Governors' Wind Energy Coalition

The Trump administration launched its fuel economy rule for cars Monday with promises of cutting costs for beleaguered voters, but the rule itself tells a different story: higher costs for consumers, balanced out by increased profits and lower costs for the U.S. oil and automotive industries. The rule that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy unveiled Monday predicts that drivers will spend more to fill up the tanks of their model year 2031 cars — outweighing their own estimations of savings on car prices.

And the department’s own regulatory analysis even suggests that those auto-industry savings on building new cars might not trickle down to the consumer. DOT estimated the new rule, which replaces Biden-era Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards for cars, would reduce car prices by $1,289 when it takes full effect in 2031. But fuel efficiency losses would mean motorists would spend $1,624 more to fill up an average model-year 2031 car. After factoring in other anticipated savings, DOT’s analysis found the rule will cost the average vehicle buyer in 2031 an additional $289.