The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) may impose higher penalties for automakers that do not meet fuel efficiency standards. If the new NHTSA penalties do go into effect, they could cost the auto industry hundreds of millions of dollars or more.
According to a recent report from Reuters, the NHTSA stated it would give the public 30 days to comment on possibly reinstating penalties drafted in 2016, which were originally set to go into effect with the 2019 model year. However, those penalties were later pushed back to 2022 by the Trump administration.
A trade group representing major automakers in the U.S. and abroad came out against retroactively applying penalties for emissions violations, arguing that doing so would not provide any benefit to vehicle fuel economy or the environment. Meanwhile, California-based electric vehicle producer Tesla has come out in favor of reinstating the higher penalties, as the new rules would make effectively make its zero-emissions credits more valuable, especially to non-compliant automakers.
The Trump administration previously delayed the 2016 regulation, which would more than double the penalties for auto companies that do not meet the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) requirements. Last year, a U.S. appeals court overturned the Trump administration’s regulation delay.
The NHTSA previously proposed raising CAFE requirements by 8 percent annually from 2024 through 2026. Civil penalties were also raised in 2015 to coincide with inflation, prompting the NHTSA to raise fines for non-compliant automakers as well. Originally, fines amounted to $5.50 for every 0.1 mpg over the proposed standards, with the new rule raising those fines to $14.
Some automakers are already feeling the heat from higher emissions and fuel economy standards. For example, General Motors rival Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, part of Stellantis NV, paid nearly $150 million after it fell short of the 2016 and 2017 requirements.
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Comments
Fines will be reduced to 50% if donated to the DNC.
We are beyond the political side of this anymore. This is why automakers are not fighting this anymore.
Not so quick road racer,he may be senile now but he will also be politically impotent in in 16 mos.
Folks even if Trump gets back in and pulled all the regulations the automakers will still continue to move to electric.
For them it’s about money now as the can see that with Electic they can be more profitable.
They are making the change to make money not save trees.
They also know regulations can come and go every 4 years. They can’t keep changing plans, also they face global regulations that are not changing.
My fear now that Biden has blown the withdraw his own part will pull him for Harris to do even more damage the remaining years.
How will the move to a vehicle that 2% of the country is buying and less than that worldwide (china lies about everything, so their EV push is mostly a farce) India/south America and Africa have way less than 2% of EV’s. Toyota leads in sales in these countries and has more or less stated that EV’s are a fad. If anything, you can thank The environmentalist of the upcoming demise of EV’s. In 2004 the SUV was declared dead. The Prius is the future. Now almost nobody buys Priuses, or ford C-maxs, the sedan is dead and large crossovers and truck based vehicles are dominant. The environmentalist pushing EV’s are going to jump the market, gat lots of people into EV’s that spontaneously catch fire, suffer recalls, have limited range (sound familiar) and most EV buyers will switch back (already has begun in California, 40% in tree hugger land buying or have replaced EV’s with ICE) you let things grow organically, which is not what’s happening. These big automakers will offer what the public wants. The public wants ICE
When that is all they offer globally you will have no choice.
Also as modes become more common and cheaper the sheeple will buy them like they do Honda and Toyotas today.
You can come up with many excuses and truths and lie and the same results are going to happen. Automakers globally are not investing billions just to go back to turbo 3 cylinder cars.
You can say 2 percent bit Tesla is the only real EV on the market in mass production. You can say fires but they are such a small percentage and will remain so. Gas cars burn every day too.
They said the other day one in 5 changed back to gas. Well 4 in 5 remained.
The regulations are not going to go away and they are not just going to make cars just for one state or country.
Economics are driving this and they will bring in the EV models and it will be like boiling frogs. A few to start and more will be phased in and people will migrate over as I expect the prices will under cut the ICE models.
These companies are seeing what electronics can do to the bottom line of a company. Apple and most others are making the kind of money GM used to make.
I am not thrilled by the change but this is not my choice and I am not going to change it nor are a smaller and smaller group of enthusiast. People today just want to get where they are going and carry what they need. that is why most are buying souless boxes with 3 cylinder engines.
