Trump rolls back car fuel efficiency standards

The Trump administration has finalized a rollback of federal fuel efficiency rules for cars, replacing a Biden-era target with a much weaker one. Under the earlier rules, the nation's vehicle fleet would have been expected to average 50. 4 miles per gallon by 2031. The new standard, announced Monday, sets that figure at 34. 9 miles per gallon, according to NewsNation · Time.

Administration officials say the change will lower sticker prices, estimating a savings of $1,300 per new vehicle on average. Critics counter that drivers could end up paying more at the pump, and that the looser requirements may increase pollution and aggravate climate change. The Biden administration had projected that its stricter approach, which called for yearly gains of 2 percent from model year 2027 through 2031, would save motorists more than $600 in fuel costs over a vehicle's lifetime.

President Donald Trump promoted the decision in a weekend Truth Social post, calling it a "BIG DAY FOR AMERICAN AUTO WORKERS AND CAR BUYERS" and saying he had approved standards that end what he described as an electric vehicle mandate pushed by his predecessor and Pete Buttigieg. He also accused Democrats of costing automakers billions and forcing consumers into vehicles they did not want.

The rules had already lost most of their force. Trump's signature tax and spending law reduced the penalty for missing the targets to zero dollars.

Summarized by PolitiKool from NewsNation · Time’s reporting. Read the full story at NewsNation · Time →