The US Environment protection Agency (EPA) has officially released its proposal to freeze fuel economy standards; a move which may result in a further slowdown in electric vehicle (EV) adoption in the country. Electric vehicles need government’s support for better adoption as majority of electric vehicles cost much higher compared to conventional vehicles.

The official release of the proposal by the EPA is a consequence of nearly two years of negotiations with the auto industry, the oil industry and other stakeholders. The proposal pertains to freezing the fuel economy standard beginning in 2020, and thus sets aside the more aggressive goals of ‘between 2021 and 2026’ which were originally set for automakers during President Obama’s reign.

Under the EPA’s new proposal, the estimated levels of CAFE and CO2 for passenger cars would be set to average at 43.7 mpg (5.38 l/100 km) and 204 g CO2/mile in the US. Previously, during President Obama era, automakers had agreed to a proposed doubling of their fleet-wide average fuel economy to 54.5 mpg by 2025.

Though the earlier proposal was aimed at encouraging automakers to mass produce EVs, the present EPA opines that the previously-set goals would have been “costly.”

About the new proposal, climate denier and coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler -- the EPA’s acting administrator -- said that the new proposal “aims to strike the right regulatory balance,” and added: “We are delivering on President Trump’s promise to the American public that his administration would address and fix the current fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards.”