CAFE Standards Being Scaled Back

[MNgopher]

Lets see if I've got it right-

-financial penalties for not complying with CAFE were already eliminated, meaning CAFE already had little teeth.
-The announcement for today was for Model Year 2031 vehicles and onward.
-The announcement today does not eliminate CAFE, but resets the baseline year to 2022 and improve by 0.5% yearly as compared to the previous 2% per year

You can find all of this in the multitude of news articles today.

How will any of this actually lower car prices? Best bet is it won't - at all.

 

[GON]

Crude oil is not an infinite commodity at least stay at the status quo !
Why go backwards ?

Marketplace can best decide what works best to solve problems. Have free, open marketplace, and a government that is not deep in debt, and have the government get out of the way.

Free marketplace will always solve the problem. It is not about oil whatsoever.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

Lets see if I've got it right-

-financial penalties for not complying with CAFE were already eliminated, meaning CAFE already had little teeth.
-The announcement for today was for Model Year 2031 vehicles and onward.
-The announcement today does not eliminate CAFE, but resets the baseline year to 2022 and improve by 0.5% yearly as compared to the previous 2% per year

You can find all of this in the multitude of news articles today.

How will any of this actually lower car prices? Best bet is it won't - at all.

Just another instance of Fed gov intrusion into all sorts of things that usually gunk up successful businesses. Most businesses ,
especially those that manufacture things need to set goals and make plans (very expensive) for years in advance.
How on earth can they when they have been assured of one thing only when it comes to following Fed gov regulations? The one thing is they are constantly being yanked around and thrown into confusion by the fact that every 4 years since about 2004 a new administration that gets into office usually erases and destroys or drastically changes all the rules they were made to spend money on to comply in future years by the new leaders. They don't know which way to turn or what to prepare for anymore. I do not blame any manufacturer or business for being in an almost constant state of confusion and suspended animation when it comes to producing products that Americans want and especially keep many people employed. ***NOT POLITICAL*** Just the facts.... NO I do not want to pollute and destroy the planet, etc..." simply because I would like to see less gov hands in any/every thing.

 

[PandaBear]

Manual transmission were about 25% in the early 90's and still at 10% in 2007 - when they dropped way off.

That coincides pretty well with Cafe. Manuals are better mileage on the highway but fall off in the city. The Cafe test is a fixed course of "mixed" driving. I say it may not be a coincidence.

I think given the choice of a potenially problamatic CVT people may have a change of heart. I doubt it would ever be more than 15%, but it could be that much.

Mainly because there are now 5-6-7-8-9-10 speed auto that has much higher gear ratio than a say, 6 speed manual. Plus people hate getting stuck in traffic in a stick.

I can see manual for a sport compact or a mid life crisis car, but not an SUV or minivan.

 

[4wd]

Companies make plans for decade in advance. They will not react to daily politics.

Especially vital industries - new technology might help with objectives - regulatory can go either way … In the end - objectives are not obstacles - but obstacles are what the “news” likes …

 

[Nessism1]

Lets see if I've got it right-

-financial penalties for not complying with CAFE were already eliminated, meaning CAFE already had little teeth.
-The announcement for today was for Model Year 2031 vehicles and onward.
-The announcement today does not eliminate CAFE, but resets the baseline year to 2022 and improve by 0.5% yearly as compared to the previous 2% per year

You can find all of this in the multitude of news articles today.

How will any of this actually lower car prices? Best bet is it won't - at all.

The old standard for 2031 was 50.4 mpg, new is 34.5. That's a huge difference. In order to achieve 50.4, manufacturers would need a EV heavy fleet, now they won't. That will save customers money, at least in terms of the purchase price.

 

[hemioiler]

Marketplace can best decide what works best to solve problems. Have free, open marketplace, and a government that is not deep in debt, and have the government get out of the way.

Free marketplace will always solve the problem. It is not about oil whatsoever.

That's quite naive. Have you never heard of the "tragedy of the commons"?

Given the cost of doing something that is:
A) cheap but wrong
B) expensive but right

We as a group will always take option A.

Not speaking specifically of CAFE as I believe they have made some really bad mistakes. But just assuming the free marketplace will pick the right option is nothing more than "head in sand".

 

[4wd]

The old standard for 2031 was 50.4 mpg, new is 34.5. That's a huge difference. In order to achieve 50.4, manufacturers would need a EV heavy fleet, now they won't. That will save customers money, at least in terms of the purchase price.

