Nov 23 2009

Chrysler's Number One

Posted by: Jonathan Marshall

It's a dubious honor, but Chrysler can now boast of being number one--in average CO2 emissions per vehicle.

Based on preliminary data, the EPA reports that the average Chrysler vehicle for model year 2009 pumped out 476 grams of this greenhouse pollutant for every mile traveled, topping General Motors (447 g/mi) and Ford (434 g/mi).

Chrysler, which had the biggest improvement in emissions from 2007 to 2008, gave up nearly all those gains in this model year. 

Mileage and CO2 emissions per mile are inversely related. Thus Chrysler's cars averaged only 18.7 mpg, compared to 20.5 for Ford.

Evidently the Big Three, or at least the majority of their customers, have only recently heard of global warming. In contrast, Honda, Hyundai-Kya, Toyota and Volkswagen all managed to build cars averaging less than 400 g/mi.

In fairness, Ford now has an impressive lineup of hybrid vehicles, like the highly rated Fusion, and plans to electrify at least 10 pecent of its fleet by 2020.

GM is preparing to unleash its highly anticipated hybrid electric Volt, which earned plaudits ("extremely refined vehicle") from a New York Times reporter who test drove it.

As for Chrysler, its new owner, Fiat, recently killed prospects of the automaker launching a new line of hybrid or all-electric vehicles. That should keep Chrysler on top of the list for some time to come.

Overall, thanks to Americans' love affair with big, heavy and fast vehicles, the cars and light trucks they buy have become more carbon polluting in recent years, not less, the EPA reports.

In 1987, the average light duty vehicle sold in the United States got 22 mpg and emitted 405 grams of CO2 per mile. By 2009, average fuel economy had declined to 21.1 mpg and CO2 emissions had risen to 422 g/mi.

On the brighter side, the average vehicle today can accelerate from 0 to 60 in only 9.5 seconds, down from 13.1 seconds in 1987, despite being 900 pounds heavier.

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