Overview
- The Department of Transportation finalized the rule on Monday setting a fleetwide average of about 34.9 miles per gallon for model year 2031, reversing the Biden-era trajectory toward roughly 50.4 mpg.
- The administration says the rule will lower new-vehicle prices, citing an average saving of about $1,300 per car and roughly $138 billion in five-year savings for buyers and sellers.
- DOT’s own estimates show the rollback will increase fuel consumption and greenhouse gas and air-polluting emissions for decades, including projected annual increases in CO2 and higher levels of soot and smog-forming pollutants by the mid-2030s.
- Automakers and their trade group praised the change as aligning rules with market conditions, while environmental groups including the Sierra Club and Center for Biological Diversity vowed to sue and warned consumers could pay more at the pump over a vehicle’s life.
- The rule follows earlier Trump actions that removed EV tax credits, relaxed tailpipe limits and repealed fines for missed mileage targets, and it creates compliance credits for automakers because standards are retroactively lowered to 2022 levels, setting up legal and political fights ahead.