Trump Approves New Fuel Economy Standards, Ending Biden EV Mandate

President Donald Trump stated he approved new fuel economy standards, ending the Biden EV mandate.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated the new standards will be finalized on Monday, September 28, 2026. Trump claimed the "Dumocrats cost our Great Auto Manufacturers $Billions, forced Americans into cars they never wanted, and wasted Billions on Chargers that were never built." Under former President Joe Biden, the government sought to push automakers to build more electric vehicles to meet rising fuel-efficiency standards.

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. The Trump administration in December proposed retroactively revising down the 2022 model year fuel economy standard and then raising it between 0.25% and 0.5% annually through 2031. The Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards were established in 1975 and have been periodically updated.

Trump's policy change fulfills a campaign promise to rescind policies that encouraged or incentivized electric vehicles. The new standards would cut the cost of new vehicles but increase fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions for decades, according to the Transportation Department's own estimates. Trump presented the policy change as a "BIG DAY FOR AMERICAN AUTO WORKERS AND CAR BUYERS!" promising "LOWER PRICES, saving families thousands on a new, beautiful, and safe car."

He also stated that "Every Manufacturer, from General Motors to Ford to Stellantis, has called me wanting to build here, and now they can!" Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg replied that manufacturing jobs are down under Trump, the strategy failed, and lowering standards hands clean tech to China while forcing higher pump prices. The previous EPA order under Biden had aimed for about 67 percent of new light-duty and medium-duty vehicle sales to be electric by 2032. The final technical details of the new fuel economy standards have not yet been publicly detailed.