The Biden administration Friday rolled out final emissions rules that will require cars and trucks to have an average fuel economy of 49 miles per gallon in just a few years.
The rule comes as Americans are paying record prices for gas. Friday’s reading for the national average price for a gallon of regular gas stood at $4.22 a gallon according to AAA, down about 11 cents from the record reached last month, but 11 cents a gallon more than the previous record.
The 49 mpg standard, a roughly 33% improvement from the current average of 36 mpg, applies to cars and light trucks, such as pickups and SUVs, in model year 2026, which will start hitting showrooms in late 2025.
At a press conference unveiling the new rules, which are close to those initially unveiled in December, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg portrayed them as a way to save drivers money and make America less dependent on foreign oil.
The increase to a 49 mpg standard “means if you’re filling up four times a month, that would become three times a month by model year 2026,” he said.
The recent rise in oil and gas prices follows the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, one of the world’s leading exporters of oil before the war. Since then, its shipments of oil have been sharply reduced by a series of sanctions, sending the price of oil sharply higher on global markets.
“Better fuel economy…
