Searching for hidden costs: A technology-based approach to the energy efficiency gap in light-duty vehicles |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, Canada;2. Ryerson University, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada;3. McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8N 4A6, Canada;4. Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada;5. Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada;6. Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC H3C 3P8, Canada;7. Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, McGill University, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada;8. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil;9. Centre for Addition and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, ON M6J 1H4, Canada;10. Departments of Physiology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada |
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| Abstract: | The benefit-cost analysis of standards to reduce vehicle greenhouse gas emissions and improve fuel economy by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) displays large net benefits from fuel savings for new vehicle buyers. This finding points to an energy efficiency gap: the energy-saving technology provided in private markets appears not to include all the technologies that produce net private benefits. The gap exists if the costs of energy-saving technologies are lower than the present value of fuel reductions, and “hidden costs” – undesirable aspects of the new technologies – do not exceed the net financial benefits. This study examines the existence of hidden costs in energy-saving technologies through a content analysis of auto reviews of model-year 2014 vehicles.Results suggest that it is possible to use fuel-saving technologies on vehicles without imposing hidden costs. For each technology examined, reviews with positive evaluations outnumbered those with negative evaluations. Evidence is scant of a robust relationship between vehicles’ use of energy-saving technologies and negatively rated operational characteristics, such as handling or acceleration. Results do not provide evidence for hidden costs as the explanation of the efficiency gap for vehicle fuel-saving technologies. |
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| Keywords: | Energy efficiency gap Energy paradox Light-duty vehicles Content analysis Vehicle fuel efficiency Vehicle greenhouse gas standards |
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