--- title: "EPA killing auto start stop?" url: "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2025/05/epa-killing-auto-start-stop/" publisher: "Pickup Truck + SUV Talk" content_signal: "search=yes, ai-input=yes, ai-train=no" author: "Tim Esterdahl" published: "2025-05-14T19:46:06+00:00" modified: "2025-07-23T15:09:20+00:00" image: "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/auto-start-stop.webp" --- # EPA killing auto start stop? By Tim Esterdahl Published: 2025-05-14T19:46:06+00:00 Updated: 2025-07-23T15:09:20+00:00 ![Featured image]() The dreaded auto start stop feature in newer vehicles looks like it is on the chopping block according to new EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. ## EPA killing auto start stop? This new development comes from a post on X where Zeldin declared the agency was looking into eliminating the credit for automakers to implement the feature. > Start/stop technology: where your car dies at every red light so companies get a climate participation trophy. EPA approved it, and everyone hates it, so we’re fixing it. [pic.twitter.com/zFhijMyHDe]() > > — Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) [May 12, 2025]() The feature turns a vehicle on/off at long stops such as in stop and go traffic or at stop signs. This can save a small amount of fuel and emissions with longer stops. Critics point to long-term concerns on wear and tear over items such as the starter. As Zeldin correctly points out, this feature wasn’t an EPA mandated item, rather automakers received a credit for using the systems in their vehicles. Most automakers adopted this feature for the credit making a wildly used feature and as part of the credit it had to be activated each time the vehicle was started. Removing this credit will likely mean this feature could disappear in future vehicles depending on when they are redesigned and if the automaker chooses to make this change. ## Our take Auto start/stop is just dumb. Does it destroy starters? Nope. Does it save that much fuel? Nope. It is just unnecessary and an inconvenience. The EPA was trying to force the issue here and that never works. The real answer is a hybrid powertrain that turns off anyway without the owner noticing achieving the same perceived benefits of auto start/stop with much greater results. 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