S1: Welcome in San Diego. It's Jade Hindman on this episode of KPBS Midday Edition. Rolling back fuel efficiency standards while gas prices continue to rise. A new move from the Trump administration. And if it'll cost you , this is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. On today's show. The Trump administration announced that it's weakening another Biden era effort to make new cars more fuel efficient. Officials point to affordability as a major reason for the rollback and that more fuel efficient cars may cost more. But some experts are skeptical about that logic. This also comes amid soaring fuel prices of which are , you know , uncomfortably familiar here in California. So what do you , as a consumer , need to know? Well , I'm joined by Joseph Yoon. He's a consumer insights analyst with Edmunds. They're a car shopping and research site. Joseph , welcome to the show. Hi.
S2: Hi. Thanks for having me.
S1: So glad to have you here. Um , let's start with what these fuel efficiency standards actually are. Can you say it out for us? Yeah.
S2: Yeah. The corporate average Fuel economy regulations are have been in place for a long time. And basically what their goal was to do was to bring up the efficiency of vehicles sold in the United States over a long period of time. They've been in place for nearly , I think , 20 ish years or so now , um , maybe even longer. And each successive administration has had , you know , their kind of take on it. And it's kind of been creeping up over time. And what the Trump administration has decided to do is kind of roll back those requirements for the overall target miles per gallon numbers to be much lower than they were before , especially during the Biden administration. So I believe the target now , it used to be , uh , I believe around 50 miles to the gallon. Um , for kind of your , for an automaker's lineup to be able to do 50 miles to the gallon on average. Um , now , I believe the number is 34.9 , um , or something like that. And so that's that's been the big change , um , in those , uh , regulatory numbers.
S1: So from where you sit in , all , you know , will these new rules actually lower costs for the average consumer?
S2: Um , probably not. Um , especially in the current kind of , uh , challenging environment for automakers. Um , they haven't really talked about it much or they haven't really complained about much. But , um , the tariffs that this current administration have brought on has had huge impacts on the bottom line , especially for American auto manufacturers , because their manufacturing supply chains include Canada and Mexico and all across the globe. And , you know , they've had a really tough time , um , kind of managing all of that , plus not trying to pass on those cost to consumers. And so whatever savings are going to hypothetically get by developing , uh , or putting cars to market that are less efficient than before , I highly , highly doubt will trickle down to the consumers. Interesting.
S1: Interesting. Um , and of course , you mentioned tariffs. Car prices in general have gone up. What else is behind those rising costs though?
S2: Uh , yeah. Surprisingly tariffs haven't had that big of an impact on car prices. Um , we all thought it would , but they didn't. Um , the biggest issue , the biggest reason for car prices being so high actually started during the pandemic. Um , supply chain issues and work stoppages , that all had kind of a big detrimental effect on what supply was available and what manufacturing capacity was available to these automakers. And so they kind of shifted their manufacturing focus to building higher margin vehicles , whether it was a higher trim level or more expensive models in their lineup. And they realized that , you know , in that time , even with taking a little hit on sales because they were selling higher margin vehicles , their profits didn't suffer as much as they thought it would. And they've kind of never really looked back since. And , you know , as a corporation , that's their job to do that. And I don't fault them for doing that. But um , for us on the consumer side , it it is very shocking every time you look at what new car prices cost today.
S1: Yeah , it definitely is. Um , here in San Diego , the average gas price , speaking of which , is about $6.40. That's according to AA. So if if cars become less fuel efficient , what could this really mean for new car owners?
S2: I think for new car owners , they're going to more actively seek out automakers that have alternate powertrains , whether that's a hybrid powertrain or a plug in powertrain or an all electric one. Uh. You know , I'm in the Los Angeles area. Our gas prices are no better than what they are in San Diego. And , you know , it's it's a real , real challenge for people. Um , looking at those numbers. Climb at the pump. Um , getting fewer and fewer gallons. Um , and , you know , it isn't helped by the fact that I think , you know , everything else seems to also cost a lot as well. And so when people decide to go car shopping and they look at what these cars cost to fill up , um , I think they're going to have a little bit of a reality check. Um , and maybe and maybe look at what , um , brands that they may have not had considered before. Um , you know , yeah , you look at a brand's lineup and you see , you know , zero hybrid vehicles or zero electrified powertrains , and you're thinking , well , I don't want a new car payment and $200 at the pump every time I go , and they're going to look somewhere else. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. I mean , and , you know , like you said , you know , everything costs more. And when we think about gas prices and the interest rate , even on an auto loan , you know , the monthly cost of owning and driving a car are just are they're very expensive. And for a lot of people that cost is cutting into other basic necessities like food and housing. I mean , so how do you navigate all of that as a consumer?
