Enthusiasm for Electric Vehicles Is Running on Empty

If you were naïve enough to believe the dominant media and the extreme environmentalists, you might think that folks are ready to ditch their gas-guzzling cars to buy electric vehicles (EVs). Some inconvenient facts, however, demonstrate otherwise.

One fact is public fatigue over the constant drumbeat of climate alarmists. There seems to be no inconvenient weather event or natural disaster that they do not blame on climate change. The public is rightly skeptical of their doom-and-gloom prognostications and thus reluctant to jump on the EV bandwagon.

Thus, there is a declining market for EVs despite the pervasive propaganda parroting their purported benefits. People are beginning to see through the hype, and the empirical evidence is more convincing than radical utopian agendas.

The Consumer is the First Victim

The honeymoon is over. Electric cars are not performing as promised, cost much more to buy and are difficult to keep charged. Indeed, the nationwide charging infrastructure needed to support their widescale use is nowhere in sight.

The market seems to have reached a saturation point with current EV owners consisting largely of the low-hanging fruit of those committed to an extreme eco-agenda and those who need not travel long distances in vast charger deserts.

These demographics are taking their toll on EV sales, as fewer and fewer are buying into the eco-revolutionaries’ feel-good scenarios. EVs sit idle on countless car lots while gasoline cars sell briskly. Thus, American car buyers are sending a strong and unmistakable message to the auto industry and the Biden administration that they are not buying into the eco-agenda.

Car Dealers Are Put on the Spot

Yet another inconvenient fact is that car dealerships refuse to join the EV trend. They have invested heavily in putting these electric marvels on their lots, but now they wonder who will buy them.

Dealers must also deal with customer complaints that unpredictable range estimates are unreliable for anything beyond casual trips and city usage. Such problems and the time needed for charges render the high-priced cars unreliable and impractical.

Dealerships must also make expensive changes. In late 2022, Ford Motor asked dealers to invest up to $1.2 million each to accommodate EV arrivals, including charging infrastructure. However, the automaker has recently eased some initial requirements as it adapts its strategy to the dwindling market.

General Motors informed dealerships that they need to invest in expensive servicing equipment and staff training to meet GM’s ambitious goal of becoming 100 percent EV by 2030. The cost is significant, with dealerships required to spend $300,000 or more to reconfigure their businesses.

Concerned about the unrealistic expectations for EV adoption, nearly 4,000 car dealers have sent a letter to manufacturers urging them to reevaluate EV mandates. The insurance industry has also recognized the insurmountable challenges posed by EVs, leading to increased insurance costs.

Automakers Pull Out All Stops

A final inconvenient fact involves the automakers, who read the handwriting on the wall and pulled out all the stops to manufacture EVs, as some states are mandating all EV sales by the 2030s.

Faced with the dealership revolt, some automakers are resorting to drastic measures. General Motors, for example, bought out 47 percent of its Buick dealerships in 2022, representing some 940 of the 2,000 dealerships nationwide.

Automakers are also advocating a more direct-sales model for EVs, streamlining the process and reducing the number of electric vehicles in dealer inventory. Such draconian dictatorial decisions are making life miserable for everyone, from dealers to consumers.

Top-Down Management Causes Oppression

Were all this not enough, the heavy hand of government mandates and subsidies is imposing its eco-agenda on all concerned. Such top-down management of the economy and culture is typical of socialists who profess to act in the name of the people while enslaving and oppressing them.

Absent from the equation are organic Christian solutions that use the experience of those working in their fields to develop innovative approaches that reflect a culture dedicated to the practice of virtue.