In April 2023, the Biden administration proposed a regulation that requires two-thirds of new vehicles sold in the US to be electric by 2032, which meant that the production of these vehicles will have to increase by tenfold.
However, interest in electric vehicles began to dwindle as car dealers reported that these cars get only stuck in their lots, eating dust.
House Republicans, last Wednesday, opposed this new tailpipe pollution limit that the Environment Protection Agency and Biden wanted to impose.
Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich) said “Americans should have the right to decide what products and appliances work best for their family, not the federal government.”
Walberg also added that the proposed regulation of the EPA would only worsen the motorists’ burden and essentially “hands the keys of America’s auto industry to China.”
China currently dominates the electric vehicles battery supply chain.
The bill approved in the House now moves forward to the Senate.
New EVs are worth more than gas-powered cars. The average price of an EV was $53,469 in July, while gas-powered cars are worth around $48,334.
Biden slammed the GOP bill and alleged that this would “undermine all of these benefits, harming American consumers companies, and workers.”
However, the truth is that the White House is employing ‘environmental rhetoric’ to mask the unpleasant realities regarding electric vehicles and their actual intentions.
These vehicles have indirect emissions. During the manufacturing process of these cars, carbon dioxide was also used, as well as during the drilling, transporting, refining, and even pumping of gasoline to produce its batteries. So, producing these electric cars create and demand more emissions.
According to Young People’s Trust for the Environment, roughly 16 to 19 tonnes of carbon dioxide are emitted during the vehicle’s production process. This proves that “an electric car seems worse for the environment than a fossil fuel one.”
Furthermore, the charging station of these vehicles also emits carbon dioxide. Around 350-400g per kWh are released into the atmosphere.
An article in Medium also emphasized how hypocritical the plan to shift electric vehicles by 2032, “even if every single car were electric by 2030, and production was carbon neutral, we would only reduce global emissions somewhere between 15-20 percent — far short of the estimated 55% we need to cut.”
You also can’t get anywhere with an electric car. Best electric cars can range 300 miles depending on the charging level. But most cars can reach only 150 miles or less. Recharging them also entails half an hour of charging “at a dedicated, high voltage charging point.”
But there aren’t enough charging points all over the country.
Some people deal with this by installing a charging point at home. However, this is not an option for low and middle-income families in the United States.
In 2021, Congress agreed to allot $7.5 billion to build thousands of e-vehicle charges, this is to appease anxious drivers while trying to pretend Biden cared about climate change and its effects.
Two years later, chargers remain to be seen. Authorities blame the delay on contracting and performance requirements to acquire federal funds, While about $2 billion have been released to several states that remain sluggish in building these chargers.
According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, to meet the demands of the consumers, there is a need to build 1.2 million public chargers by 2030.
Former president Donald Trump slammed the slow pace of rollout in his September campaign rally. He said, “They say the happiest day when you buy an electric car is the first 10 minutes you’re driving it, and then after that, panic sets in because you’re worried, ‘Where the hell am I going to get a charge to keep this thing going?’”
Sorry, but that is some very poor rationale. Cutting emissions by 55% is a massive task. It requires using every available avenue and then some! EVs might be only a fraction of the solution but they are a critical fraction. Why? Because when you need to slash 55%, you don’t simply pass up a simple way of achieving around one-third of that goal (“15-20 percent”). Not unless there are easier ways of course, which right now there aren’t. There are other heavy polluting industries such as trucking & shipping that are almost impossible to fix in the short term. That makes it all the more important to scoop up all possible low hanging fruit, such as conversion to EVs. Today’s EVs are not for everyone but the technology is improving every year, and becomes cheaper as it scales up. I should add that I don’t have an EV yet but I acknowledge that switching over is a necessity if we want to have any realistic chance at achieving the emissions reductions targets.
EVs are not efficient and still use fossile fuels. Many charging stations are powered by huge diesel generators. The US power grid is not capable of supplying the power needed for the EVs the govt wants to shove down our throats. Lithium is a dangerous element and toxic to the environment and people. Lithium batteries are prone to exploding/bursting into flames. Local fire departments do not have the capacity to put them out and it takes 10s of thousands of gallons of water to do so. And spontaneous combustion is still possible after extinguishing the fire. Very dangerous. EVs are not practical for rural life. I won’t own one – ever. This should be a choice, not shoved on us by politicians.