The US president has said he will end the so-called “EV mandate” to encourage consumers to turn to electric cars.
Published September 26, 2026
US President Donald Trump has announced new fuel economy standards that roll back requirements adopted under his predecessor, claiming they will lower car prices and encourage manufacturers to expand production in the US.
In a social media post on Saturday, President Trump said the new standards would “end” what he called former President Joe Biden’s “EV (electric vehicle) mandate,” accusing the previous administration of imposing expensive requirements on automakers and steering consumers toward electric vehicles.
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“These new standards will eliminate waste when manufacturing cars in America, which means lower prices and thousands of families saving money on beautiful, safe new cars,” President Trump wrote.
The changes are part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to reverse Biden-era policies favoring low-emission vehicles, widening the gap between U.S. policy and global trends favoring electric vehicles.
Although President Trump and the U.S. Republican Party have used the term “EV mandate” to describe higher fuel efficiency requirements introduced under the Democratic Biden administration, there are no federal guidelines or laws that require Americans to buy electric vehicles or prohibit the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles.
At the heart of this is the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard. The program was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1975 and requires automakers to meet average fuel economy targets for all cars and light trucks they sell. This means that brands that sell less efficient cars will also have to sell more efficient cars to comply with government standards.
Under rules finalized by the Biden administration in 2024, fuel economy requirements for all vehicles would rise from 39.1 miles per gallon (mpg) to about 50.4 mpg by 2031. At the time, the administration said the measure would reduce fuel consumption and emissions to fight climate change, while also saving motorists money at the pump.
As a result, automakers are ramping up production of EVs to meet fuel economy requirements imposed by Biden. However, the Republican-controlled US Congress abolished sales tax breaks for electric vehicles last year as part of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Mr. Trump did not provide details on what the new fuel efficiency standards would be. But in December 2025, he announced a proposal to set the industry-wide average fuel economy for small cars at about 34.5 mpg by 2031, more than 30% lower than Biden-era rules.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a repost of President Trump’s announcement that the announcement was “coming Monday.”
Al Jazeera has contacted the White House for comment.
