The Obama Administration has put the finishing touches on its mandate that cars and light-duty trucks have a standard mpg of 54.5 by model year 2025.
This, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says, will nearly double the fuel efficiency of 2025 vehicles compared to those of today, and will save drivers more than $1.7 trillion in fuel and reduce US oil consumption by 12 billion barrels.
"These fuel standards represent the single most important step we've ever taken to reduce our dependence on foreign oil," President Obama said in a statement. "This historic agreement builds on the progress we've already made to save families money at the pump and cut our oil consumption. By the middle of the next decade our cars will get nearly 55 miles per gallon, almost double what they get today. It'll strengthen our nation's energy security, it's good for middle class families and it will help create an economy built to last."
The standards were issued today by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Obama Administration earlier set a standard of 35.5 mpg for model-year 2016 vehicles.
Backers of the new standard say that it will encourage innovation and investment in American technology. A first step towards this, they say, is the aligning of state and federal regulation and the providing of clear regulatory guidelines (as well as flexible requirements) to automakers.
"Simply put, this groundbreaking program will result in vehicles that use less gas, travel farther, and provide more efficiency for consumers than ever before-all while protecting the air we breathe and giving automakers the regulatory certainty to build the cars of the future here in America," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in the same statement as President Obama's comment. "Today, automakers are seeing their more fuel-efficient vehicles climb in sales, while families already saving money under the Administration's first fuel economy efforts will save even more in the future, making this announcement a victory for everyone."
"The fuel efficiency standards the administration finalized today are another example of how we protect the environment and strengthen the economy at the same time," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "Innovation and economic growth are already reinvigorating the auto industry and the thousands of businesses that supply automakers as they create and produce the efficient vehicles of tomorrow. Clean, efficient vehicles are also cutting pollution and saving drivers money at the pump."
President Obama claims the support of Ford, GM, Chrysler, BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar/Land Rover, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota, and Volvo for his plan. The Administration also says that the United Auto Workers, the State of California, and various environmental groups have helped see the plan - first announced in July of 2011 - become a reality.
See Now: OnePlus 6: How Different Will It Be From OnePlus 5?
