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The U.S. Transportation Department on Monday finalized sharply lower vehicle fuel economy standards, President Donald Trump\u2019s latest effort to encourage \u200csales of gasoline-powered vehicles and reverse former President Joe Biden\u2019s push toward greater fuel efficiency and EVs.<\/strong><\/p>\n The new standards will cut the cost of new vehicles but increase fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions for decades, according to the department\u2019s estimates.<\/p>\n US drivers have been grappling \u200bwith sharply higher fuel prices since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran at the end \u200bof February.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s Transportation Department said it was finalizing a fleetwide average of 34.9 miles per \u2060gallon (14.7 km per liter) by 2031, down from 50.4 miles per gallon (21.4 km per liter) under Biden.<\/p>\n USDOT said the \u200bregulation will reduce manufacturers\u2019 average cost per vehicle to comply by $1,289 but increase fuel costs by more than $1,600 over the \u200blife of the vehicles. USDOT said the rule would increase US gasoline consumption by 4.6% through 2050 compared to the Biden rules but also boost new car sales.<\/p>\n In 2024, the Biden administration finalized rules to push automakers to build more electric vehicles to meet \u200brising fuel-efficiency standards. Biden increased required fuel efficiency for cars by 8% annually for model years 2024 and \u200b2025, 10% for 2026 and 2% annually from 2027 to 2031.<\/p>\n The rules will also end credit trading among automakers in 2028, \u200cwhich \u2060previously was a significant source of income for EV manufacturers like Tesla and Rivian.<\/p>\n The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the trade group representing General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Ford and other major automakers, said the government \u201cmade the right call to better align fuel economy standards with the law and current market conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n The group added that the Biden \u200brules \u201ceffectively required a switchover to \u200belectric vehicles that was \u2060out of step with market realities and customer demand.\u201d<\/p>\n The Sierra Club, an environmental group, said it will fight Trump\u2019s rollback of fuel economy standards. \u201cAmericans need relief from high \u200bcosts, but instead Trump is giving automakers a free pass on pollution and \u200bhanding families the \u2060bill \u2014 at the pump and with their health,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n Trump has mounted a multi-pronged effort to make it easier to sell gasoline-powered vehicles and last year scrapped a $7,500 new EV tax credit. The Environmental Protection Agency in February repealed \u2060a scientific \u200bfinding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health, and eliminated federal \u200btailpipe emissions standards for cars and trucks.<\/p>\n Environmental groups noted that fleet-wide fuel economy averaged 35.4 mpg in 2024 \u2014 which is lower than what \u200bthe government wants to require in 2031.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n