The Obama administration plans to set tougher fuel economy and emissions rules for car manufacturers in a move likely to please environmentalists but add to the industry’s challenges.
A senior administration official on Monday said that the new plan would bring “historic levels of fuel efficiency”, introducing the first rules designed to reduce carbon emissions from cars and accelerating by four years an existing plan for new vehicles to achieve an average of about 35 miles per gallon by 2020. The standards are 39mpg for cars and 30mpg for light trucks.
