President Donald Trump unveiled plans Wednesday to slash the strict Biden-era fuel efficiency standards that he has long lambasted as an “EV mandate.”
“We are officially terminating Joe Biden’s ridiculously burdensome — horrible, actually — CAFE standards that imposed expensive restrictions,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office, using the acronym for Corporate Average Fuel Economy.
He was joined by the CEOs of major American automakers Ford and Stellantis, who praised the president’s decision to drastically loosen regulations on gas-powered vehicles.
Under former President Joe Biden, CAFE standards were significantly tightened to require automakers to increase the fuel efficiency of passenger cars and light trucks to 50 miles per gallon by 2031.
But Trump on Wednesday proposed standards that would require cars to get 34 miles per gallon by 2031, as overseen by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
American Petroleum Institute Mike Sommers, whose group has been lobbying the Trump administration to repeal the Biden-era standards, called the proposed change “a win for American drivers.”
The Biden administration’s standards had been cast as an attempt to crack down on pollution and boost the manufacture and sale of electric vehicles in the US – amounting to a mandate to buy EVs, according to Trump.
The White House said the new standards would help ease the cost of living – a major concern for Americans – since automakers would not be forced to sell EVs at a loss and raise prices on gas vehicles to make up the difference.
Environmentalists have argued that looser standards will worsen pollution and cost consumers more at the gas pump, anyway.
“We can make real progress on carbon emissions and energy efficiency while still giving customers choice and affordability. This is a win for customers and common sense,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement.
Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa said the company, which owns Jeep and Ram, “appreciates the Trump Administration’s actions to re-align the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards with real world market conditions.”
Trump’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act repealed financial penalties for automakers that don’t meet fuel efficiency requirements. His new proposal would firm up the change in policy.
Since taking office, the president has also signed a law to block California from enforcing a ban on new gas-powered car sales, and Congress has ended federal tax credits for EV purchases.
Meanwhile, automakers have backed off their EV production commitments, instead putting those funds toward gas vehicles and in some cases canceling plans for EV and battery factories.
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