US to announce sharply lower vehicle fuel economy requirements
F•Background on the proposed changes
Biden focused on reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel use, accelerating a transition to clean energy and making the U.S. a global leader in clean-energy technology and manufacturing.
NHTSA in December proposed retroactively revising down the 2022 fuel economy standard and then raising it between 0.25% and 0.5% annually through 2031. Biden increased required fuel efficiency for cars by 8% annually for model years 2024 and 2025, 10% for 2026 and 2% annually from 2027 to 2031.
Automakers get future compliance credits for achieving higher-than-required efficiency in prior model years, so the Trump administration's retroactive change to 2022 will make it easier for the companies to meet future fuel standards.
Biden's rules sought to prod automakers to build more electric vehicles to meet the rising fuel-efficiency standards.
NHTSA estimated its proposal would cut new vehicle costs by $930 each. But it would increase fuel consumption by around 100 billion gallons through 2050, fuel spending by $185 billion and carbon dioxide emissions by about 5%.
