My New Favorite Hobby...

Submitting comments to federal agencies for the Federal Register. Let's see how many four letter words I can let slip through the cracks! My first missive is directed towards the Environmental Protection Agency in response to their ridiculous new fuel economy labels for new cars (see my post earlier today):


Dear EPA: I'm glad to see that my tax dollar is being well spent on asinine projects like this fuel economy label. No doubt countless man hours were spent thinking up these fancy new graphics. Exactly how many pieces of silver is required these days to encourage the average EPA employee to screw in a light bulb?

There are some glaring oversights with the proposed labels. First, the labels for electric and hybrid vehicles fail to account for any kind of long-term cost involved with the replacement or servicing of the battery. Anyone who uses a cell phone, laptop or even something as simple as an electric razor knows that battery performance decreases with use over time. With decreased battery performance comes decreased driving range for electric vehicles (EVs). Besides the performance of the battery, when it comes time to replace it for a new one, what are the monetary and environmental costs of battery disposal? This is not accounted for on the revised label.

Second, the following statement in the update is troubling: "Despite several requests to put the charging times for EVs and plug-ins on the label, the agencies left it off, since they have no standards for measuring it." Nothing screams “politically motivated” more than that statement. Is it really that hard to calculate charging times? The last time I checked, this can be figured out by dividing the capacity of the battery by the charging current power output of the charger.

Third, why do these labels remind me of the terror alert chart? Did you all consult with the guys over at Homeland Security on this project? Why does the EPA think the American public is so mentally challenged that we need colors and grades to make an informed choice about what is, for many, the second most expensive purchase one will make? There are a million other sources of automotive research at our fingertips besides the EPA Fuel Economy labels that can help steer consumers towards a wise purchase.

Then again, this whole proposal makes sense because of one simple feature on these new labels: the QR code for smart phones. For those without a Mensa membership, it is a convenience relied on by many as an intermediary between themselves and reality.