The Transportation Department published a final rule on Friday to relax U.S. fuel economy standards established under Biden for 2022-2031 vehicles.
This action followed January's order by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy directing NHTSA to rescind Biden-era standards that assumed high electric vehicle adoption.
The original standards sought to raise fuel efficiency to 50.4 miles per gallon by 2031, reducing gasoline use by 64 billion gallons and cutting emissions by 659 million metric tons.
Secretary Duffy stated the prior administration illegally used CAFE rules as an electric vehicle mandate, while automaker Stellantis supported Senate Republican proposals to ease compliance burdens.
The rollback aims to ease manufacturing challenges and preserve vehicle affordability amid industry penalty payments exceeding $190 million by Stellantis and $128 million by GM in recent years.