EV Fuel Economy Incentive to Be Cut Under Energy Department Plan

The Energy Department on Wednesday issued an interim final rule notice removing an incentive for manufacturers to include electric vehicles in their fleets.

The interim rule, to be published in the federal register on Thursday, differs slightly from a similar rule the department issued Jan. 8.

Both versions seek to amend the process of calculating the petroleum-equivalent fuel economy of electric vehicles, which is used by the Environmental Protection Agency to figure out light-duty vehicle manufacturers’ compliance with Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards. Those standards, overseen by the Transportation Department, regulate how far vehicles have to travel on average on ...