EPA administrator targets stop-start vehicle tech: "Everyone hates it"

• Advocates like it because it helps combat climate change, but critics find it irritating.

Driving the news: EPA administrator Lee Zeldin blasted stop-start systems in a post Monday on X, signaling that the agency would take action against it.

• "Start/stop technology: where your car dies at every red light so companies get a climate participation trophy," Zeldin said. "EPA approved it, and everyone hates it, so we're fixing it."

The big picture: The EPA doesn't mandate stop-start technology, but it provides extra fuel economy credits to automakers that adopt it.

• Spokespeople for the EPA and the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the auto industry's trade group, had no immediate comment Monday morning.

The impact: Stop-start systems eliminated nearly 10 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually as of 2023, according to the Battery Council International.

• The technology was included in 65% of vehicles in 2023, up from 9% in 2016.

Reality check: The feature can generally be turned off at the press of a button.