasoline-fueled internal combustion engine with EVs, hybrids and advanced clean diesels.
One of two new stickers assigns letter grades (remember elementary school?) from A+ to D-.  It’s pretty easy to guess which car gets the highest and lowest grades. A pure EV (electric vehicle), like the Nissan Leaf, will get an A+ (117 mpg and higher) while my Italian friends, Lamborghini and Ferrari, would get the D-.
Proposed EPA-DOT Window Sticker with Letter Grade
Note that the sticker even has a QR Codeâ„¢ that can be read by your smartphone to get even more information about the car and the EPA’s ratings.
A plug-in hybrid, rated at the equivalent of 59 – 116 mpg, like the upcoming Chevy Volt (it has an internal combustion engine that runs a generator to juice the batteries to give it an extended range) would get an A.  “Normal” hybrids like the Toyota Prius and the Ford Fusion would earn an A-. Lesser hybrids, like the Nissan Altima, Ford Escape and Toyota Camry will have to sit in the second row and with a B+. (more…)
