The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced new, Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards that require an industry-wide fleet average of approximately 49 mpg for passenger cars and light trucks in model year 2026, the highest fuel efficiency standards to date. The new standards will increase fuel efficiency 8% annually for model years 2024-2025 and 10% annually for model year 2026. They will also increase the estimated fleetwide average by nearly 10 miles per gallon for model year 2026, relative to model year 2021.
Rising fuel economy standards have been one of the factors influencing changes in