US Oil Producers Fail to Produce

[Gelston]

So they can dump their low MPG vehicles from their fleets, create vehicles which use alternative fuels to get an artificial boost to their average, create electric vehicles which get 200+ MPG equivalent, and use credits from prior years where they exceeded the minimum to use towards the future where they don't meet the required minimum, all of which doesn't make cars more fuel efficient. Or car makers can just pay the penalty for not achieving the minimum standard, which some automakers do.

Like I said it's a misleading requirement.

The MPG is still based on total miles driven. They'll have to put a LOT more miles on their high MPG vehicles to counterbalance poor performers. That costs money. They'll look at dumping those poor performers. It isn't misleading. It is still calculated total miles driven (of all vehicles) / gasoline consumption = MPG.

There are no "credits" mentioned by the NHTSA so I have no idea where you are getting that idea from.

Also, included, automakers are REQUIRED to have every light duty vehicle have at least a 49 MPG average by 2026. That isn't even corporate fleets, that is every single vehicle made in that category.