It’s Open Season On Fuel Economy – Jalopnik

Happy Thursday! It’s July 17, 2025, and that is The Morning Shift — your each day roundup of the highest automotive headlines from world wide, in a single place. This is the place you will discover an important tales which might be shaping the way in which Americans drive and get round.

In this morning’s version, we’re taking a look at our new Wild West for emissions regulation, in addition to Volvo’s scaled-back U.S. choices. We’ll additionally have a look at how Japan is faring within the face of our auto tariffs, and Tesla’s dedication to doing the improper factor always. 

Time was, automakers needed to hit sure gasoline financial system averages throughout their fleet —in the event that they failed to fulfill the bar, they’d pay hefty fines to the United States authorities. That time lasted from 1975 till simply this month, when Donald Trump revoked the flexibility for the federal government to gather these fines. Now, automakers can roughly construct no matter they need by way of gasoline financial system with out penalty, and that freedom truly extends again to the 2022 mannequin yr. From Reuters:

Automakers face no fines for failures to fulfill gasoline effectivity guidelines courting again to the 2022 mannequin yr underneath a legislation signed by President Donald Trump this month, U.S. regulators mentioned.

The tax and finances invoice accepted by Trump ends penalties for not assembly Corporate Average Fuel Economy guidelines underneath a 1975 power legislation.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration mentioned in a letter to automakers seen by Reuters it’s engaged on its reconsideration of gasoline financial system guidelines. The resolution is considered one of a quantity made by Washington to make it simpler for automakers to construct gasoline-powered automobiles and to make electrical automobile gross sales extra pricey.

I really feel like I write some variation of this every single day, however let’s reiterate; Electric passenger vehicles are at finest a half-measure in direction of meaningfully decreasing local weather change, however seeing as there is not any political will for extra radical change they seem to be a half-measure we’ll all should dwell with. EVs are the longer term, and the remainder of the world continues to be constructing them. If we comply with down this path, the United States will find yourself some smog-choked backwater nation the place no vacationer {dollars} circulation and the place residents are too broke for multinational companies to trouble working. It’ll be like if the “Mad Max” motion pictures left Australia to point out that, truly, all over the place else was completely regular. 

Remember when Ford owned Volvo? Imagine how wild it might be if that was nonetheless the case. Can you think about a Volvo run with Ford’s present enterprise technique? No S60, S90, V60, or V90, simply crossovers and crossovers alone? Well, now you do not have to marvel. Thanks to tariffs, that is precisely how Volvo seems within the States now. From Reuters:

Volvo Cars mentioned it has scaled again its U.S. mannequin lineup this yr, among the many first examples of a serious automaker halting U.S. shipments as President Donald Trump’s tariffs make it tougher to promote a broad vary of automobiles profitably.

The Swedish carmaker, which is owned by China’s Geely Holding, advised Reuters this week that it has been pulling sedans and station wagons from its U.S. portfolio as curiosity has waned.

The V90 is definitely being killed off globally, which is a real disgrace to see. It’s a wonderful automotive, the prettiest of the massive wagons, and it is dying. Better to have cherished and misplaced than to have by no means gotten the V90 in any respect, I suppose, however I’d certain prefer to maintain loving for a bit longer. We do not all want crossovers. 

Our wanton imposition of tariffs has rattled seemingly each nation and business on the planet, however Japan appears particularly hard-hit by our capricious govt department. Without a particular tariff deal in place, the nation’s nationwide exports are already measurably dropping — an ailing portent for what’s to return when the complete tariff charges kick in on August 1st. Unless they get pushed again once more. Again, capricious govt department. From Reuters:

Japan’s exports fell for a second straight month as sweeping U.S. tariffs took a toll on the nation’s producers, with its fragile financial system uncovered to better dangers from the worldwide commerce struggle in coming months.

Japan did not clinch a take care of the U.S. earlier than the July 9 expiration of the momentary pause on the country-specific tariffs after it centered on eliminating the present sectoral 25% tariffs on vehicles, a mainstay of the export-reliant financial system.

Can you think about being Japan proper now? A overseas nation drops a heretofore unseen bomb of unimaginable damaging energy on two of your cities, and within the literal and figurative fallout decides to restructure your whole authorities to higher match its pursuits. Then, on somebody’s whim, it decides to clamp down on commerce with you? The nation it labored so laborious to reforge in its picture and its world pursuits? I’d be upset. 

Back in 2019, a Tesla Model S operating Autopilot blew a cease signal and hit a parked Chevy Tahoe, killing one individual and injuring one other. The trial round that accident has change into a debate across the security of Tesla’s automation programs, and now specialists are chiming in to say their peace: Autopilot is just not practically as protected as marketed. From Bloomberg:

Tesla Inc. hasn’t completed sufficient to guard in opposition to drivers misusing its Autopilot system, a security professional testified at a trial over a 2019 deadly collision.

Mary “Missy” Cummings, an engineering professor at George Mason University, advised jurors in Miami federal court docket that the Tesla proprietor’s guide, which incorporates essential warnings about how the system works, is tough for drivers to entry.

She additionally mentioned that previous to the crash, the corporate was having issues with drivers ignoring computer-generated warnings and had not embraced so-called geo-fencing already in use by different automotive makers to dam drivers from activating driver-assistance capabilities on roads they are not designed for.

…

“I believe they were using that as a way to sell more cars,” mentioned Cummings, who beforehand served as a senior adviser on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Prioritizing gross sales over security is the American method, however often you are supposed to cover it higher than this. At least somewhat bit higher. You actually do not should strive that arduous, simply tougher than Tesla did. 

Of course, after that day in 2014, all of us keep in mind how policing radically modified throughout the United States right into a much less punitive, extra neighborhood support-based position. The underlying causes of crime like financial instability have been all addressed, and nobody voted to fund a nationwide unaccountable secret police drive with the ability to revoke citizenship with out provocation. We discovered our lesson and glued the whole lot. 

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