BY MARK TAPSCOTT
SEE: https://pjmedia.com/culture/marktapscott/2022/08/30/10-facts-electric-vehicle-advocates-dont-want-you-to-know-n1625157;
Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.
There are a host of reasons why the Left is absolutely determined to force Americans out of their privately owned, gasoline-powered cars and trucks and into unreliable public transportation and costly Electric Vehicles (EVs), none of which have to do with “saving the environment.”
The central reason the Left loves EVs is that the process of forcing Americans to convert to electric-powered transportation will destroy forever the incredible freedom and prosperity associated with privately owned gas-powered vehicles. The future will instead be centrally controlled by rich elitists and their corrupt politicians, power-hungry bureaucrats, and ideologically driven “experts.”
When Ransom Olds in 1901 and Henry Ford in 1908 sold America’s first mass-produced automobiles (the Curved Dash Olds and the Model T, respectively), they launched America toward becoming the world’s first open road society.
It took a couple of decades, but by the 1930s car ownership was virtually a middle-class staple and that meant, for millions of Americans, the freedom to go wherever they wanted to go when they chose to do so, without getting prior permission from government.
It is no exaggeration to say one of the chief factors in America growing out of the Depression was the ability of millions of Americans to buy new and used cars and trucks. The St. Louis Federal Reserve put it this way in September 1935 in the middle of the Great Depression:
“During the first 6 months of 1935, companies and individuals purchased from motor-vehicle dealers 1,461,940 new passenger cars and 254,063 trucks, paying for these vehicles a sum estimated at approximately $1,460,000,000. The first half year registrations were 44 percent greater in 1935 than during the corresponding period of last year, while the increase over the same 6 months of 1933 was 121 percent.”
The rise of the privately owned, gas-powered automobile also generated booming industries that to this day provide millions of good jobs, financial stability, and personal income growth that are foundational to the American economy.
Just think of all the dealerships, repair shops, parts stores, road construction, energy production, distribution and retailing, insurance, and law enforcement jobs that exist because there are hundreds of millions of cars and trucks in this country.
Related: The USDA Approves $500K in Climate Change Money to Repair Parking Lots
But those good things will be lost if California’s plan to ban the sale of all gas-powered vehicles by 2035 becomes national policy. There is so much that is so incredibly wrong-headed, if not either outright dishonest or stupid, with the drive to force Americans into EVs.
For example, as the experts at powerthefuture.com point out, here are 10 facts about EVs the Left doesn’t want Americans to know:
1. EVs are powered by fossil fuels. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), fossil fuel-based power plants — coal, oil, or natural gas — create about 60% of the nation’s electrical grid, while nuclear power accounts for nearly 20%.
2. The batteries of EVs rely on cobalt. An estimated 70% of the global supply of cobalt emanates from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country with deplorable working conditions, especially for children.
3. A study released earlier this year by an environmental group showed that nearly one-third of San Francisco’s electric charging stations were non-functioning. The population of San Francisco represents roughly two percent of California.
4. Supporters of the California law admit there will be a 40% increase in demand for electricity, adding further strain to the grid and requiring increased costs for power and infrastructure.
5. According to one researcher, the strain of adding an EV is similar to adding “1 or 2 air conditioners” to your home, except an EV requires power year-round.
6. Today, 20 million American families, or one in six, have fallen behind on their electric bills, the highest amount ever.
7. Utility companies will need to add $5,800 in upgrades for every new EV for the next eight years in order to compensate for the demand for power. All customers will shoulder this cost.
8. The average price for an electric vehicle is currently $66,000, up more than 13% in just the last year, costing an average of $18,000 more than the average combustible engine. Meanwhile, the median household income is $67,521. For African American families, the average is $45,870, and for Hispanic households, $55,321.
9. A 2022 study found that the majority of EV charging occurs at home, leaving those who live in multi-family dwellings (apartments) at a real disadvantage for charging.
