EPA Eliminates Credits for Auto Start-Stop Feature in Cars

Automakers will now be motivated to manufacture vehicles based on what Americans ‘actually want in their cars,’ the agency said.

President Trump is joined by Environmental Protection Agency chief Lee Zeldin in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Feb. 12, 2026. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ended a greenhouse gas credit program that incentivized auto manufacturers to include automatic start-stop systems in vehicles, the agency said in a Feb. 12 statement.

“EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin eliminated the off-cycle credit that was used to implement the almost universally hated start-stop feature in American vehicles,” said the statement. The off-cycle credit was created by the Obama administration in 2012, allowing automakers to claim greenhouse gas (GHG) credits by adding features such as a start-stop system.