WASHINGTON – Under modern federal regulations unveiled Friday by the Biden administration, modern vehicles sold in the U.S. will be required to average about 38 miles per gallon of gas in real-world conditions in 2031, up from about 29 mpg this year.
The final rule will boost fuel economy by 2% per year in model years 2027 through 2031 for passenger cars, while SUVs and other lightweight trucks will boost by 2% per year in model years 2029 through 2031, consistent with requirements published by the National Highway Administration Road Traffic Safety.
The final figures are below a last year’s proposal. Administration officials said the less stringent requirements would allow the auto industry the flexibility to focus on electric vehicles, adding that higher fuel economy requirements would impose significant costs on consumers without enough fuel savings to offset them.
President Joe Biden has set this goal for himself half of all modern vehicles sold in the US in 2030 are electric, part of his efforts to fight climate change. Gasoline-powered vehicles constitute the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.
Sales of 50% would represent a huge boost over current electric vehicle sales, which rose to 7.6% of modern vehicle sales last year, up from 5.8% in 2022.
Even as he promotes electric vehicles, Biden needs the auto industry’s cooperation and political support from auto workers, a key political bloc as the Democratic president seeks re-election in November. The United Auto Workers union has endorsed Biden but said it wants to make sure the transition to electric vehicles does not result in job losses and that the industry pays top wages to workers building electric vehicles and batteries.
Biden’s likely opponent, former President Donald Trump, and other Republicans have done so condemned Biden’s push for electric vehicles as unfair to consumers and an example of government overreach.
The modern standards will save nearly 70 billion gallons of gasoline by 2050 while preventing more than 710 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions by midcentury, the Biden administration says.
“These modern standards will not only save Americans money every time they fill up their tank, but they will also reduce harmful pollution and make America less dependent on foreign oil,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “These standards will save car owners over $600 in gas costs over the life of their vehicle.”
The road safety agency said it was trying to bring its rules in line with the modern ones Environmental Protection Agency regulations tightening tailpipe emissions standards. However, if discrepancies occur, car manufacturers will likely have to comply with the most stringent regulations.
In the byzantine world of government regulation, both agencies are essentially responsible for setting fuel economy requirements, because the fastest way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to burn less gasoline.
Fuel economy data used by The Associated Press reflects real-world driving conditions, which include factors such as air resistance, hills and air conditioning operate. Due to these factors, actual numbers are lower than the standard mileage proposed by NHTSA.
“These modern fuel economy standards will save our nation billions of dollars, lend a hand reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, and make the air cleaner for everyone,” said NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman.
John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a leading industry group, said the Biden administration “appears to have adopted a CAFE rule that works with other recent federal tailpipe regulations.” Bozzella used the acronym for fuel standards, which are officially known as corporate average fuel economy policies.
“At some point,” Bozzella added, “we’re going to have to talk about whether there’s really a need for CAFE (standards) in a world that’s rapidly moving toward electrification” of its vehicle fleet.
Fuel economy standards are “a relic of the 1970s,” Bozzella said, “a policy that promotes energy conservation and energy independence by increasing the efficiency of internal combustion vehicles. But these vehicles are already very productive. And electric vehicles don’t burn anything. They don’t even have an exhaust pipe.
Dan Becker of the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group, blasted the modern rules as inadequate.
The highway safety agency should have set stringent standards for gas-powered vehicles, he said, “but instead it sat on tailpipes, leaving automakers free to produce cars, SUVs and pickup trucks that will gouge and pollute the environment for decades to come, keeping America going.” stuck in oil.”
The administration “yielded to pressure from automakers and came up with a tender rule requiring only a 2 percent improvement” in fuel economy per year, Becker said, adding that the rule fell compact of the agency’s desire to set technologically superior fuel economy standards. possible level.
NHTSA said its rule covers a 10% improvement per year for commercial pickup trucks and delivery trucks. Automakers can meet these demands by offering a combination of electric vehicles, gas-electric hybrids, and improved efficiency of gasoline and diesel vehicles.
