The Biden administration on Friday strengthened vehicle fuel mileage standards, part of its strategy to transform the U.S. auto market into one dominated by electric vehicles that don’t emit planet-warming pollution.
The new mileage standards announced by the Transportation Department are among several regulations the administration is using to encourage automakers to produce more electric vehicles. In April, the Environmental Protection Agency issued tough new limits on tailpipe pollution designed to ensure that the majority of new passenger cars and light trucks sold in the United States are all-electric or hybrid by 2032, from 7, 6 percent last year.
In addition to the regulations, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which Mr. Biden sponsored, provides tax credits for buyers of new and used electric vehicles, along with incentives for charging stations and grants and loans for manufacturers.
The push for more electric vehicles comes as the world’s top climate experts say phasing out the internal combustion engine is critical to averting the deadliest effects of global warming.
But Mr. Biden’s efforts have become a target for former President Donald J. Trump and other Republicans who characterize them as the federal government taking away consumer choices. The oil and gas industry is spending millions on ads falsely calling Mr. Biden’s policies a ban on conventional cars.
Mr Trump has made attacks on electric vehicles a centerpiece of his campaign to retake the White House, falsely saying they don’t work, can’t travel far and will “kill” the US auto industry. Mr. Trump has promised that if elected to a second term he will reverse Mr. Biden’s climate policies, including federal support for electric vehicles.
But at a rally in Arizona on Thursday, Mr. Trump struck an uncharacteristically supportive note for electric vehicles as he was quick to praise Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive. “We want to get rid of the electric car mandate,” he began, calling it the “green new scam.” He then added: “By the way, I’m a big fan of electric cars, I’m a fan of Elon. I like Elon, but, you know, I like him. I think a lot of people will want to buy electric cars. But if you want to buy a different kind of car, you should have a choice. Some people have to go away. Some people don’t want their car to be made in China.”
China has heavily subsidized its auto industry, which has enabled its top automaker to produce electric cars priced up to $17,000. Very few Chinese-made cars are sold in the United States, where President Biden has imposed 100 percent tariffs on Chinese car imports to try to prevent them from undercutting domestic manufacturers.
The new standards require U.S. automakers to increase fuel economy so that, across their product lines, their passenger cars average 65 miles per gallon by 2031, up from 48.7 miles today. Average mileage for light trucks, including trucks and SUVs, should reach 45 mpg, up from 35.1 mpg.
The standards will also require heavy-duty trucks, such as the Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD, and large trucks, such as Amazon delivery trucks, to reach 35 miles per gallon by 2035, up from 18.8 miles per gallon today.
The final rules are weaker than draft rules released by the Transportation Department last year, which would have required automakers to meet a standard of 66.4 miles per gallon by 2032 for passenger cars and 54.4 miles per gallon by the same year for light trucks. That proposal was relaxed after pressure from the automakers, which also succeeded in watering down the EPA rule from an original, more ambitious proposal.
But administration officials say that to meet the new standards, automakers will have to increase the number of all-electric and hybrid vehicles they sell while increasing the fuel efficiency of their conventional cars.
“Not only will these new standards save Americans money at the pump every time they fill up, but they will also reduce harmful pollution and make America less dependent on foreign oil,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “These standards will save car owners more than $600 in gas costs over the life of their vehicle.”
The EPA emissions rule and the DOT mileage standard were designed to achieve similar results by different means. The EPA rule reduces the amount of carbon dioxide that can be emitted from a vehicle’s exhaust. The Transportation Department’s rule reduces the amount of gasoline, the carbon dioxide pollution-producing fuel, that a vehicle can burn to propel itself.
“Today’s final rule is another important step toward reducing carbon pollution and limiting climate change,” said Harold Wimmer, president of the American Lung Association. “This final rule will work in tandem with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s strong, recently finalized rules to ensure that new vehicles are less polluting.”
Legal experts say overlapping the two measures could help protect the government’s climate policies against an expected wave of legal challenges. If the courts strike down one, the other may stand.
In terms of climate impact, the EPA’s emissions regulations are ten times stronger than the Department of Transportation’s new mileage standards. According to the administration, the EPA rule would prevent seven billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2054, while the DOT rule alone would eliminate 710 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Transport Campaign at the Center for Biological Diversity, said the mileage rule should have been stronger, calling it “weak” and saying the administration “bowed to pressure from the auto industry.”
Consumer Reports, the consumer advocacy group, said that while the new rule would not bring new emissions reduction benefits beyond those already required in the EPA rule, it would “give context to the legal requirement” to establish the standards. .
Automakers said Friday they were generally satisfied with the new mileage rule.
“Today, the administration appears to have landed on a corporate average fuel economy rule that works with the other recent federal emissions rules,” said John Bozzella, president of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents 42 auto companies that make nearly all new vehicles sold in the United States.
Mileage standards could be legally more robust than the EPA emissions rule.
Republican attorneys general from 25 states have already filed suit challenging the EPA’s emissions regulation, arguing the agency overstepped its legal authority. They are expected to appeal the Department of Transportation rule as well.
“The Biden administration is willing to sacrifice the American auto industry and its workers in the service of its radical green agenda,” said Russell Coleman, the Kentucky attorney general who is leading the lawsuit against the EPA. “We’re just not buying it. Demand for electric vehicles continues to decline and even those who want to buy one cannot afford it amid historic inflation.”
While demand for electric vehicles has slowed, it is still growing. A record 1.2 million Americans bought electric vehicles last year, making up 7.6 percent of new car sales. Analysts predict demand will rise 10 percent this year. This is partly because the prices of electric vehicles are falling, making them competitive with conventional vehicles. Automakers including Tesla, Ford, General Motors and Jeep owner Stellantis have announced plans for electric vehicles that will sell new for as little as $25,000.
Globally, around one in five cars sold in 2023 will be electric, with much of this growth occurring in China. Electric cars accounted for about 18 percent of all cars sold worldwide in 2023, up from just 2 percent in 2018, according to the International Energy Agency.
