Free Republic

President Donald Trump plans to sign a trio of resolutions Thursday to revoke California’s nation-leading vehicle emissions standards. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), author of a resolution to nix the state’s electric vehicle sales mandate via the Congressional Review Act, and Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) confirmed that the White House has scheduled the signings at 11 a.m. on Thursday. Trump’s signature will finalize his administration’s monthslong effort to thwart California’s authority to set stricter electrification rules for passenger vehicles and commercial trucks, along with higher standards for heavy-duty diesel engines. Trump’s EPA revoked an earlier version of California’s vehicle emissions...

These days, it seems like every automaker and its rivals have some sort of electric car out on the market. Years ago, Elon Musk and Tesla were one of only a handful of manufacturers on the block producing electric vehicles, but today’s EVs come from a smattering of brands that include familiar mainstream names like Ford, Chevrolet, and even Hyundai and Kia. However, while there are more choices in the American EV market than ever before, a new customer survey conducted by the American Automobile Association reveals that Americans may not be as interested in electric cars as they think....

A cargo ship carrying 3,000 cars, including 800 electric vehicles, caught fire off the coast of Alaska and continues to burn. The Coast Guard says that all 22 crew members escaped the ship and were picked up by two nearby freighters. The ship, a Liberian-registered car-carrier named "Morning Midas," was on its way to Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico, from Yantai, China.. ... the Coast Guard is going to let the ship burn, since trying to put out a lithium-ion fire is nearly futile. ... In 2022, the Felicity Ace, a car carrier slightly larger than Morning Midas, sank in the Atlantic...

If fire departments on land have problems unleashing the torrent of water needed to extinguish a single burning EV, the crew of a ship doesn't stand a chance against hundreds of flaming lithium-ion batteries. A cargo ship carrying around 3,000 vehicles across the Pacific Ocean caught fire on Tuesday. The Morning Midas, a 600-foot cargo ship, was in the middle of a voyage from Yantai, China to Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico when the fire broke out. Zodiac Maritime, the ship's London-based operator, noted that smoke was first spotted on a deck carrying 800 electric vehicles. Once the blaze got out of...

The crew of a cargo ship carrying 3,000 vehicles to Mexico, including 800 electric vehicles, abandoned ship after they could not control a fire in waters off Alaska's Aleutian island chain. Smoke was initially seen coming from the deck loaded with electric vehicles Tuesday, according to a Wednesday statement from the ship’s management company, London-based Zodiac Maritime. There were no reported injuries among the 22 crew members of the Morning Midas.

Congressional Republicans are making a last-ditch effort to gut the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) green energy subsidies via President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill.” The House Ways and Means Committee unveiled a draft bill Monday afternoon to repeal several IRA subsidies including those for electric vehicles and so-called clean hydrogen while preserving tax credits for carbon sequestration, biofuels and advanced manufacturing, which primarily benefit solar and battery storage projects. Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee and Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma’s Energy Freedom Act would take an even more aggressive approach by proposing a...

It’s become vogue on the right to trash electric vehicles. And, mostly, we’re right to. Most of them are garbage retrofits that rely on a garbage network of chargers which are made by garbage ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) manufacturers who have absolutely no idea what they are doing. What they are manufacturing is virtue-signaling, not cars with anything even remotely resembling good EV—or any other type of—engineering. And then there’s Tesla. There are EVs, and there are Teslas. And though they are both clearly electric cars, they are two completely different animals. This article aims to give you a permanent...

Whenever the far left in the U.S. loses an argument — called an election — it suddenly decides it’s time to take to the streets and get violent. Now is just such a time, as America experiences a new spasm of home-grown anti-Trump, anti-Musk terrorism. It shouldn’t be tolerated. Whether it’s taking pot shots at the president, violently demonstrating in support of murderous terrorists, “swatting” people they don’t like, or destroying cars made by a person they now despise, our country once again finds extremists threatening us and our liberty. And, no surprise, it’s nearly all from the far left...

Tales of electric vehicle failures grow more numerous by the day.According to Cowboy State Daily, a Wyoming-based news organization, Wyoming’s Teton County and the town of Jackson purchased eight electric buses, all of which have broken down and will no longer run.The electric buses’ failure has forced Jackson and Teton County to rely on their existing fleet of 31 diesel buses.

The electric buses in question were made by a company called Proterra, which went bankrupt two years ago.. A city in Washington is selling nearly half of its electric bus fleet following reliability issues and difficulty getting replacement parts. The Everett City Council voted earlier this week to sell nine of the electric buses, of which only four are in service right now, because of reliability issues, including critical sensors and components that have been failing since they went into service. The city is now looking to purchase retrofitted diesel buses so there are no gaps in service. According to...

