(FixThisNation.com) – The Biden administration unveiled the new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards on Friday which would introduce new regulations for light trucks and passenger vehicles. Under the new rules created by the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), starting in 2027 all new passenger cars will need to have a fuel efficiency that is improved by 2 percent, while light trucks will have their fuel efficiency improved by 4 percent. The new rules also dictate that pickup trucks and work vans will have to improve their fuel efficiency by 10 percent every single year starting from 2030.
The agency also calculated that the average U.S. fleet fuel economy would reach 58 miles per gallon in 2032. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also estimated that for model year 2022 vehicles the average fuel economy is at 26.4 miles per gallon. This means that the standards proposed on Friday would require automakers to double their fuel efficiency within the next decade or risk facing big penalties.
Pete Buttigieg, the Transportation Secretary, noted that better fuel efficiency would mean that Americans are spending less on the gas pump, which would also mean greater energy security across the country.
The NHTSA and Department of Transportation in the announcement noted that if the CAFE standards are finalized the consumers would end up saving over $50 billion in fuel during the vehicles’ lifetimes and oil dependence would also be reduced as gasoline consumption would drop by 88 billion gallons through 2050. Republican lawmakers are likely going to oppose this proposal as it pushes away from fossil fuels.
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