10. The same study also noted that many drivers charge their EVs overnight when solar power is less available on the grid.
There are many more facts about EVs you will never hear spoken by the Left’s politicians, including President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and the national and state leadership of the Democratic Party.
Neither will you hear any of these facts — except when they are being misrepresented and distorted by self-appointed “fact-checkers” — in college classrooms, the mainstream media, and even representatives of the “Big Three” automakers, who fear getting on the wrong side of government.
Oh, and by the way, guess who is laughing their keisters off as America heads into the Left’s EV future, knowing they control so much of the equipment, materials, and technology necessary for batteries, thus giving them a chokehold on the U.S. economy?
Can you spell C-H-I-N-A?
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BY CHRIS QUEEN
SEE: https://pjmedia.com/columns/chris-queen/2022/08/30/more-ridiculous-electric-vehicle-advice-n1625173;
Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.
Electric vehicles have become idols to the climate-obsessed left. It seems like the left views buying an electric vehicle as the answer to everything. Having trouble with the ladies? Buy an electric vehicle. Can’t get that cornbread recipe just right? Buy an electric vehicle. You name the issue, and it seems like electric vehicles are the solution in the eyes of the left.
We’ve seen the Biden administration hype electric vehicles as the thing that will save the planet and tame inflation. In their worldview, it’s so simple — almost flippantly so. Witness Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg pushing EVs back in March as the solution to gas prices:
But who knows when this nationwide network of electric charging stations will actually come online? And let’s not forget the biggest elephant in the garage where your EV is supposed to be: the cost of electric vehicles.
A July article from Electrek reports that electric vehicle prices have tracked up 13% over last year, to the tune of an average cost of $66,000. That’s about $18,000 higher than a gas-powered car or truck. Moreover, Electrek points out that “electric pickups are likely going to represent a significant portion of EV sales in the United States in the next few years, and that should push the average higher.”
That’s a lot of money. Plenty of people in this country can’t afford to throw down that kind of money for a vehicle, and there are others who simply don’t want a new car. Why should anyone have to purchase something they can’t afford or don’t want?
The other concern that many consumers have about electric vehicles is their range. If a family is traveling, making extra stops to charge a vehicle for Lord-knows-how-long just isn’t practical. But don’t worry: there’s a solution. And it’s as ridiculous as “just buy an EV.”
Related: Elon Musk Says That Civilization ‘Will Crumble’ If We Transition From Oil and Gas Too Quickly
Author Edward Niedermeyer penned an op-ed at the New York Times on Saturday with the provocative headline, “You Want an Electric Car With a 300-Mile Range? When Was the Last Time You Drove 300 Miles?” Naturally, the gut answer to this question is, “None of your business,” but he makes a fascinating point that “A serious electrification policy will have to be tailored to the way we actually drive, not the way we think we do.”
But where Niedermeyer loses the plot is when he suggests not just that consumers buy an EV, but that they consider purchasing multiple vehicles.
For some American households that may mean owning a single plug-in hybrid. For others that may mean a 150-mile E.V. for weekday miles and a hybrid truck for weekend projects and outdoor activities. Still other households might be able to serve their mobility needs with a mix of e-bikes, public transit and an occasional rental car. All of these options are better at delivering short- and medium-term fleet electrification in an era of battery scarcity than simply waiting for batteries to become cheap enough for every American to own a 300-plus- mile E.V.
In other words, if you need to travel but your EV won’t get you where you need to go, too bad. You’ll just have to rent something to drive to the beach or have a second car for longer trips. This idea clearly doesn’t take into account the added costs not just of a second car payment but also increased insurance and maintenance costs for adding more cars to the garage.
A multiple-vehicle strategy is something that only a member of the coastal elite would think makes sense — especially since “a mix of e-bikes, public transit, and an occasional rental car” is absolutely infeasible for probably the vast majority of the American population.
But remember, when it comes to EVs, it’s so simple! In the eyes of the left, who cares what it costs when you’re not the one footing the bill?
