The US government rescinded a rule on Wednesday that allowed electric vehicles to count as having artificially high fuel-economy values under Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. Analysts say this rollback pushes the US auto industry further towards petrol cars, discourages EV innovation, and gives China a competitive edge. Environmental groups criticise the move as harming American families' long-term interests for short-term profits to auto and oil giants.
On Wednesday, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration rescinded the “fuel content factor” rule, which allowed manufacturers to count electric vehicles as having artificially high fuel-economy values when calculating fleetwide averages under Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. This factor was designed to incentivise carmakers to produce EVs by crediting them with greater energy savings. According to the US Department of Transportation, CAFE standards aim to “reduce energy consumption by increasing the fuel economy of cars and light trucks”.
In February, the Environmental Protection Agency rescinded the “endangerment finding”, which forms the basis of climate regulations in the US, and repealed tailpipe pollution standards.
“American families will suffer long-term harms so that giant auto and oil companies can pocket short-term profits,” said Dan Becker, director of the Centre for Biological Diversity’s Safe Climate Transport Campaign, in a statement on the organisation’s website.
Analysts say the rollback pushes the US further towards petrol cars, discourages EV innovation, and gives China a competitive edge in the sector.
