When US President Donald Trump recently announced the rollback of vehicle fuel efficiency regulations, he called it the end of the “green new scandal”.
He was referring to efforts by the outgoing Biden administration to electrify transportation in the US, which had given automakers incentives to phase out internal combustion engine cars in favor of low-emission, climate-friendly electric vehicles (EVs).
Since coming to power in January, the Trump administration has already rescinded several incentives aimed at getting fossil-fuel-powered cars off the road. These include rescinding Biden’s executive order requiring that 50% of cars sold in the US be electric by 2030; Blocking billions in funding for charging infrastructure, and eliminating a $7,500 (€6,444) tax credit on EV purchases. Trump has also gutted green energy programs in favor of oil and gas.
Arguing that “ridiculous tailpipe emissions standards” were “killing” the automobile industry, Trump confirmed to a group of car company executives gathered in the Oval Office that fuel efficiency regulations have also made cars too expensive.
Industry experts claim that EV incentives are spurring more investment in electric cars and charging infrastructure, as well as creating new jobs. But Trump has now promised to abandon an electrified future in favor of 19th-century technology.
Will petrol cars really be cheaper than EVs?
As a result of the rollback, U.S. vehicles will only need about 35 miles (56 kilometers) of fuel economy, compared to 50 miles per gallon for 2022-2031 model passenger cars and light trucks under Biden’s updated fuel economy standards.
Critics say rolling back the decisions would harm both the climate and consumers.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat whose state is a renewable energy and EV powerhouse, said Trump is “giving his big oil donors exactly what they want: weaker protections for consumers and bigger profits for polluters.”
Confirming an estimate by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Newsom said that national fuel consumption would be reduced by 70 billion gallons (265 billion liters) per year under current efficiency standards.
Steven Higashide, director of the clean transportation program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a US non-profit advocacy group, says weaker fuel economy rules will ultimately drive up the price of gas.
“American vehicle pollution and oil dependence are reduced and drivers can save money by choosing more efficient vehicles,” he said in a statement.
Fifty years of rising fuel efficiency standards have helped protect drivers from oil market shocks, given them cleaner air and ultimately saved them more than $5 trillion (€4.26 trillion), Higashide said.
China set to consolidate its clean car dominance
Ben Scott, head of energy demand at Carbon Tracker, a UK-based climate think tank, said Trump’s move to roll back auto efficiency standards is “a clear win” for the US oil industry. “But this is an even bigger win for China, because it pushes the US further behind in the EV transition,” he said.
Nearly 20% of cars sold worldwide in 2024 were electric – a huge increase from 25% from 2023. Of the 17 million cars sold, 11 million were in China – while about 1.6 million were in the US. Nearly half of China’s domestic car sales in 2024 were electric, compared to 10% in the US.
And China, in direct contrast to the US, is dominating the global EV market through massive state incentives, which have also helped drive down costs, making low-emission cars cheaper than most petrol models in the country.
Trump’s EV rollbacks will worsen this divide because they tie U.S. domestic automakers to outdated internal combustion engine technology “instead of fully committing to the future,” Scott said.
US auto giant Ford announced this week that it is withdrawing from plans to electrify larger vehicles due to regulatory changes, and will focus on gas-powered and hybrid trucks.
Although China now has an EV oversupply problem, partly due to US and EU tariffs that are limiting exports, Scott believes these affordable cars will make their way to price-sensitive markets across the Global South.
“The transition to electric vehicles is inevitable everywhere,” he said.
Refueling petrol car market a big blow to the climate
Moving people and goods in the US contributes 29% of planet-warming carbon emissions, the largest share by sector in the economy.
But according to NTSHA, the latest fuel economy standards were preventing more than 710 million metric tons of climate pollution from escaping into the atmosphere.
Electric cars, which generate a third of the emissions of petrol cars, were set to accelerate the decarbonization of US roads as EV sales broke records in the first nine months of 2025.
But this progress has stalled.
“Clearly the unpredictable nature of US policy related to fuel economy standards and EV incentives will slow the decarbonization of the US vehicle fleet,” said Ben Scott.
He said this would ultimately “slow down climate progress”.
Despite concerns that EV batteries consume too much energy and resources, “robust battery recycling could significantly reduce the amount of new mined material required,” said Ellen Kennedy, a clean transportation expert at the Rocky Mountain Institute, a U.S. energy think tank.
She points out that more than 90% of the lithium and 95% of the nickel and cobalt can be recycled from batteries.
“Battery mineral recycling and recovery continue to be improved, while fossil fuels are in limited supply and can only be used once,” he told DW.
Kennedy pointed out that in contrast to the one-time consumption of 2,150 million tons of oil in 2024 for global on-road transportation, about 125 million tons could create an unstoppable circular economy for batteries through mineral reuse and recycling.
“This is a self-sustaining extraction that can keep EVs on the road in the future,” he said.
Edited by: Tamsin Walker