[wildon]

After almost three years, consumers can finally look forward to fuel mileage standards for their cars.
The breakthrough came after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervened to end the long-running feud between the road transport ministry and the power ministry over who would set the standards.
The standards which are expected to be in place by the year-end, will force car manufacturers to phase out fuel guzzling models and give buyers a better deal.
The Bureau of Energy Efficiency, which falls under the power ministry, had initiated the process almost three years ago but it got mired in bureaucratic delays with the automobile industry opposing it tooth and nail and the road transport ministry muddying the waters by claiming that only it could run such a programme. The latter also moved to set up mileage standards based on carbon-dioxide emissions, countering the BEE’s proposal to have standards on simple fuel mileage that consumers would understand and require.
Even after principal secretary to the PM, T K A Nair, intervened to sort out the turf war between the two ministries, the programme could not take off with road transport minister Kamal Nath stepping in to block progress for almost a year.
Sources said the PMO had to intervene yet again and the PM recently took the final decision in BEE’s favour. The PMO has now passed an order that BEE will set up the standards for regulating fuel efficiency in automobiles under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001, and would be implemented by the road transport ministry.
While BEE has been asked to consult Nath’s ministry, it will now not be held back if the road transport ministry raises objections yet again.
In what seems to be countering the move, auto industry sources said the sector was planning to evolve a revised ‘voluntary labelling’ programme by the end of August.
The standards programme, on the other hand, is expected to also set up mandatory standards that would force the industry over time to produce cars that give better mileage.
The labelling scheme the BEE proposes, unlike the one by the industry, would tell buyers how each model fares when compared to others.

Source: TOI Online (Page 11)




What about PM forcing these manufacturers to make it mandatory to publish Manufacturing month/year and Emission standards etc.. for the benefit or customers

[rajeev k]

Economic Times reports that GoI is coming out with star labelling for cars from 2011. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency a statutory body under the Ministry of power alongwith Ministry of roads and srface transport has finalized corporate Average Fuel Efficency where the fuel efficiency of entire fleet of car manufacturing company is measured.

Similar labelling is in place for motors, transformers, pump sets, fans, airconditioners etc.

Read it in
In 2011, cars to come with star ratings on energy efficiency - The Economic Times

[swiftnfurious]

Came across this news about BEE[Bureau of Energy Efficiency] setting up ratings of cars in one of the automotive mags. Looks like this is going to be implemented from 2012 on all Indian cars. And from what I understand each car / model on sale will be given a rating out of a max 5 like the efficiency rating stickers on refrigerators. And it's not solely based on the FE alone, a lot more parameters are considered including TCO over a period of year.

So what do you guys feel about different manufacturers' ratings? I still feel Maruti will be rated among the best. Just wondering whether Hyundai will take a beating considering that the long term costs are NOT nominal.

[phamilyman]

What is interesting is that in India - the PM's time (when he's not held ransom by the coalition partners) goes in solving such ridiculous issues.

that said, it'll be interesting to whether the numbers pan out to any material shifts - considering mfrs already toot their ARAI mileage - as tata does.

[dot]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

What is interesting is that in India - the PM's time (when he's not held ransom by the coalition partners) goes in solving such ridiculous issues.

Cannot be put better. With a beyond-the-ridiculous and shameless difference between diesel and petrol who cares if cars have 5star or 4 star rating.

[abhi413]

Found the following link at the ToI website:

Source & Link to full Times of India article

MUMBAI: At a time when fuel prices are burning a hole in the common man's pocket, preliminary estimates have found that in India, only 9% to 16% car models are energy efficient.

A consultation paper recently released by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) to set fuel efficiency standards for car models pointed out that the average weight of cars sold every year in the country was increasing and there has been a three-fold rise in the number of cars over the last decade.

"If the trend continues, in 2020, it would increase to over 5.5 million per year and the total stock in the country would exceed 45 million. The annual fuel requirement would then be in excess of 25 million tonnes of oil equivalent," the paper warned. It revealed that with the increasing weight of cars, the fuel consumption per 100 km was not reducing.

