Top 10 emissions & efficiency articles of 2025
Trump's inauguration on January 20 ushered in the hope that emissions regulations would ease. FleetOwner readers soaked up every piece we published about the Trump administration's war on emissions standards, evident in our Top 10 most-read Emissions & Efficiency pieces this year.
In fact, the majority of our Top 10 in this category were directly related to the EPA and emissions regulations, solidifying the impact emissions regulations have on trucking.
While emissions regulations were the hottest topic this year, the closure of two alt-fuel OEMs was also a story the industry watched closely.
10. From ‘badass’ to belly up: Bollinger Motors joins the list of EV OEMs to call it quits
Bollinger Motors, manufacturer of the most “badass” commercial electric vehicles (EVs)—a name the OEM gave its own products—has died, sources close to the company have confirmed.
At least, that’s how the obituary would read if the industry provided them for auto manufacturers and their products. Read more...
9. Trucking has high hopes for Zeldin's EPA
Lee Zeldin is the new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator—and he plans to rescind emissions regulations.
The Senate confirmed Zeldin in late January by a 56-42 vote. Zeldin will lead EPA, the nation’s top environmental authority with 17,000 employees, and will be President Donald Trump’s main adviser on environmental issues. Read more...
8. Nikola files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, seeks quick asset sale
The long-troubled Nikola Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February. News from company leaders had largely been quiet the prior few months, leading some to believe such a move was coming. CEO Steve Girsky said Nikola had faced certain “market and macroeconomic” factors that impacted its ability to operate.
“In recent months, we have taken numerous actions to raise capital, reduce our liabilities, clean up our balance sheet, and preserve cash to sustain our operations. Unfortunately, our very best efforts have not been enough to overcome these significant challenges,” he said, continuing to add that Nikola’s executive team decided Chapter 11 was the “best possible” path. Read more...
7. Nikola sells battery assets to Mullen amid bankruptcy rumors
California-based EV-maker Mullen Automotive purchased more battery assets from Nikola Corporation, the company announced in early February. Neither company disclosed the deal's financial terms, which included acquiring a high-volume standard battery chemistry production line and a vibration table for in-house laboratory testing.
It wasn't the first time Mullen made such a move. In September 2023, it bought production assets from Nikola subsidiary Romeo Power. That $3.5 million deal included equipment, inventory, and intellectual property for high-volume EV battery pack and module production. Read more...
6. EPA27 isn’t dead yet. Will your fleet be prepared?
While fleet owners and truck buyers might have been able to ignore EPA27 woes over the summer, the deregulation-focused Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has offered no updated guidance on the regulation’s fate—and the clock is ticking.
This time a year ago, the 2027 prebuy was one of the hottest topics in the industry. Yet after the presidential election, the conversation changed. Instead of talking strategy about vehicle acquisition and prebuy, the industry celebrated the hope that the Trump administration would eliminate or postpone the regulation predicted to cause the cost of model year 2027 trucks to skyrocket. Read more...
5. EPA aims to roll back emissions regulations
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced in March that the environmental authority is “reconsidering” notorious heavy-duty truck emissions standards—as well as EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases altogether.
“The American auto industry has been hamstrung by the crushing regulatory regime of the last administration. As we reconsider nearly one trillion dollars of regulatory costs, we will abide by the rule of law to protect consumer choice and the environment,” Zeldin said. Read more...
4. Trump admin suspends national EV charging program
The Trump administration is pausing charging infrastructure funding under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program indefinitely.
The Federal Highway Administration issued a memo announcing the suspension of the NEVI Formula Program. This indefinitely pauses all new NEVI funding approvals, leaving between $885 million and $1.5 billion in funding in limbo while the U.S. Department of Transportation reviews its policies. Read more...
3. CARB withdraws Advanced Clean Fleets bid
The California Air Resources Board withdrew its request for an EPA waiver to enforce its Advanced Clean Fleets rule. The withdrawal means CARB is now no longer seeking to enforce its ZEV mandate on fleets.
The move comes just days before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in for a second term on January 20. Read more...
2. Trump’s EPA to help Congress dissolve CARB waivers
President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency made its first procedural attack on California’s heavy-duty emissions regulations.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that the agency will submit reports to Congress on its Biden-era waivers for the California Air Resources Board’s vehicle emissions regulations. The reports would include waivers for Advanced Clean Trucks, Heavy-Duty Omnibus, and Advanced Clean Cars II. Read more...
1. How Trump is changing emissions standards this year
The new leader of the nation’s environmental agencies is a vocal opponent of climate policy and emissions standards. Zero-emission vehicles were a top industry concern in 2024, so how will this new administration affect the trucking industry in 2025?
Fleets can expect Trump, with direct control over the country’s primary environmental authority, to follow his campaign platform in reducing environmental standards, according to industry experts who spoke with FleetOwner. Read more...
Along with these articles, FleetOwner publishes several popular annual features that garner attention throughout the trucking and transportation industries. These include our annual looks at the largest commercial transportation systems in the U.S., the FleetOwner 500: For-Hire and FleetOwner 500: Private Fleets.
Our annual profiles of women in the industry, Women in Transportation 2025, were published this summer. Each year, FleetOwner recognizes the transportation operations of private fleets with the FleetOwner Private Fleet of the Year award. This fall, we expanded and rebranded our annual New Models into the 2025 FleetOwner vehicle guide, our largest-ever look at the next generation of heavy-duty, medium-duty, light-duty, and alternative-powered trucks and vans.
We put a bow on the year with the 2025 Trucking By the Numbers feature, an info-graphical look at the facts and figures that make up the trucking and transportation industries.
To view what's ahead for FleetOwner in the new year, please check out our 2026 Media Kit.
About the Author
Jade Brasher
Senior Editor Jade Brasher has covered vocational trucking and fleets since 2018. A graduate of The University of Alabama with a degree in journalism, Jade enjoys telling stories about the people behind the wheel and the intricate processes of the ever-evolving trucking industry.