Trump administration cuts fuel economy standards back to 2014 levels

The US Department of Transportation has released a final rule for the country's Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards that rolls federal fuel-economy targets back to levels not seen in more than a decade. The new fleet-wide goal is just 34.9 mpg by model year 2031, below even the standards set in 2020, the last time Donald Trump was in office.

What changed

The rule comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and follows through on a pledge by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who said in January 2025 that fuel-efficiency standards introduced under the Biden administration were finished. Those rules would have required automakers to sell many more electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.

The 2020 rollback cut the target from 46.7 mpg for model year 2026 to 40.4 mpg. The new figure of 34.9 mpg is lower still, and some manufacturers may abandon EVs and plug-in hybrids altogether.

Credits end, plug-ins stop counting

The notice of final rulemaking criticizes emissions credits and blames them for discouraging investment in cleaner engine technology. From model year 2028 those credits disappear. Plug-in vehicles will also no longer be counted in an automaker's fleet average; under the previous rules an EV or plug-in hybrid could carry a CAFE rating of hundreds of miles per gallon.

Enforcement has been lax for a while. In July 2025 the department told automakers it would not fine any of them for exceeding CAFE limits, going back as far as 2022.

The light truck loophole

One change in the rule tightens the long-standing light truck loophole. Passenger cars and light trucks are classified separately under CAFE, with weaker standards for trucks, which pushed carmakers to redesign crossovers as light trucks. Starting in model year 2030, new criteria are meant to classify vehicles by intended use; the department says this should flip today's mix of roughly 70 percent light trucks and 30 percent passenger vehicles to about 70 percent passenger cars and 30 percent light trucks.

History and reaction

In 2012 the Obama administration published CAFE standards that pointed toward 54 mpg by 2025. That path was never completed; the first Trump administration cut the target in 2020. The Biden administration partially reversed the damage.

"The CAFE program was created in the 1970s in response to price shocks at the pump that raised costs for every American. Lowering these standards now, when so many families are already struggling with rising transportation costs, will only make things harder for them. At the same time, lowering the bar for innovation risks a future where the global auto market leaves American industry behind," said Albert Gore, executive director of the Zero Emissions Transportation Association.