Posted on 07/20/2022 8:56:14 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, considered the most likely Democratic candidate for president in 2024 after Joe Biden in the latest Washington Post ranking, says the solution to high gas prices is getting "most Americans" to switch to electric vehicles -- willingly or not.
Buttigieg is issuing federal regulations to force states to limit the use of gas-powered vehicles. If he becomes president, we'll be living in green hell, compelled to buy pricey EVs to comply with his climate zealotry.
Right now, fewer than 1% of vehicles on the road are electric. EVs are probably the long-term future, but they won't solve the current pain at the pump; they cost too much, and charging them is a logistical nightmare. The U.S. has 145,000 gas stations but only 6,000 fast-charging stations.
On a radio show July 14, Buttigieg roiled the audience by suggesting that switching to electric cars, rather than producing more energy, is the answer. Meanwhile, gas prices are predicted to rise as high as $6 a gallon this fall, according to an internal U.S. Treasury analysis, or even higher in J.P. Morgan's worst-case scenario.
EVs are not the answer. Buttigieg is living in la-la land. The average new EV costs about $66,000. A good deal is the 2022 Kia EV6, priced at $40,900 before add-ons, according to U.S. News and World Report. Even that's more than most people can afford. Three-quarters of Americans who need a car buy a used one, paying around $31,000 for it.
EVs are for big spenders. AAA reports a staggering 78% of EV buyers own other cars. They're in the income bracket to afford multiple cars. They drive the EV short distances but still fall back on their gas-powered car for long-distance driving.
Lucky for them. Getting a charge away from home isn't fast or easy, according to the MIT Technology Review. Gas-powered cars zip in and out of gas stations. EV owners have to cool their heels for a minimum of 15 minutes to put a couple of hundred miles on the vehicle, even at the fastest Tesla Supercharger.
That is, if you can find a charging station. They are "nearly nonexistent in rural America," said MIT.
Even charging at home can be a problem. Take the Tesla Model Y, ranked one of the best electric SUVs of 2022. Even with a 220-volt charger installed in your home, it takes up to 11 hours to power up this model. That's more than most people sleep in a night.
That's assuming you're allowed to recharge. With some states facing brownouts and electricity curbs, there could be restrictions. Texas has already asked EV drivers to avoid charging during peak times. Texas isn't producing enough electricity to support widespread charging. Imagine being told you can't plug your car in at night to drive to work the next morning.
The fact is, the nation lacks the infrastructure to support a rapid total transition to EVs, and many states lack the electricity generation as well.
Many of these problems are temporary. The major auto companies are betting on EVs for the future. Both GM and Tesla are partnering with convenience store chains across the country to install charging stations. (The federal government is also funding some stations.) Nearly 14% of Sheetz stores, a regional Mid-Atlantic chain, have Tesla chargers. Sheetz is delighted to sell soft drinks and snacks to EV owners as they wait to power up.
In the long run, count on market ingenuity to solve the shortcomings of EVs and increase their affordability, just like what happened with cellphones. Unfortunately, Buttigieg refuses to wait. He'd rather ram the technology down the public's throats.
On July 7, he proposed regulations to compel states to reduce CO2 highway emissions, effectively outlawing gas-powered vehicles. The regulations appear to exceed the Department of Transportation's authority and will be challenged in court. But they indicate Buttigieg's mindset.
Beware making this climate radical the next president of the United States.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Wants to Man date ............................
They never think things out
It’s looking like EV’s aren’t the greatest thing on earth and that gas vehicles are not the climate monster they claim.
Places such as Sbeetz make a bigger profit from selling snacks and drinks and smokes, than they do from selling gas. I wonder if there is a markup of the electricity they sell you at a charging terminal?
Government forcing citizens to carry more debt for nothing
Da Erf can not produce enough EVs for ButtEdge’s timeline.
Good one!!
This is a great idea, when all our electric grid is straining to run air conditioning now
/sarc
Half of an EV is made from oil and if the price goes up the price of the EV will go up
Not a chance of Buttigieg getting elected, he has little appeal among Dems. That of course is assuming they don’t steal another election.
This guy is such a loser. Just another narcissistic moron on a power trip.
And mandates are *not* laws.
Isn’t Buttigieg “married?”
5.56mm
I’ve never bought the idea that ICE vehicles were killing
the planet. It’s just another scam by the Communists to gain
control. (I know you agree with that)
EVs aren’t the greatest. They aren’t the worst.
Today’s vehicles of all makes and designs, are incredible
machines that give us the ability to move around autonomously
to participate in life.
That disturbs the Communists.
By his standards, not mine...........................
C’mon Sub-Saharan African kids!! Start digging with your bare hands for rare Earth minerals!!
In a FREE country, there should be no such thing as “mandates”!
I think hybrids are a good intermediary to a full fledged EV. We got one this year, a Toyota RAV 4, 32K base price and over 40 MPG.
How Soviet of him. These people are absolutely nucking futs. Do they believe that EVs do not require energy to run? Do we not have to produce a LOT more electrical energy to power their vision of our industrial society?
The overall lifecycle energy cost of EVs is a bit better than ICVs (internal combustion engines vehicles), but not much. However, they require mining a LOT more of the earth's crust for the needed minerals to build one EV compared to one ICV and most of those mines are located in parts of the world hostile to the USA.
We are facing a huge copper shortage to effect this change to EVs; we are facing a huge shortage of electrical engineers (EE graduates are down 90% the past 20 years); and production of cobalt, lithium, copper, manganese, and other rare earths has to increase SIX times. There are chemical and physical limits to electro-chemical storage of energy such that it will never equal the energy storage of liquid hydrocarbon fuels.
Fuel cell powered EV’s would be great.
When low on fuel you stop by the gas station and fill up on propane, methane or gasoline to power the fuel cell.
Notice how they are not trying to develop this technology.
They want battery powered EV’s that are dependent on the underpowered electric grid. A grid that they can monitor, ration and control your mobility with.
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