The rules will also save consumers more than $8,000 a vehicle, on average, in fuel costs, the EPA said.

Automakers agreed to double the fuel economy of the vehicles they sell in the U.S. to a fleetwide average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, President Barack Obama said.
A separate rule issued in 2009 takes effect next year, and requires automakers to increase average fuel economy to 35.5 mpg by 2016.

The White House negotiated the proposal, which will take effect in 2017, with automakers including General Motors Co. (GM), Ford Motor Co. (F) and Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) The administration proposed a 56.2 mpg requirement last month, up from a fleetwide average of 27 mpg today for cars and light trucks.

“This agreement on fuel standards represents the single most important step we’ve ever taken to reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” Obama said today at an event in Washington with auto executives.

Obama is seeking to limit the amount of fuel used by U.S. vehicles as part of a pledge to reduce oil imports by a third by 2025. The agreement with automakers, which also curbs greenhouse-gas emissions, comes as his administration negotiates with Congress on raising the U.S. debt ceiling to avoid default.

Obama used the event to promote his energy priorities and to highlight some of the issues being weighed in the standoff over raising the federal debt ceiling.

The agreement on higher standards “is only possible because we made investments in technology,” Obama said. A “sensible and balanced approach” is needed to make sure the U.S. is able to sustain economic growth in the future, he said.