S2: Yeah , it's a real tough time right now. I think , for a lot of people trying to balance their budgets. I know it's it's , you know , we look at all these skyrocketing costs and we try to see what , what we need to do to get that under control. And , you know , for me as a car person , you know , if you're in the market for a car , I , uh , you know , strongly , strongly , strongly beg of you to go and do some a little bit of research on , you know , what? First of all , on what these cars cost now , because you're going to be shocked if you haven't bought a car in the past six years. Um , and to maybe consider , uh , doing some fuel economy math. Um , the government publishes the list of , uh , every single make and model , I think , down to the trim level and what it would cost to fill up that car. Um , car shopping websites typically have a fuel economy calculator. Um , we just built one for Edmunds. Um , so if you want to Google a fuel calculator from Edmunds , I welcome you to do so. Um , but these these are tools that are , you know , available at your disposal , right. Um , if you're if it costs you $150 every time you go to the pump right now , um , maybe it's time to consider a hybrid vehicle as your next car. Um , something that can do 40 , 50 miles to the gallon versus whatever you're getting now. I mean , luckily , you know , in my mom's case , her forerunner does , like , 16 miles to the gallon. Um , luckily , she doesn't drive very much , so it's kind of a non-issue. But if I had a commute and my car did 16 miles to the gallon. I would be cursing so much every time I went to the gas station. And so there I you know , when you're in your shopping journey , I really do encourage everybody to do as much research as possible because it is tough out there. Um , interest rates , as you mentioned , are super high. So even if you have great credit , you're going to get numbers that are numbers from the dealership that are deeply insulting to you because you did everything right. But the interest rates or the interest rates and it's kind of beyond your control. So , um , yeah , go out there , get on the internet , get on your phone , um , Google as much as possible , uh , go to all the shopping sites that you go to. Obviously , you know , for me , I prefer that you use Edmunds.com. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Well , uh , you know , I just went ahead and got my bike tuned up. So I'm there with a whole lot of folks who are over it. Um , so , listen , what does this what does this mean for auto companies and the auto industry. Will these new standards make them less competitive in the global market? Also considering the transition to electric vehicles?
S2: Yeah , it's a tough one. Um , I think , you know , a big portion of the cars available in the United States are built by global companies , um , whether they're Korean or Japanese or from Europe. You know , they build cars for outside of the US market and , you know , they're going to do what they find competitive for their business. Um , whether that's full electrification or a more diversified hybrid lineup for them. Um , you know , they're going to do what their they need to do to , um , be competitive and to survive in this kind of environment. Um , I think where the challenge comes is for companies based in Detroit , whether it's for General Motors or Stellantis and their portfolio of large trucks and , um , large SUVs based on those trucks. Um , obviously those cars will benefit the most from the less stringent fuel economy regulations. Um , but at the same time , does that mean , you know , they're going to be less competitive in the future? Maybe. Um , we don't actually know. Um , we don't know what future legislation holds in terms of , um , how the federal government is going to continue to regulate the , uh , car industry. Um , I think , you know , if you've paid any attention to the car market at all , all the kind of noise right now is coming from China and what they're doing towards , um , for cheap electric vehicles with , you know , insane capabilities and insane specifications and how that's going to change the rest of the world. Um , and a lot of markets are finding out real quick what that looks like when Chinese vehicles kind of hit their market and , you know , become best sellers overnight. And so , um , obviously the United States government has , uh , you know , has incentive to protect automakers here in the United States , how they will continue to do that , I'm not sure , but I think at a global scale , I think the Detroit three are going to have some challenges if they lean in too hard into these fuel , I guess fuel drinking.
S1: Gas guzzling cars. Yes.
S2: Yes.
S1: Yeah , yeah I gotcha. Yeah. Well , Joseph , I so appreciate your insight on this. I've been speaking with Joseph Yun. He's a consumer insight analyst at Edmunds. Joseph. Thanks again.
S2: Oh , yes. Thank you for having me. I always love to talk about cars and what it means for us as consumers here.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
