How would cars be different today if there were no emissions or MPG regulations? Would they be better or worse?
They'd probably be more affordable just by the ease of repair.
Probably the horsepower war would be worse than what it is now.
The problem of pollution from cars was solved over 25 years ago with electronic fuel injection and 3-way catalytic converters. Since then it's been incremental reductions in already tiny amounts of emissions. (Politicians and bureaucrats are generally not acquainted with the concept of "diminishing returns.")
Making further reductions in that last tiny little bit, and the ludicrous/senseless war against ManBearPig and CO2, has let to the technological nightmares being sold today with the worst yet to come. You could turn the regulations back to the mid-1990s with no material difference in exhaust pollutants and have much more serviceable and longer-lived vehicles.
Diminishing returns is a good way to describe it.
If there wouldn’t have been emissions regulations today’s cars would be significantly more reliable.
(I’m going to refer to Euro standards as that’s what import cars are built to comply with)
You can easily judge for yourself, get a 2010 Corolla that’s Euro4 complaint, a 2015 that’s Euro5 compliment and a Modern Euro6 complaint model - Pretty much all of the added issues have everything to do with emissions related changes to the powertrain.
The effects on longevity are obvious.
Meanwhile, the emissions standards do not have requirements for supposedly harmful “carbon emissions”, they’re mostly about “air quality”
but somehow the exhaust of my “outdated” 23mpg avg Volvo (No VVT, No GDI, No Turbo, No modern technology at all) is as clean as that of a super modern Euro6 DynamicForce engine - no one could possibly feel the difference, and practically there’s none.
Becuase the difference is negligible, but the new requirements set so far over the point of diminishing results - you loose a lot and get close to nothing in return.
There’s no air quality issue with the old standard so why are they pushing the stricter euro6?
Well it doesn’t have anything to do with the cars exhaust, they’re pushing it for different reasons.
The new Euro6 emissions standard is so strict it’s pretty much physically impossible to build a complaint engine without making it overly complex and unconventional.
Toyota went with MPi+GDI+EGR, Hyundai-Kia with Atkinson cycle (and other non-Otto cycle engine designs) on non-hybrid cars, and a lot of companies, especially European, just said “we are not going to even attempt to develop a complaint engine”.
In other words, you just can’t have a simple durable engine that’s compliant with 2023 emissions regulations.
When you’re focusing mostly on emissions, as you must comply, otherwise you can’t sell - we, the consumers, get left behind.
Especially in the case of MPG regulation, if I would have wanted to buy a high MPG car I’d go out and choose one - I do not need no government telling me what car to buy, in the same way I d not need the gov to tell me what kind of bread to choose.
Also to see the true damage of MPG regulations just wait a few years. It’s required by law for the industry to reach an average of 49 mpg in 2026 - the only cars that do that are small hybrids.
There’s only ever-so-much energy in a gallon of petrol, even with over 40% efficiency the RAV4 can’t to that.
In other words, we are heading to a world where the toughest, most rugged, mass market SUV is going to be a Kia Niro (It’s truly less “rugged” or “exciting to drive” than a Yaris)
Why is all of that? And what’s up with the new upcoming euro7 emissions standard?
As it seems that standard is going to kill of all petrol powered cars - it’s just too strict.
But after all, that’s the point.
Talking to local (to me) law makers who participate in this insanity, in private they openly admit that the goal is for “people to buy less cars, and have less cars”.
Thanks for the details. This is especially insightful.
It would be worse. If we didn't have mpg regulations and emissions then the EPA would be losing their minds.
Plus the engines would be running rich which is not good.
- More naturally aspirated engines.
- Less compliance cars.
- Possibly no OBDII, because OBDII was meant to test emissions with an additional benefit of being able to diagnosis cars.