In partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency recently announced that it would accept public comment on the tough fuel-economy standards initiated by the Obama administration. The review follows through on a Trump administration promise to reexamine rules that had been implemented on an accelerated timeline, which some industry groups had called out as unfair.
The current rules, introduced in 2012, call for a Corporate Average Fuel Economy of 54.5 miles per gallon to be reached by 2025, although real-world fuel economy numbers would be lower. Originally they included a midterm review of the 2012 standards that would cover the 2022?2025 vehicle model years, but the Trump administration expanded the review to include the 2021 model year as well. The reopening of the review has garnered criticism from environmentalists and consumer groups, both of which claim that the market will demand more fuel-efficient vehicles in the future. Manufacturers have been a bit more vague on the subject. “By reopening the midterm evaluation, EPA is bringing back questions that have already been asked and answered,” Shannon Baker-Branstetter, policy counsel for Consumers Union, the nonprofit advocacy organization behind Consumer Reports, said in a statement. “In fact, EPA concluded a thorough assessment earlier this year that found the targets through 2025 could be met at an even lower cost than EPA had previously estimated.R...