U.S. President Donald Trump announced a proposal to ease vehicle mileage regulations for the auto industry and ease regulatory pressure on automakers to curb pollution from gasoline-powered cars and trucks.
The plan was announced on Wednesday. If finalized next year, fuel efficiency requirements, which govern how far new cars must travel on a gallon (3.8 liters) of gas, will be significantly lowered to the 2031 model year.
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The rule will increase Americans’ access to all types of gas-powered vehicles they need and can afford, officials said. The administration predicts the new standards will set the industry-wide average mileage for light duty vehicles for the 2031 model year at about 34.5 miles per gallon. This will allow automakers to produce larger vehicles, such as sport utility vehicles, which are more profitable than smaller cars.
The move is the Trump administration’s latest move to reverse policies under former President Joe Biden that promoted clean-running cars and trucks, including electric vehicles (EVs). Combustion of gasoline for vehicles is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, and is the largest contributor in the United States.
President Trump announced the plan at a White House event attended by executives from the three major U.S. automakers and praised the planned changes. The auto industry has complained that it will be difficult to meet the Biden administration-era rules.
Since taking office in January, President Trump has loosened vehicle emissions regulations, eliminated fines for automakers that fail to meet federal mileage standards, and suspended consumer credits of up to $7,500 for the purchase of electric vehicles.
split response
Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement that the planned downsizing is a “victory for customers and common sense.”
“As America’s largest automobile producer, we are grateful for President Trump’s leadership in aligning fuel efficiency standards with market realities. We can make real progress on carbon emissions and energy efficiency while providing customers with choice and affordability,” said Farley.
Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa said the company appreciated the government’s move to realign standards “to align with real market conditions.”
Environmental activists condemned the decision.
“President Trump is exacerbating three of our nation’s most vexing problems in one fell swoop: our thirst for oil, the high cost of gas pumps, and global warming,” said Dan Becker, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Safe Climate Transportation Campaign.
“Eliminating the (gas economy) program means cars will burn more gas and American households will burn more cash,” said Katherine Garcia, director of the Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All program.
“This cutback will set the auto industry back and keep polluting roads on the road for years to come, threatening the health of millions of Americans, especially children and seniors,” she said.
The Trump administration has announced that major automakers will save more than $35 billion in technology costs by 2031 under significant cuts to vehicle fuel economy standards.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), General Motors could save $8.7 billion from 2027 to 2031, while Ford and Chrysler parent company Stellantis could each save more than $5 billion. Hyundai will save $4.6 billion, Subaru will save $3.8 billion, and Toyota will save $2.3 billion.
But at the same time, fuel costs for drivers are expected to rise, with U.S. drivers expected to pay up to $185 billion more by 2050, NHTSA reported.
EV false claims
President Trump has mistakenly referred to Biden’s goal of making half of all new car sales electric by 2030 and has repeatedly promised to end what he mistakenly calls an EV “mandate.” According to Cox Automotive, EVs will account for about 8% of new car sales in the U.S. in 2024.
Although there is no federal policy requiring car companies to sell EVs, California and other states have imposed rules requiring all new passenger cars sold in the state to be zero-emissions by 2035. Mr. Trump and Republicans in Congress blocked the California law earlier this year.
Shortly after taking office, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy asked the department to repeal existing fuel efficiency requirements, known as corporate average fuel economy. He said in June that the standards set under the Biden administration were illegal because they factored in the use of electric vehicles. EVs don’t run on gasoline. After the rule was revised in June, the Traffic Safety Bureau was given the authority to update the requirements.
Under the Biden administration, automakers were required to get their cars an average of about 50 miles (81 km) per gallon of gas by 2031, compared to 39 miles (63 km) now.
The Biden administration also increased fuel economy requirements for light duty vehicles by 2% annually for each model year from 2027 to 2031, and increased fuel economy requirements for SUVs and other light trucks by 2% annually from 2029 to 2031. At the same time, it called for strict tailpipe regulations aimed at promoting the spread of EVs.
According to NHTSA’s 2024 calculations, the 2024 standard will reduce the burning of 14 billion gallons of gasoline by 2050.
Waiving them would mean cars could produce 22,111 tons more carbon dioxide emissions per year in 2035 than under Biden-era regulations. This also means that an additional 90 tonnes of deadly soot particles and more than 4,870 tonnes of smog components (nitrogen oxides and volatile organic carbon) will be released into the atmosphere annually in the coming years.
Mileage regulations have been in place since the energy crisis of the 1970s, and automakers have gradually improved the average efficiency of their vehicles over time.
The proposal must undergo 45 days of public comment before being finalized.
