US Transportation Secretary Says Biden-Era Fuel Economy Standards Exceeded Legal Authority, Calls It 'Backdoor EV Mandate'

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is expected to declare that Corporate Average Fuel Economy or CAFE regulations implemented under the previous Biden administration exceeded the government's legal authority.

What Happened: Sean Duffy, the U.S. Transportation Secretary, said in a statement that the previous Biden administration "illegally used CAFE standards as a backdoor electric vehicle mandate – driving the price of cars up," Reuters reported on Tuesday.

This comes in as last year, over 120 House Republicans made similar comments about how the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration exceeded its authority and introduced regulations resulting in a de-facto EV mandate. NHTSA "accounted for EVs in its regulatory baseline and factored that baseline into its determination of the maximum achievable CAFE standards," they said.

The agency had last year shared that the rule would decrease Gas consumption by 64 billion gallons and cut emissions by 659 million metric tons. However, it did acknowledge that prices of some vehicles could go up.

The NHTSA had earlier shared in June that it would increase the CAFE requirements to 50.4 miles per gallon, the report suggests.

Why It Matters: House Republicans had earlier proposed to axe the federal EV credit offered on all EV purchases in the U.S., in a move that was opposite to calls by U.S. automakers who proposed a gradual phasing out of the credit instead.

Elsewhere, EV adoption is growing in the U.S. as data suggests the sector experienced a 10.6% YoY growth and several automakers are experiencing triple-digit percentage growth in EV sales in Q1 2025.

Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.

Read Next:

• Tesla Robotaxi Rival Waymo Announces California Expansion As Autonomous Taxi Race Heats Up

Photo Courtesy: Natee Meepian On Shutterstock