Biden Administration Issues Finalized CAFE Standards

On June 7, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. NHTSA’s new standards come alongside the Environmental Protection Agency’s emissions standards for similar vehicle fleets.

Under the final NHTSA rule, all light-duty vehicles overall must meet an average of 50.4 miles per gallon (mpg) in model year (MY) 2031, down from 55.7 mpg in the department’s proposed rule. The current average is 39.1 mpg. For sport utility vehicles and pickups, the requirement will be 45 mpg, a number that is up from the 35.2 mpg these vehicles average now, but is less than the 52.2 mpg NHTSA had stated in its proposed rule, which was issued last year.

The final CAFE standards increase at a rate of two percent per year for passenger cars in MYs 2027-2031 and two percent per year for light trucks in MYs years 2029-2031. The final heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans fuel efficiency standards increase at a rate of 10 percent per year in MYs 2030-2032 and eight percent per year in MYs 2033-2035.

According to The Hill, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group representing the car and light-truck industries, was broadly supportive of the final rule since it alleviated some of the group’s concerns about the overlap between the EPA rules and NHTSA’s CAFE standards.

Click here for complete information from the NHTSA about the final rule.