Photo by Carolyn Fortuna/ CleanTechnica

Due To Political Divisions, The Public Remains Unaware Of How EVs Are Gaining Popularity

August 4, 2024August 5, 20244 months ago Carolyn Fortuna 0 Comments

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In Q2 2024, electric vehicle (EV) sales grew 11.3% in the US, according to a report from Kelley Blue Book. A record-high 330,463 units were sold in the quarter. Yet, due to internal US political divisions, the rising success of EVs has been masked by bickering, misinformation, and controversies.

Take for example the US Senate Budget Committee session in late July. The Budget Committee met to discuss how to boost EV manufacturing within the US. Fox Business was quick to note that both Democratic and Republican leaders “contributed to the discussion, aiming to capitalize on the growing market and compete globally.” Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) requested the hearing, and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) led the session. Graham pointed out several times, according to the South Carolina Gazette Daily, that the state is a major vehicle assembler and tire exporter, so the production of EVs would make sense. Graham explained that if states became major EV manufacturing centers, they would boost the US infrastructure, to the benefit of all.

Many Republicans stated their opposition to increased EV production, though, challenging President Joe Biden’s stated goal of moving to 50% EVs of the total US car sales by 2030. Several senators raised concerns that the current electrical grid can’t handle the increased demand for EV charging. International competition was also a topic of discussion during the hearing. Additionally, a subtext emerged that competition coming from the EV market is hurting some legacy dealerships and automakers — they’re having difficulty making the transition to EVs profitably.

Graham, a relatively lone wolf in the Republican Party, tried again to explain that South Carolina is a national leader in vehicle assembly and the top tire exporter in the country. At least 10,600 South Carolinians are expected to go to work at new, high-paying jobs in the EV industry over the next decade. Suggesting that EV manufacturing is the future for automakers, he urged policies to remain competitive in the global automobile market as a way to strengthen US infrastructure. “So, the bottom line is: This is coming, whether we like it or not,” Graham said. “And I think there’s an upside to it, to be honest with you.”

Trump’s Disdain of EVs

Former President Donald Trump opposes the current Biden-Harris administration support of EVs and has stated the transition would ruin economies in states that depend on automakers. In his Republican Party nomination speech Trump vowed to “end the electric vehicle mandate on day one.” Such an executive order, he declared, would prevent “the US auto industry from complete obliteration, which is happening right now, and saving US customers thousands and thousands of dollars per car.”

The Biden administration doesn’t have a mandate on EVs.

Trump’s EV criticism rises in part from new air pollution limits issued by the EPA, which Trump implies would unfairly burden automakers, who would be forced to sell EVs against their better judgment. In its actual nuanced form, the regulation limiting tailpipe pollution is quite strict — hey, it’s time to do something in your catalog about those pollution-spewing behemoth trucks — so, by default, would prod automakers to sell far more electric and hybrid models over time. The EPA forecasts that about 56% of sales of new cars and light trucks in 2032 would be electric and an additional 16% would be hybrids.

Trump also used the convention stump in late July to signal an openness for Chinese automakers to build cars in the US as a way to boost the economy. That position contrasts with the Biden-Harris administration, which has passed the nation’s largest ever climate legislation. Biden and Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris have marched on picket lines to show solidarity with US autoworkers.

“Right now as we speak, large factories just are being built across the border in Mexico. Those plants are going to be built in the United States, and our people are going to man those plants,” Trump explained. What he didn’t say was that, instead of joining autoworkers on the picket line, Trump spoke earlier in the campaign at a non-union auto parts manufacturing site.

The House Parlays Political Divisions into Little More than Idle Chatter

House Democrats were livid at the end of July. They claimed that House Republicans spent “hours of pointless amendment debate to appease the MAGA wing of their party” while failing to debate “their extreme, partisan bills on the House floor and putting them up for a vote.” What would the MAGA Republicans like to see in their own version of appropriations for Interior and the Environment? More oil drilling, fewer regulations on pollutants, no new regulations on vehicles, a halt on Biden’s climate change executive orders, and reductions in funding for the EPA by 20%.

Instead, Republicans left Washington early. Among the bills that House Republican did not have sufficient support to be put up for a vote on the House floor was one that “jeopardizes clean, affordable, and secure energy due to a $1.5 billion cut to the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program (Energy and Water).”

It was a lot of performing with little actual substantive change.

Final Thoughts about Political Divisions & Clean Transport

Research released in July by Cox Automotive shows that fleet owners operating both EVs and their traditional, fuel-burning counterparts have higher levels of satisfaction with their EVs. “The Future of Fleets: Path to EV Adoption” suggests that, compared to vehicles powered by internal-combustion engines (ICE), EVs bring higher scores among fleet owners in key metrics such as “overall satisfaction,” “cost of ownership,” and “vehicle usage and capabilities.”

Meanwhile, respected automotive experts at Motor Trend have concluded that EVs are here to stay. They say that “the swelling anti-EV sentiment” has mostly bubbled “out of various conservative-minded pockets of social networks and then spilling over into the mainstream consciousness.” Instead of misinformation that EVs are failing, unwanted, or bad for the environment, the reality is that the most popular SUV in the US (and the world) is the battery electric Tesla Model Y. Motor Trend also has a fair warning to EV advocates:

“Regardless of the promise of commercial success, reduced emissions, and true energy independence, the road ahead for EVs is getting tougher. Despite the continued surge in consumer interest plus increasing technologies that make tomorrow’s options ever more compelling, the next wave of EVs will be berthed into an increasingly hostile market.”

Is it any wonder that many drivers profess to want nothing to do with EVs? They don’t have accurate information at hand to make good decisions, subdued by political and industry leaders with their own agendas.