Trump administration set to roll out lower fuel economy standards for cars, light trucks

The Trump administration on Monday plans to release new fuel economy standards that would relax regulatory requirements for automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and light trucks.

Official response and confirmed impact

President Donald Trump said on his Truth Social media account Saturday that the less stringent mileage requirements would “take the waste out of building cars in America” and save families “thousands on a new, beautiful and safe car,” while boosting auto production in the U.S.

Fuel economy requirements set out how far new vehicles need to travel on a gallon of gasoline.

The change would further make do on Trump’s promise to revoke policies that encouraged or created incentives for the production of electric vehicles.

Since taking office, Trump has relaxed auto tailpipe emissions rules, repealed fines for automakers that do not meet federal mileage standards and terminated consumer credits of up to $7,500 for EV purchases.

Incident background

Last December, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration projected that the new standards would set the industry fleetwide average for light-duty vehicles at roughly 34.5 miles per gallon in the 2031 model year, down from a projected 50.4 miles per gallon in 2031 under rules put in place by the Biden administration.