The US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced new fuel economy standards, following President Biden’s executive order to advance American leadership in clean cars.
It had previously been announced that the US would return to stricter fuel efficiency standards, but that gives some bite to the measures. The new CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards require an industry-wide fleet average of approximately 49 mpg for cars and light trucks beginning in the 2026 model year. In addition, the new standards are expected to increase fuel efficiency by 8% annually for the 2024-2025 model years and through at 10% annually for the 2026 model year. In addition, they will also increase the estimated fleetwide average by nearly 10 miles per gallon for the 2026 model year compared to the 2021 model year.
In terms of fuel savings, the new CAFE standards for the 2024-26 model year will reduce fuel burn by more than 200 billion gallons by 2050 compared to current standards.
“Today’s rule means American families can drive farther before having to fill up, saving hundreds of dollars a year,” said US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. “These improvements will also make our country less vulnerable to global price fluctuations
Oil, and protect communities by reducing CO2 emissions by 2.5 billion tons.”
The move comes as no surprise as US President Biden’s agenda is heavily focused on new energy and energy independence, for which Biden even dusted off an old 1950s wartime regulation that required industry to produce battery materials. The executive order, enacted in the early days of the presidency, laid out a basic plan for what was to come – from strengthening the battery and auto industries to supporting unions, leading to some arguments with Tesla CEO Elon Musk led.
First, Biden pledged a $2 trillion infrastructure package, diluted in half by Congress, coupled with nearly $3 billion in funding for the US battery supply chain.
transport.gov
Comments are closed.