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Cato Weekly Podcast • December 23, 2025 

# How Fuel Economy Rules Made Cars Bigger, Pricier, and Less Safe 

Intended to save fuel and protect consumers, CAFE standards have instead penalized efficient small cars, subsidized trucks and SUVs, and created a de facto electric-vehicle mandate. Cato’s Chad Davis, Brent Skorup, and Peter Van Doren trace how decades of regulatory layering have increased vehicle manufacturing costs, reduced affordability for consumers, and locked automakers into an endless cycle of policy reversals.

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

##### Featuring 

![Chad Davis](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2025-03/2025-02-25-Cato%20Institute-Chad%20Davis%20-%2011_1.jpg?itok=JYmu7hCg) 

##### Chad Davis 

Former Vice President for Public Affairs

[![Brent Skorup cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2024-05/Brent%20Skorup%20cropped.jpg?itok=5Witkb6w)](/people/brent-skorup) 

##### [Brent Skorup](/people/brent-skorup)

Former Legal Fellow, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies

[![Peter Van Doren](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Peter%20Van%20Doren.jpg?itok=H1lphT-7)](/people/peter-van-doren) 

##### [Peter Van Doren](/people/peter-van-doren)

Senior Fellow and Editor of *Regulation*

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](mailto:pvandoren@cato.org)