Automotive CO2 Emissions Characterization by U.S. Light-Duty Vehicle Platform (November,2004 / Clean Transportation Program)

Raising the fuel economy of automobiles to lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions affects many aspects of vehicle design. Automakers organize their production using platforms, representing shared engineering across different models. A platform level of aggregation is therefore useful when examining the opportunities for and impacts of redesign. This paper explores the CO2 emissions-related characteristics of major platforms in the U.S. market, using data for model year 2002.