Review and evaluation of vehicle fuel efficiency labeling and consumer information programs
Vehicle Fuel Efficiency Labeling (VFEL) is used by numerous countries worldwide to improve the fuel efficiency of their transport fleets. The theory behind VFEL is that better-informed consumers are more likely to purchase fuel-efficient vehicles, and that market demand can improve the energy efficiency of the transport sector. Twelve of the 21 economies comprising the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) have implemented a VFEL program, and a thirteenth, Thailand, was due to unroll its own program in October 2015. Yet although some of these programs have been in place for close to two decades, there has been no comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of vehicle fuel efficiency labelling across a wide range of economies. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Secretariat commissioned this report from the ICCT to address this gap. Based on a review of the literature on VFEL and a survey of 18 economies (13 of which are members of APEC), the report aims to identify components of VFEL and best practices within each component. These findings were then used to evaluate existing VFEL programs in order to highlight areas in which individual programs met or fell short of best practice. The intent is that these findings will provide a sound basis to inform the establishment of new programs or improve existing programs.