Trump’s CAFE Changes Will Cost Drivers – Jalopnik

Happy Monday! It’s December 15, 2025, and that is The Morning Shift — your each day roundup of the highest automotive headlines from around the globe, in a single place. This is the place you will discover an important tales which can be shaping the way in which Americans drive and get round.

In this morning’s version, we’re taking a look at how lowered emissions laws may value automobile patrons cash, in addition to the wild sums the Tesla board has raked in. We’ll additionally have a look at how EV progress is slowing, and an NHTSA investigation right into a Jeep recall.

Trump is rolling again CAFE laws, below the reasoning that together with much less emissions gear on vehicles will make them cheaper. Unfortunately for that line of thought, it seems the adjustments would value drivers extra in gasoline than it could save them in new-car pricing. From Automotive News: 

The Trump administration pitched its adjustments to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy requirements as a car affordability play, however the superb print exhibits that NHTSA expects shoppers to pay extra for gas, an expense that can high the anticipated financial savings on transaction worth.

The Trump administration assumes that relaxed mpg laws will enable automakers to spend much less on parts that enhance gas economic system and move a mean $925 in buy financial savings to patrons. Officials from Ford, General Motors, Stellantis and the National Automobile Dealers Association joined President Donald Trump within the Oval Office to cheer the anticipated financial savings for shoppers.

But if the proposal turns into official, firms will ditch fuel-saving applied sciences and shoppers pays no less than $187 extra over the lifetime of the car, even with the anticipated worth financial savings upfront, in line with an appendix to NHTSA’s proposal.

The web value of passenger automobile and light-weight truck possession will improve by between $187 and $506 over the car lifetime, pushed by a complete improve in gas prices of $1,112 to $1,431 for the 2031 mannequin 12 months, NHTSA mentioned.

Of course, this is not actually about saving drivers cash. It’s about enriching fossil gas donors, who will completely love this modification. Best of luck to the remainder of us as we choke on smog and drown in rising oceans. 

Tesla’s CEO is the richest man on this planet, however he is not the one one making financial institution off the corporate’s completely unjustified inventory worth. Tesla’s board are additionally making out like bandits, raking in a collective $3 billion. From Reuters: 

Tesla’s board of administrators has earned greater than $3 billion by means of inventory awards that far exceeded the worth of these given to friends on the largest U.S. expertise corporations on the time they had been paid, in line with an evaluation carried out for Reuters by compensation and governance specialist Equilar.

The evaluation discovered CEO Elon Musk’s brother Kimbal has earned practically $1 billion since 2004, primarily based on the appreciated worth of inventory choices held or liquidated. Director Ira Ehrenpreis has collected $869 million since 2007. Board chair Robyn Denholm has made $650 million since 2014.

Directors reaped such windfalls regardless that they have not awarded themselves new inventory grants since 2020. The board agreed to droop director compensation beginning in 2021 to settle, opens new tab a shareholder lawsuit alleging extreme board-member pay. Between 2018 and 2020, nonetheless, the typical Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab director obtained a complete of about $12 million in cash-and-stock compensation. That was about eight instances as a lot as the typical director at Alphabet, the subsequent highest-paid among the many “Magnificent Seven” firms over the identical interval.

Tesla’s board compensation is outsized, however a lot of that money is probably going simply as a result of completely skyrocketing share worth — a share worth that is still completely untethered from the corporate’s underlying monetary situation, as an increasing number of shoppers reject its vehicles and its CEO. That’s superb, although, as a result of individuals will spend actually infinite cash on robots, proper? 

EV gross sales in Europe are nonetheless rising, however progress in China and the U.S. has tapered off — two markets main sufficient to stem international EV adoption. Despite Europe’s finest efforts,  EV progress is slowing, and it is our and China’s fault. From Reuters:

Global EV gross sales grew in November on the slowest fee since February 2024 as China plateaued, whereas the tip of an EV tax credit score scheme within the United States set North America on monitor for its first 12 months of decline since 2019, knowledge confirmed.

In Europe, registrations of electrical autos, together with battery-electric and plug-in hybrids, maintained robust progress due to nationwide incentive applications and are up by a 3rd to date this 12 months in contrast with the identical interval of 2024, consultancy Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI) mentioned on Friday.

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North American registrations fell by 42% to simply over 100,000 vehicles offered, following an analogous drop in October on the finish of U.S. tax credit, and are down 1% to date this 12 months.

EV progress in China is petering out, however at a a lot greater EV market share than we’ve got right here. Electric autos made up the vast majority of new automobile gross sales within the nation only a few months in the past, whereas over right here we’re nonetheless combating for crumbs. 

Jeep recalled two mannequin years of the Grand Cherokee lately for points with the rear coil springs, however a brand new investigation from NHTSA exhibits that the repair could also be simply as dangerous as the problem it was meant to resolve. The company is now investigating Jeep, to find out whether or not the answer truly solved something. From Reuters:

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Monday opened a probe into the recall of 331,401 Jeep autos resulting from improperly put in rear coil springs.

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The U.S. auto security regulator mentioned the recall in June 2023 lined sure 2022–2023 Grand Cherokee fashions constructed by Stellantis’ Fiat Chrysler Automobiles U.S. subsidiary.

As a treatment, sellers inspected the affected autos and repaired the rear coil assemblies when wanted, for gratis to house owners.

However, following completion of the treatment, NHTSA obtained 20 client complaints involving indifferent springs.

Not an ideal look, Jeep, to have your repair investigated as badly as the unique downside. Still higher than Ford this 12 months, although. 

Oh, you thought I used to be going to go together with the conventional model of “Birth of Serpents”? C’mon now.