The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) said Friday that the fuel economy standards set under former President Biden went beyond legal authority. The Biden Administration included electric vehicles (EVs) in calculating fuel economy under the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Program (CAFE).
The Trump Administration has now published a new rule called “Resetting the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Program.” This rule states that the Biden-era regulations exceeded legal limits.
Last month, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) submitted the new rule for review. The DOT described this as a key step to undo what it calls the “illegal interpretation” of CAFE standards, which it says made cars more expensive for working families.
Secretary Duffy said the Biden-Buttigieg administration used CAFE standards as a “backdoor electric vehicle mandate,” raising car prices. On his first day in office, President Trump issued an executive order aiming to eliminate the EV mandate. The goal is to promote real consumer choice and remove regulatory barriers to vehicle access.
The Trump Administration is also looking at ending subsidies and other government policies that favor EVs. These policies, it argues, force people, businesses, and government agencies to buy electric vehicles by making other vehicles too costly.
Republican lawmakers have pushed for more than a year to end the so-called EV mandate. In a letter last January, over 120 lawmakers said the combined NHTSA and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposals would act as a de facto EV mandate. They warned it could raise costs, limit consumer choice, harm U.S. businesses, threaten energy and national security, and give China control of the automotive industry.