Ford Motor Company has reported a $5.1 billion loss in its electric vehicle and software business for 2024, with expectations of losing even more in 2025. The Verge reports that on Wednesday, Ford Motor Company announced its fourth quarter and full-year earnings for 2024, surpassing Wall Street expectations. However, the automaker also reported substantial losses in its electric vehicle (EV) and software division, known as Model e. The company lost $5.1 billion in this segment in 2024, a significant increase from the $4.7 billion lost in the previous year. Furthermore, Ford predicts that losses will continue to mount, potentially reaching...

California wildfire cleanup challenged by electric and hybrid vehicle batteries.. Highly combustible lithium-ion batteries used in electric and hybrid vehicles are complicating cleanup efforts in the Los Angeles neighborhoods ravaged by wildfire damage. Phase 1 of the federal cleanup is underway, as surveyors with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) work to remove and dispose of hazardous materials, including lithium-ion batteries found in charred vehicles and decimated homes. The EPA warned that batteries should be considered "extremely dangerous," even if they are believed to be intact, and "can spontaneously re-ignite, explode, and emit toxic gases and particulates even after the fire...

When Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and her staff of clowns bungled a four-day ramble in 2023 to show off the wonder of electric vehicles, the lasting impression would be the report of her advance team blocking an open charger so she wouldn’t have to wait for one. A federal report, however, reveals details that cast the entire charade in an even worse light. The Granholm tour was to take her from Charlotte, N.C., to Memphis, Tenn., and was intended to justify the billions of taxpayers’ dollars the Biden administration was pouring into green energy initiatives. The message was lost when...

COVID-19: It’s all we talk about, on the cable news, and in our 6-foot socially-distanced prison walks around our silent neighborhoods. And in nearly every conversation comes the intellectual shrug, “who could have seen this coming?” A single phrase that neatly absolves governments and experts alike of any responsibility of predicting the pandemic and, if not being able to stop it, at least cushioning its blow........ But is it unfair to engage in so much 20-20 hindsight? After all, who could see COVID coming? Well, we did. We — as in nodes within the U.S. Government tasked with tracking critical...

After Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida on Wednesday, Sunshine State residents who own electric vehicles have been urged to be cautious. Ahead of Milton, one county that was in the hurricane’s path, Hillsborough County, said Monday EV owners in flood zones “should move their vehicles away from flood areas and storm surge” and noted storm surge and flooding can “pose a potential risk to lithium-ion batteries and could lead to fires.” It shared a county webpage about electric vehicle hurricane safety. EVs left behind during hurricanes should not be plugged into charging stations or parked in garages because of...

Electric cars are up to twice as expensive as petrol or diesel vehicles to run... Running an electric vehicle (EV) can cost more than 24p per mile, while a diesel vehicle is 12.5p .. 80p per kilowatt hour ... A typical electric car will travel 3.3 miles for every kWh of electricity used, meaning rapid and ultra-rapid chargers currently cost the equivalent of 24.1p per mile. ... This is about double the average diesel car, which will do 43 miles per gallon, resulting in a cost of 12.5p per mile at current prices. A typical petrol car costs 14.5p per...

The House on Friday voted, 215-191, to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency’s vehicle emissions rule, with eight Democrats joining Republicans. Kamala Harris says she doesn’t support an electric vehicle mandate, but that’s what the Biden EPA rule effectively is. The EPA in March finalized greenhouse gas emissions requirements for auto makers through 2032. EPA’s models show that gas-powered cars will make up no more than 30% of sales by 2032. EVs made up a mere 7.6% of auto sales last year and less than 4% for General Motors and Ford. In eight years they will have to increase their EV...

In Norway, electric vehicles (EVs) now outnumber gas-powered vehicles, according to latest vehicle registration data from the Norwegian Road Federation released on Tuesday. Norway, a major oil exporter globally, now has 754,303 registered EVs, slightly more than 753,905 of gas vehicles. The Scandinavian country has 2.8 million registered passenger cars, including diesel vehicles. The director of the Norwegian Road Federation, known as OFV, Oyvind Solberg Thorsen, called the milestone “historic” and said the ongoing electrification of cars is at a “high pace” and the country is closer to becoming the first in the world to have the majority of cars...

Kamala Harris's campaign recently walked back Harris's position on EV mandates, stating she "does not support an electric vehicle mandate." But the campaign is now shying away from questions about whether Harris would sign or veto legislation she personally cosponsored in the Senate that would implement a nationwide EV mandate. The campaign on Wednesday ignored several questions from the Washington Free Beacon asking for it to clarify Harris's position on EV mandates. That came one day after a Harris campaign official declined to comment late Tuesday to Axios on whether she would even sign the so-called Zero-Emission Vehicles Act that...

Normal Fire Department (NPD) crews battled a blaze at the Rivian plant parking lot Saturday night. NFD spokesperson Matt Swaney said fire crews were called to Rivian’s Normal plant just before 9:45 p.m. for a reported vehicle fire. He said there is an unspecified number of vehicles damaged by the incident. Witnesses outside the plant said they reportedly saw the fire as early as 9:50 p.m. The EV assembly plant was not affected by the fire, Swaney said.