Trump Administration Revokes Electric Vehicle Incentive Rule

The Trump administration is revoking a rule that incentivized automakers to produce electric vehicles by overstating energy savings. This move responds to long-standing criticism that these rules were exaggerating fuel-economic values in electric vehicles. The Energy Department plans further revisions following a recent court decision.

The Trump administration announced Wednesday its decision to rescind a rule that incentivized automakers to produce electric vehicles by overstating the energy savings these vehicles provide, aligning with federal fuel economy requirements.

Environmental advocates have criticized the existing Energy Department rules, arguing they assign unrealistically high fuel-economy values to electric vehicles. These inflated values are included in the fleetwide averages mandated under federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules.

Following a decision by an appeals court in September, the Energy Department has stated it plans to eliminate the fuel content factor from its calculations and will propose additional revisions in the near future.