Powertrain Strategies for the 21st Century 2014-2015 Survey Results

Résumé:

The US auto industry continues to work towards its 2025 Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) goals, and the Powertrain Strategies for the 21st Century (PTS21) survey continues to track that progress by asking industry experts from the auto manufacturers, suppliers, and academics, NGOs, government officials, and consultants what they think the US fleet will look like in 2025. The results come from a survey of these stakeholders and cover topics including fuel price estimates, CAFE and emissions strategies, consumer sensitivity to fuel economy, passenger car and light truck powertrain penetration estimates, advanced internal combustion engine technologies, consumer willingness to pay for alternative powertrains, battery type penetration, and weight reduction strategies. Many of these topics are also compared to our 2012 survey in order to see how, if at all, industry estimates and strategies have changed.
Answers to these questions provide insight into what experts think the industry will look like compared to the government’s vision when it designed the 2025 goals. As the industry and government begin their discussions during the upcoming Mid-Term Review in 2016-2017, the government can decide to keep the original goals, increase the goals, decrease the goals, or extend the timeframe for meeting the goals. The results from our 2014-2015 PTS21 survey show a number of disconnects between what the government originally expected to occur in 2025 and what the industry thinks powertrains will look like.