In 2020, Trump cut CAFE to 40 mpg. Now he’s cut it again to just 35 mpg.
The federal government’s war on fuel efficiency claimed another victim today. The Department of Transportation released a new rule for the country’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, which, as expected, discourage the very idea of economical vehicles. Among the changes is a rollback to fuel economy numbers not seen in more than a decade, below even the low standards implemented in 2020, the last time Trump was in power. The new goal is just 34.9 mpg by model year 2031.
This is nothing if not expected. When Sean Duffy was installed as Transportation secretary last January, he immediately announced that any fuel efficiency standards put in place under the Biden administration were dead and buried. Those rules had a slower ramp up than some might have liked but would have required automakers to sell many more electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.
You’re well underestimating range for gas… Most are going to be 400-500mi. Higher range EVs might tap 400… Most 250-350.
You’re overestimating.
The average vehicle in the US gets 29mpg, and the average tank size is about 13 gallons. That’s 377 miles per tank on the average vehicle. But that’s including small cars, while something like 70% of new cars sold are trucks and SUVs which average 19mpg and have average around 16 gallon tanks, which would put it at 304 miles per tank.
I know when I had my truck, I averaged right around 306 miles on a tank. My EV now gets 370 miles per charge.