President Barack Obama reportedly plans to keep a campaign promise that will allow California and other states to set their own fuel economy and vehicle emissions standards. This will create a situation where carmakers will have to tailor vehicles to meet the standards of each individual state, a costly process for an industry that is already suffering financially.

Both American and foreign carmakers have waged a lengthy legal battle against the California Air Resources Board (CARB), which until now has been blocked from setting its own rules by the former Bush administration.

While the U.S. government has implemented its own fleet-wide fuel efficiency standard of 35mpg by 2020 for carmakers (plus an interim mandate of 31.6mpg by 2015), California is planning to implement its own ruling of 36.8mpg by 2016. The issue has been a major headache for carmakers as California represents the single biggest market for new vehicles in the whole of North America and to make matters worse 13 other states plan to copy the stricter mandate, reports the New York Times.

Such rules would lead to fuel economy targets that automakers and dealers warn would create a patchwork of state laws, drive up costs and limit sales.

The new memorandum planned by Obama will order the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reconsider the Bush administration’s past rejection of the CARB application. While it stops short of directly ordering the Bush decision reversed, the agency’s regulators are now widely expected to do so after completing a formal review process.

Source: Motor Authority

A proposed gasoline tax hike to fix the state's crumbling roads and bridges is pitting road builders against gasoline station owners, who say it would give Michigan the highest tax in the nation. With the proposed hike being considered by the lame duck state Legislature, Michigan would jump ahead of California, the nation's current No. 1, according to station owners. Michigan now has the nation's fifth-highest gasoline tax, including state and federal taxes, at 59.4 cents a gallon. California's is 67.1 cents.

"I put it down to three issues: It's too quick, it's too complicated and it's too much," said Michigan Petroleum Association President Mark Griffin, who sent a memo to legislators Tuesday outlining his concerns.

"It's the last thing this ailing economy needs right now," said Craig Hoppen, president of J&H Oil Co., which owns 34 gasoline stations in West Michigan. "Cheap fuel prices are fueling the (economic) activity we have now. Taxing gasoline to fix roads is an old way of doing it."

Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association (MITA) spokesman Mike Nystrom questioned the sincerity of gas station owners.

"It's interesting to me that this industry is now so concerned about excessive fuel prices," said Nystrom, whose group represents road builders and others in heavy construction. "We didn't necessarily see memos coming out from them when the price of fuel exceeded $4 a gallon.

Source: MLive

A 7,500-mile interval between oil changes is emerging as the industry standard. Automakers cite improved vehicle quality and longer-lasting synthetic motor oil. The reduction in factory-recommended service visits is good news for consumers. But it's potentially bad news for dealerships, which could lose service and parts business that accompanies oil changes.

An Automotive News survey finds that the traditional 3,000-mile oil change interval is out of date. In general, seven vehicle brands prescribe intervals of 5,000 to 6,000 miles, and four have intervals of 10,000 miles or more. Automakers caution that they base their recommendations on normal driving conditions.

More than a third of brands use onboard software to determine when oil needs to be changed, based on the vehicle and how it is driven. As more automakers introduce software to gauge oil life, oil changes will become even less frequent. Factories that use such software monitors say intervals of 8,000 to 10,000 miles between changes are typical.

Source: Automotive News

It’s called G-Oil, and marketer Green Earth Technologies (GET) is calling the new product a “revolutionary, totally green biodegradable motor oil guaranteed to protect engines as well as the leading brands, but without the environmental hazards or dependence on foreign oil.”

The company is aiming the new oil at “Americans who want to save the Earth by going green, but don’t want to pay a premium or sacrifice performance in the process.”

G-Oil is manufactured from tallow, which GET said is a product acquired from farmers that is culled from beef and has been used to make animal feed and soap, but no longer is used for cooking. Through a proprietary process, the company converts tallow from a solid raw material into biodegradable motor oil that is safe to use in gasoline, diesel and hybrid car engines.

The new high-endurance motor oil is available in a full range of performance levels and viscosities, according to GET, and will provide “superior performance during the maximum oil change interval recommended by vehicle manufacturers.”

An estimated four gallons of oil can be saved with each G-Oil five quart oil change, the company said. In the manufacture of traditional petroleum-based motor oil, it takes nearly three barrels of oil to make one barrel of product, while Green Earth claimed its scientists have developed a way to yield one barrel of product from one barrel of animal fat.

G-Oil was launched to retailers at the recently concluded Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (AAPEX) in Las Vegas.

Menlo Park-based GET also markets a family of products that includes automotive and marine performance and appearance chemicals, household cleaning solutions and lawn and garden chemicals.