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This is the time of year when many good citizens start getting down to serious procrastination over the filing of their income taxes. But as daunting as Form 1040 may be, its puzzling intricacies are child's play compared with the tangle of federal laws, policies and regulations that apply to the fuel economy of cars and trucks. Under the government's system, an S.U.V. rated by the Environmental Protection Agency at 12 miles per gallon in city driving and 16 m.p.g. highway is an upstanding citizen, in full compliance with fuel economy guidelines. But a station wagon that is rated at 16 city/24 highway, a very significant improvement over the S.U.V., will incur a gas guzzler tax of $1,000. The rules are straightforward in this case: light trucks are not subject to guzzler tax, but passenger cars are. Then what about that superluxury sedan powered by a turbocharged V-12 that can only squeeze mileage of
12/17 from each gallon? It pays nothing, because it weighs more than 6,000 pounds. This exemption applies to the Maybach 57 and 62 sedans, built by a division of Mercedes-Benz. However, the Rolls-Royce Phantom, lighter in weight and better in fuel economy, pays a $3,000 penalty. No matter what you think of the environmental stewardship practiced by the makers of these vehicles, it is the government that sets the rules and enforces them. Automakers risk hefty fines for failing to meet the standards of Corporate Average Fuel Economy, so the incentive to develop gas-saving technologies is powerful.