Trump approves new fuel economy standards to terminate Biden EV mandates

President Donald Trump announced on Saturday, September 26, 2026, that he has approved new vehicle fuel economy standards that officially terminate the electric vehicle mandates put in place by former President Joe Biden.

Trump Axes Biden-Era EV Mandates

The policy shift rolls back regulatory benchmarks established under the prior administration. Those rules would have required automakers to scale up passenger car and light truck fuel efficiency to roughly 50 miles per gallon by 2031. Stricter targets were originally designed to compel automotive companies toward higher electric vehicle production and sales across the United States.

Framed as Relief for Buyers

Writing on Truth Social, Trump framed the updated standards as an immediate relief measure for both domestic manufacturers and everyday buyers.

“These new Standards will take the waste out of building cars in America. That means LOWER PRICES, saving families thousands on a new, beautiful, and safe car — Far better than the Environmental Monsters that we were building heretofore,” Trump wrote in the post.

He added that major domestic manufacturers had expressed a desire to expand production domestically under the new terms, noting, “Every Manufacturer, from General Motors to Ford to Stellantis, has called me wanting to build here, and now they can!”

Lower Benchmarks on the Horizon

While the specific numerical targets of the finalized regulations have not yet been publicly detailed, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy previously indicated that the new administration’s benchmarks would be sharply lower than Biden-era policies.

The regulatory turnaround delivers on a core campaign pledge made by Trump to dismantle policies favoring electric vehicles. By relaxing corporate average fuel economy standards, or CAFE benchmarks—which date back to their establishment in 1975—automakers gain regulatory leeway to manufacture larger volumes of pickup trucks and SUVs.

These larger vehicles traditionally yield higher profit margins than smaller compact cars, though they feature significantly lower gas mileage.

Automaker Strategies Diverge

The rollback diminishes commercial pressures on automakers to prioritize electric vehicle lines, though corporate strategies vary.

Photo: aol.com

While the market shift makes electric vehicles considerably less attractive to produce overall, individual legacy companies like General Motors have signaled plans to continue manufacturing electric models regardless of the federal policy pivot.