The Patriot Post® · The Great EV Glut

Ya hate to see it. Hate to see it when a cronyistic Big Government plan fails to come together.

In this case, we’re thinking of Joe Biden’s plan for the future of the automobile. It’s a plan that’s been enthusiastically endorsed and promoted by Pete Buttigieg, Gavin Newsom, and others, and it envisions the phasing out of that iconic symbol of American freedom and independence in favor of a vehicle far less free and independent: the EV, the electric vehicle.

But a funny thing is happening on the way to our coal-powered lithium battery future¹: The American people aren’t buying in.

Indeed, opposition is mounting, and it’s coming from the bottom up. As National Review reports², “President Joe Biden’s bid to remake the auto industry has drawn entrenched opposition and quick mobilization from Republican lawmakers at the state and congressional levels.”

From Arizona to Kentucky to Michigan, folks are beginning to tap the brakes. And the rumblings have reached Congress. As NR continues, “In the House, Representatives Tim Walberg (R., Mich.) and Andrew Clyde (R., Ga.) led 16 colleagues in introducing the Choice in Automobile Retail Sales, which would prohibit the Biden administration from implementing the aggressive emissions standards.”

“All Americans should have access to reliable, available, and functional cars,” said³ Walberg. “Biden’s EPA is trying to implement rules despite what consumers want, what consumers can afford, and what is even possible for the auto industry. This rule is a disaster and must be reversed.”

You’d think they’d learn, these Big Government winner-pickers. You’d think they’d have learned that we don’t like being told to do something. We didn’t like being told to buy overpriced British tea, we didn’t like being told to take the COVID vaccine, and we don’t like being told to buy electric cars.

As Axios reported⁴ Monday, “The growing mismatch between EV supply and demand is a sign that even though consumers are showing more interest in EVs, they’re still wary about purchasing one because of price or charging concerns.”

We hate to gloat, hate to celebrate, hate to give in to an overwhelming sense of schadenfreude, but⁵…

We’ve been down this road before, so to speak. The government is misleading us⁶ on EVs, which are largely a toy of the well-to-do. Which makes sense, given that the average cost of an electric vehicle is more than $58,000 — which is up from more than $56,000 a year ago. And cronyism⁷, not consumer preference, is driving the EV market. So despite Pothole Pete’s best sales pitch⁸, the American people aren’t inclined to ditch their less expensive, longer-range, less-grid-dependent gas-powered cars, not even when the government is sweetening the deal with a $7,500 taxpayer-funded⁹ bribe, er, “incentive.”

We’ll say this: Elon Musk is lucky he’s Elon Musk. Without his core socialist values¹⁰, his Teslas might well be languishing on dealer lots with the rest of the EVs. But, as Hot Air’s David Strom notes¹¹: “Tesla pretty much owns the electric car market at the moment, and every other manufacturer is working feverishly to catch up. That is a tough place to be though, since fewer than 7% of cars sold these days are EVs, and the demand just isn’t there for a massive expansion in sales.”

Joe Biden’s EPA doesn’t have the legal authority to force EVs upon us, which is why it’s doing so indirectly by setting onerous CO₂ emissions standards for 2027 through 2032. This mandate is even more aggressive than Biden’s August 2021 executive order, which set a goal of 50% EV sales in 2030¹².

Fifty-percent EVs by 2030? Good luck w’ that, Joe. Same to you, Gavin Newsom, and every other governor dumb enough to follow California¹³ down this poorly paved road. Yep, California wants its overtaxed citizenry to buy EVs to help save the planet, but they haven’t figured out¹⁴ how they’ll be able to charge them.

As Axios continues, “It’s a ‘Field of Dreams’ moment for automakers making big bets on electrification — they’ve built the cars, and now they’re waiting for buyers to come, says Jonathan Gregory, senior manager of economic and industry insights at Cox Automotive.”

Joe Biden, you’re no Kevin Costner. But there is something Black Sox scandalous about the way the president and his cronies are trying to rig the game in favor of EVs.

“Americans don’t want what he is selling,” said Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron. “This is the latest head-in-the-sand approach to achieving the Left’s impossible green-energy fantasies.”

Americans love the freedom afforded by gas-powered cars, and they’re revolting against their government’s efforts to force EVs down their throats.

There’s something of a declaration of independence going on here. And isn’t it great?