Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Laws & Regulations

Corporate Average Fuel Economy

Corporate Average Fuel Economy Overview Light-Duty Vehicles Heavy-Duty Vehicles Fuel Economy and Environment Label
Corporate Average Fuel Economy

Overview

 

NHTSA's Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards regulate how far our vehicles must travel on a gallon of fuel. NHTSA sets CAFE standards for passenger cars and for light trucks (collectively, light-duty vehicles), and separately sets fuel consumption standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks and engines. NHTSA also regulates the fuel-economy window stickers on new vehicles. This site contains information about many aspects of these programs, and we encourage you to check back as new information is posted.

December 3, 2025: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

In accordance with the President’s “Unleashing American Energy” Executive Order and the Secretary’s “Fixing the CAFE Program” Memorandum, NHTSA is publishing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, The Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicle Rule III for Model Years 2022 to 2031 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks. The rule resets the maximum feasible fuel economy standards in accordance with the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, and other applicable law.  The proposed rulemaking also seeks to bring the CAFE program into compliance with relevant statutory requirements. NHTSA is proposing to eliminate the inter-manufacturer credit trading system and to amend the light-duty vehicle fleet classification system to allocate vehicles into passenger and non-passenger automobile fleets appropriately, based on their attributes and capabilities, starting in MY 2028. NHTSA projects that the amended standards would correspond to the industry fleetwide average for all light-duty vehicles of roughly 34.5 miles per gallon (mpg) in MY 2031. 

Light-Duty Vehicles

Standards

NPRM: Proposed CAFE Standards for MYs 2022-2031 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks   

Documents Associated with Earlier Rulemakings

Compliance and Enforcement

CAFE Self-Service Reporting Data Portal

NHTSA’s Public Information Center (PIC) is a resource tool for the public and for automobile manufacturers to obtain information on the CAFE and Heavy-Duty Vehicle and Engine Fuel Consumption programs. PIC allows researchers, analysts, media, and the public to easily access dynamic data about how manufacturers are complying with NHTSA’s fuel efficiency programs and provides self-service portals for easy access to the data. For manufacturers, PIC provides the most up-to-date resource tools for compliance. Public information is routinely updated on PIC to provide timely, reliable compliance data, which can be viewed in reports, and interactive table and graph formats. The interactive data can be easily sorted and filtered based on specific areas of interest to produce custom reports, which can also be downloaded as Excel or PDF files. NHTSA will add reports and additional resources for manufacturers to PIC sites as regulations and needs arise.

CAFE and Fuel Efficiency Updates

February 20, 2024: This final decision responds to petitions filed by several low-volume manufacturers requesting exemption from the generally applicable corporate average fuel economy standards for several model years. 

December 13, 2022: A new compliance report for NHTSA’s heavy-duty (HD) fuel consumption program covering MY 2013-2020 vehicles is available in CAFE's public information center.

Rulemaking on Civil Penalty Rate

March 25, 2022: NHTSA final rule withdrawing the January 2021 interim final rule and reverting to the December 2016 final rule, restoring the application of the increased CAFE civil penalty rate as mandated by Congress beginning with Model Year 2019, instead of Model Year 2022.

Previous Rulemaking

August 17, 2021: NHTSA supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking requesting comment on whether NHTSA should proceed to a final rule that withdraws the January 2021 interim final rule and reverts to the December 2016 final rule, restoring the application of the increased CAFE civil penalty rate beginning with model year 2019, instead of model year 2022.

January 14, 2021: NHTSA interim final rule adjusts the CAFE civil penalty rate to $14 beginning in model year 2022; if the August 31, 2020, decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Case No. 19-2395 is vacated, however, the rate will remain at $5.50 instead.

July 12, 2019: NHTSA final rule retains the $5.50 penalty rate applicable to automobile manufacturers that fail to meet CAFE standards.

Heavy-Duty Vehicles

NHTSA Announces Final Rule for HDPUV Standards

June 7, 2024: NHTSA finalizes new fuel efficiency standards for heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans (commonly referred to as class 2b and class 3 vehicles) built in model years 2030-2035. 

March 15, 2024: NHTSA finalizes technical amendments to the test procedures for heavy-duty engines and vehicles to improve accuracy and reduce testing burden.

Phase 2

The compliance dates for NHTSA’s fuel efficiency regulations, to the extent they apply to truck trailers, are currently stayed, pursuant to an order of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued on September 29, 2020 in case No. 16-1430.

Final Rule for Phase 2 fuel efficiency and GHG emissions standards for medium- & heavy-duty vehicles, MY2018-2027

Documents relating to the Phase 2 proposal for medium- & heavy-duty vehicles, MY 2018-2027

Phase 1

Phase 1 of Fuel Efficiency and GHG Emission Program for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Trucks, MYs 2014-2018  

Technical Amendments

Final Rule

NEPA Process

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

Fuel Economy and Environment Label

NHTSA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a joint final rule establishing new requirements for a fuel economy and environment label that will be posted on the window sticker of all new automobiles sold in the U.S.