On July 2, 2007, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport promulgated Japan's New Fuel Economy Standards for passenger cars, small buses and small freight trucks. The new standards have been incorporated into the ministry's directives and notification related to the Law Concerning the Rational Use of Energy.

The New Fuel Economy Standards are based on the average values of vehicles currently on the market in consideration of the prospect of technological progress (these are informally called "Top Runner Standards"). Automakers are required to improve fuel efficiency to meet the new standard values of 16.8 kilometers per liter for cars, 8.9 for small buses, and 15.2 for small freight trucks by fiscal 2015. These values represent improvements in fuel efficiency of 23.5 percent, 7.2 percent, and 12.6 percent, respectively, over levels in fiscal 2004.

Accompanying the revision of standards, the conventional test method for fuel efficiency was replaced with "JC08mode," which enjoys more realistic driving conditions. The JC08 is for vehicles less than 3.5 tons (J refers to Japan, C refers to Classes dynamo-based, 08 refers to start year for enforcement). During a transitional period until 2011, the fuel efficiency values using the conventional "10.15 mode" will be listed, in addition to those by "JC08mode", in catalogues. "10.15mode" assumes ideal conditions without traffic and on well-maintained roads. The new fuel efficiency values tend to be about 10 percent lower than those obtained using the old method.

Fuel economy standards for heavy-duty vehicles over 3.5 tons were established in March 2006. Therefore, standards for all classes of passenger car and freight vehicle have now been established until fiscal 2015.

http://www.mlit.go.jp/english/
http://www.eccj.or.jp/top_runner/pdf/vehicles_gasdiesel_feb2007.pdf
- Fuel Economy Standards Developed for Trucks & Buses (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/db/1416-e
- New Standards Drafted to Improve Fuel Efficiency by 24% in 2015 (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/db/1648-e

Posted: 2008/01/10 10:22:42 AM
Japanese version

TAG Energy , Government , Transportation