A quick tabular comparo is attached for reference. Can we then assume that all cars with ARAI efficiency > 14.28 Kmpl may be considered as 5* rated vehicles? Also, wouldn't in that case all major Diesel cars fall under 5* rated category?

Seeking input from the gurus please!

[Prowler]

A quick tabular comparo is attached for reference. Can we then assume that all cars with ARAI efficiency > 14.28 Kmpl may be considered as 5* rated vehicles? Also, wouldn't in that case all major Diesel cars fall under 5* rated category?

Not necessarily. Some automobile sites already publish FE values and you can see that not all diesel cars will come under the 5 star category. Example: Buy Cars in India

[mayankjha1806]

I think they are trying to follow similar ratings that one see on AC and other electrical gadgets to let the customer know about its energy efficiency rating.

While i agree its usefulness in electrical items their use in cars might not give the desired result.

So for example i already would know (looking at the engine spec and manufacturer) as to how fuel efficient the car would be (approximately).

Also these figures are published in brochures (Marking AARI sources) and we all know what kind of conditions these fuel efficiency tests are done in and how much to believe in them.

Makes me wonder how much i will trust the Star rating on the automobile.

[libranof1987]

In electrical appliances (from whom the concept of Energy Efficiency rating has started), the energy required by the appliance is a fairly technical figure; something like XX Watts or likewise. It is not something *everyone* will relate to or would understand how efficient that appliance too. In this case, the whole concept Star-rating comes in handy.

However, with cars, we already know that FE is the measuring standard for a car's energy efficiency = FE.

Now, I don't understand how the Star rating would help.

Unless of course, the Govt. provides a tiny subsidy on 4/5 Star-rated vehicles.

Anotherwise, it's just another marketing thing without any consequence.

[SDP]

With ARAI FE numbers already around, not sure what is the point of the star-based system.

In fact, two cars consuming 8 lts and 9 ltrs of fuel respectively (for 100 Kms), would both get clubbed under 4 star. When you already have a ARAI FE numbers which are decently accurate, why go for a "range-based" less-precise system?

[a4anurag]

Oops!

Now the Govt will start making TV Ad's for cars with stars over them like they made for refrigerators, TV, AC's. One of the windows on the car will sport these stars denoting the class of mileage they deliver and belong to.

As our fellow member libran of 1987 told it would be better if the Govt gives a price relaxation for 4 and 5 star vehicles.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Oops!

Now the Govt will start making TV Ad's for cars with stars over them like they made for refrigerators, TV, AC's. One of the windows on the car will sport these stars denoting the class of mileage they deliver and belong to.

+1 to that. Doesn't the Govt have anything better to do - like fighting the inflation?

What about the rating of the vehicles after they are sold?
The FE depends on so many other things like the state of the tune and maintenance of the vehicle. Would the manufacturers now have a "for initial star-rating" tuning, only to re-tune for bearable performance at the time of PDI/delivery? To avoid that, would Govt mandate a regular recertification of the stars?

Hope this does not become another racket like PUC recertification after every 6 months.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by SDP

+1 to that. Doesn't the Govt have anything better to do - like fighting the inflation?

Hope this does not become another racket like PUC recertification after every 6 months.

Cant agree more on this with you.

PUC certification every 6 months itself is a pain to remember for me and If such star certification arise then it would have me keep reminders on my mobile to remind me of these.

[vinair]

As mentioned here, this is something all manufacturers are doing already! Do we need an additional sticker on the car claiming its fuel efficiency?? Real world driving and driving styles always differ, and how many of us really go with what the manufacturer says and put a fight if the vehicle fails to deliver what it is supposed to (exceptional cases are always there..)?

[SDP]

This whole development assumes that fuel efficiency is the only important thing as far as Indian car customers are concerned.

A much bigger problem is safety. Currently there are cars which don't even go for official crash-testing, because it is not mandatory.
I wish the relevant Govt agencies would have spent time and effort on making the cars more safe and issuing safety-stars.