Congress Adds $6,000 to the Cost of Your New Car

The new energy bill will require automakers to increase average fuel economy standards to 35 mpg and many car buyers are looking forward to buying gas a little less frequently. But how long will it take you to make up the $6,000 increased cost of your car in fewer gas purchases?

DETROIT — General Motors Corp. Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said Sunday the new fuel efficiency requirements imposed by Congress last month would add $6,000 to the price of an average GM vehicle by the end of the next decade...

"We've done even more research and it's going to be in the range of $4,000 to $10,000 with an average of about $6,000," Lutz said. "This is going to be a net average of cost of $6,000 per vehicle which will have to be passed onto the consumer. The good news is it won't come all at once, because 35 mpg doesn't kick in all at once."

Thank you, Congress and President Bush.

However, it's not just the cost in dollars that will be exacted from the new law (h/t The Corner):

I think the best argument against CAFE standards is that they're deadly. They artificially reduce the weight and therefore safety of the American fleet, forcing people to buy less safe cars. This is not some fanciful claim, but one based on the laws of physics and something that has been recognized for years.

In 2001, a National Academy of Sciences panel concluded that the fuel economy program has contributed to between 1,300 to 2,600 traffic deaths each year, by restricting the production of large cars.

More recent investigation from the National Highways Traffic Safety Administration has confirmed this effect and actually found it to be "substantially larger" than previously thought. It also found that each relative 100 pound reduction in the weight of a light truck or van increased that vehicle's occupant fatality rate by about 3 percent, while negligibly decreasing risk to occupants of other vehicles.

In fact, studies suggest that increasing the CAFE standard to 40 miles per gallon could result in 5000 extra deaths on the road each year. Think about that the next time you hear a liberal say that the Iraq death toll is all about oil.

Ralph Nader, of course, made his name campaigning for auto safety. He used to acknowledge that smaller cars, like the old beetle, were unsafe because of their lack of weight. Today, he's fully signed up to the CAFE crusade. People who press for higher fuel economy standards do so in full awareness of the extra lives that will be lost on the road as a result.