Trump Announces Rollback of Biden-Era Fuel Economy Standards, Declaring End to the EV Mandate

President Donald Trump announced on Saturday, September 26, 2026, that he had approved new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, terminating what he called the electric vehicle mandate put in place by the Biden administration, according to CNBC. The Biden-era rules, part of a fuel economy program dating to 1975, would have required automakers to raise efficiency for passenger cars and light trucks to roughly 50 miles per gallon by 2031, a target designed to push manufacturers toward electric vehicle production and sales. Trump framed the change as a benefit for both consumers and carmakers, writing in a Truth Social post: "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." The final standards have not been publicly detailed, though Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy previously indicated they would be "sharply lower" than the Biden-era policies, per CNBC.

What happened

The announcement came via Truth Social on Saturday afternoon, with CNBC publishing its report at 4:50 PM EDT and Political Wire carrying the story the same day at 5:18 PM ET, quoting the CNBC account. Trump wrote that the new standards would end the electric vehicle mandate established under his predecessor, fulfilling a campaign promise to rescind policies that encouraged or incentivized EVs.

In the same post, Trump claimed broad industry support for the move. "Every Manufacturer, from General Motors to Ford to Stellantis, has called me wanting to build here, and now they can!" he wrote, according to Political Wire. The White House has not released the technical text of the new standards, and the administration has not said when full details will be published.

The CAFE program, administered by the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, has been in place since 1975 and sets minimum average fuel efficiency requirements that automakers must meet across the fleets of vehicles they sell in the United States. The Biden administration's revision of those standards raised the required fleetwide average to approximately 50 miles per gallon by model year 2031, a level that analysts said would be difficult for manufacturers to meet without substantially increasing electric vehicle output.

Why it matters

The rollback touches one of the largest sectors of the American economy and a central front in the political fight over climate policy. Weaker fuel economy standards allow automakers to build more profitable pickup trucks and SUVs with worse gas mileage, and analysts note the change makes electric vehicles less attractive for manufacturers to produce, according to CNBC. At the same time, some companies have signaled they will continue EV production regardless: General Motors, which Trump singled out in his post, has said it will still make electric vehicles.

For consumers, the competing claims are direct. The administration argues that relaxed standards will lower vehicle prices and remove compliance costs that it says were passed on to buyers. Supporters of the stricter standards have argued that higher fuel efficiency saves households money at the gas pump over the life of a vehicle and reduces emissions from transportation, the largest source of US greenhouse gases. The change also has implications for US automakers' global competitiveness, since European and other markets continue to tighten efficiency and emissions rules.

The move is the latest step in a broader dismantling of Biden-era climate and energy policies, and it fulfills an explicit campaign commitment. How the new standards are written, and whether they survive legal challenges from environmental groups or states, will determine how much of the previous efficiency trajectory is actually lost.

How it is being covered

According to ground.news, 23 outlets are carrying the story, with a left/centre/right split of 17/50/33 percent, meaning centrist outlets account for half of the coverage. Of the 23 outlets, 12 carry a factuality rating and 11 are unrated: among the 12 rated, 5 are rated high, including 3 rated very high, 3 are rated mixed, and 1 is rated very low. Ground.news flags no blindspot in the coverage, with outlets across the spectrum reporting the announcement, though coverage on the right has emphasized the consumer price argument while left-leaning coverage has focused more on the emissions implications.

What to watch

Watch for the Department of Transportation to publish the actual text of the new CAFE standards, which have not been publicly detailed, and for Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to specify how far below the 50 mpg target the final rules will fall. Watch also for reactions from automakers, particularly whether General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis confirm the claims Trump made about wanting to build in the United States, and for any legal challenges from environmental groups or state attorneys general. Finally, watch for data on EV sales and manufacturer production plans in the coming quarters, which will show whether the policy change actually shifts what consumers are offered.

By the numbers

Source snapshot