The 2024 rule set fuel economy targets for each automaker's whole fleet. The Hill says those limits were deliberately hard to meet without selling more electric vehicles. The rule never required EV sales outright.
What we’re less sure of3 of 6 claims
Low
The new fuel economy standards scrap Biden's 2024 fleet pollution rule for automakers.
This conflates two different rules. The standards Trump approved replace NHTSA's June 2024 CAFE fuel-economy rule (about 50.4 mpg by MY2031, cut to 34.5 mpg). EPA's 2024 multi-pollutant (GHG) fleet rule was already rescinded separately in February 2026, according to Harvard EELP and the CBF tracker.
Medium
The 2024 rule set fleet-wide limits that automakers could not meet without selling more electric vehicles.
This is partly supported: EPA's own 2024 compliance estimate projected a 53% plug-in / 44% BEV sales share in 2030 (ICCT). But 'could not meet without' is the desk's stronger inference; the rules allowed other compliance paths, such as hybrids and credit trading. The story does not attribute it.
Low
Trump uses the 'EV mandate' label because the rule's limits could only be met by selling more EVs.
The story gives no statement from Trump or the administration explaining why he uses the label. This is the desk's own inference about his reasoning.