US Department of Transportation doubles down on gas, cuts fuel efficiency standards

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US Department of Transportation doubles down on gas, cuts fuel efficiency standards

<p>The Department of Transportation under President Donald Trump is moving to reverse more of the climate policies that had been enacted by President Joe Biden. Under a proposed <a target="_blank" class="link" href="https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/2025-12/CAFE-LD-2022-2031-Notice-of-Proposed-Rulemaking.pdf" data-i13n="cpos:1;pos:1">rulemaking[/url] by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks in model year 2031 will be reduced to an average of 34.5 miles per gallon, down from the standard of 50.4 miles per gallon that was part of Biden's plans to encourage more adoption of electric vehicles among US drivers.&nbsp;</p><p>The move was expected since Trump re-took office. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy <a target="_blank" class="link" href="https://www.engadget.com/transportation/us-department-of-transportation-moves-to-cut-fuel-efficiency-standards-235205073.html" data-i13n="cpos:2;pos:1">ordered[/url] the NHTSA to review fuel efficiency standards in January a day after he assumed the title. The current administration also <a target="_blank" class="link" href="https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/trumps-big-beautiful-bill-is-bad-for-american-evs-but-it-could-have-been-worse-210155196.html" data-i13n="cpos:3;pos:1">ended[/url] a tax credit for buying electric vehicles over the summer. In the meantime, international manufacturers are <a target="_blank" class="link" href="https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/honda-shows-off-three-new-evs-in-tokyo-but-its-us-plans-are-getting-more-tepid-150000775.html" data-i13n="cpos:4;pos:1">racing ahead[/url] in their progress on building better EVs, offering <a target="_blank" class="link" href="https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a69532523/tariff-turmoil-keeps-kias-us-ev-lineup-from-expandingat-least-for-now/" data-i13n="cpos:5;pos:1">other markets[/url] more exciting models that won’t arrive in the US thanks to <a target="_blank" class="link" href="https://www.engadget.com/transportation/trump-temporarily-eases-car-tariffs-following-automaker-complaints-130011086.html" data-i13n="cpos:6;pos:1">tariffs[/url].</p><p>While Trump's <a target="_blank" class="link rapid-with-clickid" href="https://shopping.yahoo.com/rdlw?merchantId=c813ae39-7d58-41cb-ac66-ad830606ceef&amp;siteId=us-engadget&amp;pageId=1p-autolink&amp;contentUuid=68b40d7b-4df0-43ea-877d-f9d18a848df3&amp;featureId=text-link&amp;merchantName=The+New+York+Times&amp;linkText=announcement&amp;custData=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&amp;signature=AQAAAYCrP23nSyqdPXLo1eFo9RzYyTeHUR0hYqTobyyJ-x7W&amp;gcReferrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F12%2F03%2Fclimate%2Ftrump-fuel-economy-car-rules.html%3Fcampaign_id%3D60%26emc%3Dedit_na_20251203%26instance_id%3D167424%26nl%3Dbreaking-news%26regi_id%3D59282005%26segment_id%3D211745%26user_id%3Db2141d7f23397d1e534668500bcfeb63" data-i13n="elm:affiliate_link;sellerN:The New York Times;elmt:;cpos:7;pos:1" data-original-link="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/climate/trump-fuel-economy-car-rules.html?campaign_id=60&amp;emc=edit_na_20251203&amp;instance_id=167424&amp;nl=breaking-news&amp;regi_id=59282005&amp;segment_id=211745&amp;user_id=b2141d7f23397d1e534668500bcfeb63">announcement[/url] today claimed that the change would reduce the average cost of a new car by $1,000 and offer a savings of $109 billion over five years,  gas prices are <a target="_blank" class="link" href="https://electrek.co/2025/07/29/energy-depts-own-numbers-say-todays-rollback-would-raise-fuel-costs-by-76c-gal/" data-i13n="cpos:8;pos:1">on track to increase[/url] if the Environmental Protection Agency does successfully <a target="_blank" class="link" href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-releases-proposal-rescind-obama-era-endangerment-finding-regulations-paved-way" data-i13n="cpos:9;pos:1">repeal[/url] the finding that climate change causes human harm. Plus there's the incalculable financial and human cost of a growing number of catastrophic weather events that have been <a target="_blank" class="link" href="https://www.engadget.com/science/2024-is-on-its-way-to-being-the-hottest-year-ever-211524257.html" data-i13n="cpos:10;pos:1">predicted[/url] if the planet continues to get warmer.</p>This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/us-department-of-transportation-doubles-down-on-gas-cuts-fuel-efficiency-standards-234542939.html?src=rss

Source: US Department of Transportation doubles down on gas, cuts fuel efficiency standards