Perhaps bring back incentives based on a solar + EV package?
The grid - not just the power - but transmission lines (and related) included - can’t keep up with rapid demand … And eventually precious minerals won’t either …

 

[Nessism1]

Perhaps bring back incentives based on a solar + EV package?
The grid - not just the power - but transmission lines (and related) included - can’t keep up with rapid demand … And eventually precious minerals won’t either …

Data Centers are sucking up big power. Electricity prices are high, and going up further. EV's have their place, but the government pushing their adoption has big repercussions that haven't been dealt with yet.

 

[4wd]

Data Centers are sucking up big power. Electricity prices are high, and going up further. EV's have their place, but the government pushing their adoption has big repercussions that haven't been dealt with yet.

I certainly feel that pressure from EV and CAFE pushers has hurt the ICE workhorses out there …

 

[RedSpider]

The one thing is they are constantly being yanked around and thrown into confusion by the fact that every 4 years since about 2004 a new administration that gets into office usually erases and destroys or drastically changes all the rules they were made to spend money on to comply in future years by the new leaders. They don't know which way to turn or what to prepare for anymore.

Exactly.... which is why anyone who thinks this is going to have an effect on much are as delusional as the people making these decisions. Too many people with their heads stuck in 1970 not realizing another 1973 could be right around the corner. Short term daydreaming is fun but business has to plan for the long term, and we've seen how it plays out when they dont. Its not like the rest of the world and everything that goes on in it, does not exist.

 

[Trav]

I’ll just put my head in the sand and pretend that global warming isn’t happening.

Of course it is but it has been since the earth was formed billions of years ago. There had to be one heck of a global warming to melt all the ice from the last ice age, a time where no cars or big industry existed. Man made global warming is the possibly the biggest hoax ever perpetuated.

 

[zzyzzx]

It ain't gonna reduce prices nor improve reliability.

Didn't Mazda already get rid of cylinder deactivation and stop-start on at least some of it's 2026 vehicles, and presumably because of this? This all by itself is going to improve reliability.

 

[D60]

Of course it is but it has been since the earth was formed billions of years ago. There had to be one heck of a global warming to melt all the ice from the last ice age, a time where no cars or big industry existed. Man made global warming is the possibly the biggest hoax ever perpetuated.

For years I lived in a U-shaped valley that was carved by a glacier. It stopped and melted right where our local college is built, on a mesa of glacial till. It's painfully obvious if you look at the geography and the soil. This was all backed up by my geology prof at said college, and the entire institution was Liberal Arts (literally and figuratively).

Oddly, that glacier seems to have melted well before we had discovered fossil fuels. Hmmmm

 

[MNgopher]

The old standard for 2031 was 50.4 mpg, new is 34.5. That's a huge difference. In order to achieve 50.4, manufacturers would need a EV heavy fleet, now they won't. That will save customers money, at least in terms of the purchase price.

What is the penalty for not hitting the CAFE numbers?

As of July 2025, there are NO penalties for not hitting either number. There were already no reasons for automakers to worry about either number. All theatre to make it look like they are doing something...

 

[MNgopher]

Forgot to add that since that took an act of congress to make the regulation have no teeth, it will also take an act of congress to give it teeth again...

All theatre that folks lap up hook line and sinker...

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Can’t wait for carbs and bias plys to be available again.

You forgot drum brakes. I wouldn't mind a nice R12 air conditioner either

 

[zzyzzx]

People say no one wants a manual transmission anymore, maybe so but when I bought my Fiesta in 2012 I could not find one on a dealer lot. When I asked why I was told they sold as fast as they came in. I ordered one and several weeks later I got the call that it came in. When I went to pick mine up they had 10 Fiesta's with 5 speed manuals, all of them were already sold. Somebody seems to like them. Even when I bought my newest car in March they asked me about trading my Fiesta, I said its a manual 13 year old with 96.000 miles I didnt think anyone would want it. They said there was a good market for them but still didnt offer me much so I kept it because its just fun to drive.

I'm assuming that when you bought this manual transmission Fiesta that this was before everyone knew that the dual clutch automatics were garbage.

 

[Lawnman23]

I'm just glad that all the large automotive corporations will be saving billions of dollars ($35 billion through 2031 to be exact) with these new standards. I'm sure those savings will pass down to the buyer...

If the average consumer actually thinks this will benefit them in the form of lowering car sticker prices, I have a bridge to sell you...

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Didn't Mazda already get rid of cylinder deactivation and stop-start on at least some of it's 2026 vehicles, and presumably because of this? This all by itself is going to improve reliability.

I have no idea. We're Mazda burning through rod bearing with stop/start? The starters certainly don't fail early.