Two of America’s most famous products, the Corvette sports car and Thomas Edison’s electric light bulb, face extinction after a new energy law signed by President Bush yesterday.

The legislation, which is intended to reduce reliance on Middle Eastern oil, sets higher fuel efficiency standards for vehicles for the first time in 32 years. It requires cars and light lorries sold in the US to meet an average 35 miles per gallon by 2020, almost 10mpg more than current standards.

Industry experts said that the new efficiency standards, the most far-reaching for a generation, could kill off some famous American cars, including the Corvette.

Alisa Priddle, of caranddriver.com, said that she had spoken to executives at General Motors about the unveiling next month of the new Corvette ZR1. “They are saying this is probably the last Corvette of its type, as it’s been legislated out of use,” Ms Priddle said. “This is arguably the most iconic sports car in world, and a symbol of American carmaking.”

The legislation, passed by the House and Senate with veto-proof majorities, also requires a huge increase in the production of corn-based ethanol as a substitute for petrol, from six billion gallons now to 36 billion gallons by 2022. If that production target is met the measure could cut US oil use by 1.1 million barrels a day, about half the daily amount currently imported from the Persian Gulf.

The Energy Independence and Security Act also calls for improved energy efficiency on household appliances such as refrigerators, freezers and dishwashers, and a 70 per cent increase in the efficiency of light bulbs.

The law sets new efficiency standards that will phase out the incandescent light bulb, commercialised by Edison in the 1880s, by the middle of the next decade. The 100 watt bulb will stop being sold in 2012. Eventually household lighting will be based solely on fluorescent bulbs and light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

Currently, fuel efficiency standards for cars are an average 27.5mpg, and 22.5mpg for light trucks, which include pick-up trucks and sports utility vehicles, the luxury large off-road vehicles that are particularly fuel inefficient.

The automobile industry lobbied vigorously against the legislation but, faced with such overwhelming majorities in both the House and Senate, embraced it yesterday. Environmentalists also praised it and predicted that small cars will have to made more attractive to the US consumer.

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