President Barack Obama’s administration lowered its proposal for a 2025 U.S. fuel-economy average to 54.5 miles per gallon in its latest offer to automakers. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
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The White House is pushing automakers to agree by tomorrow to a corporate average fuel economy target of 54.5 mpg by 2025 — a figure 1.7 mpg less than the 56.2 mpg standard it floated earlier this month. The easing of the White House plan stems from a concession to makers of light trucks and SUVs, and particularly larger vehicles in that segment, such as Ford’s F-150
The White House is pressuring automakers to agree as early as today to a framework for a rule, to be released by Sept. 30, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are confidential. The rule is to take effect in 2017.
The new fuel-economy target is a reduction from 56.2 mpg sought in a proposal to automakers including Ford Motor Co. (F) and Toyota Motor Corp. (7203), last month. It may reflect the White House’s desire to reach agreement as soon as possible, the people said.
The Environmental Protection Agency and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are writing the rule with California’s Air Resources Board, which has the authority to write its own air-quality rules if it disagrees with U.S. rules.
This week’s proposal to automakers would allow pickups and sport-utility vehicles to make less fuel-economy improvement than cars for the first five years of the rule and would give credits for hybrid trucks, one of the people said.
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