Progress Made Implementing the Alternative Motor Fuels Act of 1988

GAO discussed the Department of Energy's (DOE) implementation of the Alternative Motor Fuels Act of 1988. GAO noted that: (1) technological readiness problems, market uncertainties, and other factors resulted in automobile manufacturers not providing DOE with the quantity, type, and size of alternative-fueled light-duty vehicles it desired; (2) DOE experienced much higher than projected additional costs for procuring and placing such vehicles; (3) those additional costs resulted in DOE delay in collecting vehicle performance data; (4) the extent to which future corporate average fuel economy credits will encourage manufacturers to build alternative-fueled light-duty vehicles was uncertain and depended on such factors such as development costs and gasoline prices; (5) DOE was unable to establish a commercial heavy-duty truck program or collect data to study the trucks' use of alcohol and natural gas fuel, as required by the act; and (6) DOE only collected performance and emissions data on a limited number of alternative-fueled buses through 1990, but it expected to place and test more buses in service during the remainder of 1991.