() The EPA administrator has promised to end a contentious feature in many automobiles: the automatic start-stop feature that temporarily shuts down engines at red light stops.
Lee Zeldin says the start-stop function, which automakers began installing to reduce emissions in return for federal incentives, annoys most motorists, who consider it “the single worst feature in their motor vehicle.”
“They want it eliminated,” Zeldin told Blake Burman on “The Hill” Thursday.
To that end, he said the EPA will seek to revoke its approval of credits that were granted in exchange for the technology’s installation.
The Obama administration originally incentivized start-stop more than a decade ago to improve fuel efficiency. By 2022, an estimated 65% of vehicles in the United States had the feature.
Zeldin suggested the function wouldn’t be so annoying if owners had the option of disabling it wholesale rather than having to do so during each individual trip.
“If it saves a little bit in gas, what is it doing to my starter? What is it doing to my engine? Is it safe?” he said.
The former Republican congressman from New York talked exclusively with Thursday after appearing before lawmakers this week to discuss budget and grant cuts his agency is seeking to make. The EPA’s fiscal 2026 budget would be cut by more than half as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to downsize government.
