CAFE requirements aren't the issue. Eventually,
on a long enough timeline, we run out of fossil fuels. This is the reality, like one day we will all be dead.
Alternative fuels and solar/electric are the only path forward. The only reason prices are low now are the Saudis driving it down to push the United States (and possibly Russia) temporarily out of the market. Once their wells run dry (largest in the world), we better be ready or we're f%^#$'d. Don't blame people parenting us, we don't seem adult enough to do it ourselves. We are literally being helped against our will because we're short sighted consumers and need the parenting. Equally to blame are the oil companies who directly benefit (profit) from the sale of the very thing even they know is finite, but who have historically resisted any progress in moving to other solutions. Recently oil companies have started to take on a more public role in pursuing alternative energy because, well, I guess reality finally sunk in!
Fwiw - Tesla has already proven you can can build a fun electric vehicle. There will always be toys for the grownups.
As for fuel alternatives, the NA engine may not be dead quite yet. There's some biofuel technology (
algae) in the works that could be a direct substitute for petroleum. It may not even require any retrofitting, and could be very low emissions [or at least not add to the problem]. If they can figure out how to make it cheap enough (as of now it's more than oil) we may have a way to have our cake and eat it too.
As for the Hellcats, they're not going anywhere until gas prices get so expensive even people who can drop $60k on a toy can't afford to fill them up.