The Department of Transportation announced on Monday that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has finalized new rules for fuel efficiency standards that will reverse standards set by the Biden administration. Whereas previous standards would have seen new vehicles average 50.4 miles per gallon by 2031, that threshold has now been reduced to 34.9 miles per gallon.
President Donald Trump announced over the weekend that fuel efficiency standards would be reversed, touting on his Truth Social account that the changes would “terminate” what he called a “ridiculous EV mandate.” Despite a once-chummy relationship with Elon Musk—which even saw the president supposedly purchase a red Tesla from the CEO in 2025—Trump trashed electric vehicles, calling them “environmental monsters.”
Sean Duffy, the Transportation secretary, likewise lambasted the fuel efficiency standards embraced by former President Joe Biden’s administration, claiming that such changes “made our roads less safe and drove up costs for hardworking Americans.” The Department of Transportation is estimating that reduced fuel efficiency standards will lower the average cost of a new vehicle by $1,300 and save lives by encouraging new car sales.
“We have finally ended the illegal mandate that forced automakers to produce more expensive electric vehicles that American families didn’t want,” Duffy said in a statement. “This administration is delivering relief to families and reviving the beating heart of American manufacturing.”
No federal policy exists that mandates the production of electric vehicles. Still, the Trump administration claims that its predecessors created fuel efficiency standards that were “set so high that they created a backdoor electric vehicle mandate.”
A POLARIZING CHANGE
As with most anything the Trump administration does, people quickly lined up to express their support or disappointment in the new fuel efficiency rules.
John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group that represents the major U.S. automakers, called the new rules “the right call” given current market realities and customer demand. “Today’s final rule is an appropriate course correction,” he said in a statement to ABC News.
But environmental groups like the Sierra Club blasted the changes, vowing to fight back. ” Less fuel-efficient cars mean more gas burned, spending more at the pump, and dirtier air in our communities,” Katherine García, director of Sierra Club Clean Transportation for All, said in a statement. “Americans need relief from high costs, but instead Trump is giving automakers a free pass on pollution and handing families the bill—at the pump and with their health.”
GAS PRICES IN FOCUS
Even if the U-turn on fuel efficiency standards won’t affect most Americans immediately, the spike in gas prices has emerged as a major concern among voters with only 36 days until midterm elections,
The average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline nationwide has surged nearly 43% in the past year, according to AAA, while diesel prices are up 75% and reached an all-time high last week.
One measure of consumer sentiment notched its second-lowest reading on record for September as high gas prices have made many Americans sour on the state of the economy.
Still, Trump has sought to downplay the impact of gas prices that have surged in the eight months since the Iran war began. He has said that the tradeoff of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is worth it.
“It’s a very inexpensive price to pay for what we’ve done,” Trump said of the war earlier this month, while campaigning in North Carolina.