Most MFG no longer offer what people want. They build what they need and market the product to be what people think they want.
If they built what we wanted as enthusiast every vehicle would be rwd and V8. Is that happening? No!
Also people are not going to stop driving due to no ice. Life has to go on.
Automakers resorted to cheating when the restrictions were much lighter than they are today. I see no reason they will stop now.
VW payed a heavy price in money and publicity. Few will follow that. This is not NASCAR.
Pressures will mount as car companies struggle to transition to EVs. Some will make it. Others won’t and the temptation will be strong.
Who will ultimately pay the fines? Us, the consumer. Thanks Joe!
Red states are going to pay for it. Blue areas of the country will be quick to go electric.
Ol Joe n Co is out the door in ’24!!
Hopefully sooner……
Trump = Sore Loser
Republican Party = a bunch of wimps that refuse to stand up to the sore loser
Conclusion = Democrats are going to be in the White House for a long time.
just came across a poll,37% of voters would vote for the “the big guy” today,so dems need to hurry and spend zillions and ram all the woke crap through that they can quick
Peter, shut up.
Oh, I think I made a few right wingers cry. Why don’t you find your mommy, and go suk a titt.
Hey Peter G take your liberal behind on somewhere nobody here cares watcha think man
So what are your thoughts on the Biden administration pulling out of Afghanistan while leaving 10,000 American citizens behind. The only way for these folks to get home is to break through the Taliban line that surrounds the airport and try to hastily jump onto a C17 and hope it doesn’t get shot down. Complete incompetence.
Don’t people realize the cost just get passed on to the consumer like everything else. It’s not like any of the money get used for conservation initiatives anyway, just pet projects for politicians and fuel for Air Force 1 to go to Camp David regularly.
Government motors needs to pay there loan back and actually pay it back without using more tax payer money this time.
Been paid for a long time. Ford still owes for their loan from the energy department. I think they still owe 6 billion.
So you do realize the Obama administration placed $13.7 billion in a escrow account to pay for all the bankruptcy proceedings and you also realize this is the “$” gm used to pay there “loans off” so they used more tax payer money to pay off there initial bailout. Get out of here with your nonsense they paid it back
Gosh if only GM actually marketed the Cruze & Equinox Diesel…… Instead of canceling them and crying they won’t sell when they weren’t available on dealer lots either.
Then they wouldn’t be facing these CAFE fines….
Business stupidity has a price.
They did but no one wanted them.
If you had none at 5he dealer other dealers would have been happy to dealer trade to get rid of it.
the EPA makes certifying new engines so expensive that manufacturers can’t afford to make incremental improvements. And engines must be certified for every vehicle in which it is used…orders of magnitude more expensive. That’s why you see the same engine in every car/truck, and it doesn’t change for years, until they have a significant improvement.
Let the engineers solve problems and stop making it a political and extortion scheme. The free market will decide, not some joyless bureaucrat who hates cars.
Chris wins the prize!
Look at the Toyota tundra motor for example. 14 years old with only a mild manifold and ECU tune beacause it’s design is grandfathered in. We have the knowhow to make engines 60-70% efficient from their current 40% right now, but the EPA needs to approve it and they are picky on every single little iotta.
Chris, you also forgot the fact that the EPA drags their feet on these things as well. Trump in his first year passed laws allowing small “limited run” production of vintage vehicles, like deloran who wants to make more of their iconic time machine! That law was passed in 2017. The NHTSA is supposed to give the all clear and they’ve been holding it. 4 years since the law has passed and deloran still can’t build cars! Now there sued and it’s in the process, but for all we know Chevy has a new supper V8 and the EV drunk government is sitting on the approval papers,or just flat told GM, no, now make EV’s or else.
The Trump administration selectively ignored Congress and the appeals court twice in delaying the civil penalties increase for CAFE violations. The automakers are not victims and they should have planned for it when the law was passed and signed by the president in 2015.