New-car fuel-economy stickers promise abundant information and connectivity

Officials from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) put two basic proposals out to consumers for a vote. These car window stickers provide much more detailed information than today's Monroney stickers, giving consumers details on energy consumption and environmental impact.

Behind those proposed fuel-economy grade labels are a lot of numbers, including:

• City and highway fuel economy ratings
• Long-term fuel costs
• Comparative ratings against all other cars
• Greenhouse gas emissions in grams per mile, as well as a comparisonagainst all other cars
• A bar comparing air pollution that is not included in the overall letter grade

One proposal includes all this information, along with a letter grade that attempts to sum it all up into one ranking. The other one contains less information, boiling it all down to overall energy cost for five years.

The array of information that goes into the new government ratings can be mind-boggling. Some might think they need a PhD in physics. But if it's presented too simply, something inevitably gets lost. The letter grades are not arbitrary, but mathematically derived from all the factors above. Therefore, the agencies are grappling with how much information to provide on the sticker, and how to provide deeper information for consumers who want it. ( Tell the EPA which format you prefer and answer our informal poll below.)

That's where both proposals use new technology to expand the sticker electronically. Both will list a website where consumers can look up deeper information for every car. But for certain smartphone users, the process is even easier. In one corner of each proposal is a black-and-white image called a QR Code ("QR" for quick response), similar to a bar code. The QR code allows a consumer to take a picture of the code with smartphone cameras, and the phone will automatically load the webpage with additional information. That seems pretty slick.

One of the biggest challenges comes from presenting gasoline-equivalent energy consumption for electric cars, for which overall efficiency and pollution are determined more by where the electricity comes from than from the car. The agencies have no legal authority to gauge the efficiency of powerplants for vehicles. But using the website and location information can allow you to see the implications for choosing an electric car over a gasoline-powered one, for example. As electric vehicles become more widely available, that could be an important resource for potential customers.

—Eric Evarts

The poll is not scientific. It reflects the opinions of only those Web users who have chosen to participate. The results cannot be assumed to represent the opinions of Web users in general, nor the public as a whole. Consumers Union is not responsible for content, functionality or the opinions expressed therein.

See our guide to fuel economy for advice on saving gasoline. Learn about future technologies in our guide to alternative fuels.