EPA Administrator Zeldin says it is necessary "to protect consumer choice."
Fuel gauge, Focus on display Fuel gauge, Focus on display
Now you can look forward to more frequent fill ups, thanks to the Trump EPA. Credit: Getty Images
The US Environmental Protection Agency is throwing out fuel economy regulations that were planned to go into effect from 2026 through 2032. The new regulations would have required automakers to sell many more electric vehicles than they currently do, although due to lobbying, the previous administration softened the rules to allow for more plug-in hybrid EVs alongside battery EVs.
This was widely expected to happen; the first Trump administration was tireless in its attempts to roll back vehicle pollution controls. Then, its argument in favor of more pollution was that fuel economy standards would kill people. Now, things are less strident: We will suffer more smog and climate change in the name of consumer freedom.
"The American auto industry has been hamstrung by the crushing regulatory regime of the last administration. As we reconsider nearly one trillion dollars of regulatory costs, we will abide by the rule of law to protect consumer choice and the environment," said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.
From 54.5 mpg to 40.4 mpg
When Ars first started covering the automotive industry, Barack Obama was in the White House, and the EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had us on the road to a corporate average fuel efficiency target of 54.5 mpg (4.3 L/100 km) this year.
By 2016, that plan was looking unrealistic, in part thanks to a love of cheap gasoline and big SUVs with thirsty engines. Two years later, with a different party in control of the government, the EPA was fighting a number of states in court over the federal regulator's plan to water down fuel economy and air pollution standards.
In 2020, we finally got a look at those neutered regulations, which set a fleet average goal of just 40.4 mpg (5.8 L/100 km), or just 34.1 mpg (6.9 L/100 km) for SUVs and trucks.
Under former President Joe Biden, the EPA went back to its congressionally mandated job of caring about pollution. Some of the damage done under the first Trump administration was undone in 2021 with stricter fuel efficiency regulations, which worked; real-world emissions for all new vehicles were lower for model year 2022 than for any other year the EPA had measured.
But the prospect of having to sell more EVs was not well-received by the nation's car dealers. Always a very politically active constituency, the dealers lobbied the Biden administration to undo what they said was a plan to ban "the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles."
With a change in presidents, the dealers got what they wanted. In late January, NHTSA was ordered to review its fuel economy standards, and now the EPA is following suit.