So electric vehicles are great. They’re increasingly affordable and accessible. Various administrations have agreed that they are key to combating climate change, implementing purchase subsidies and tax credits to incentivize consumers. They also have fewer parts, resulting in lower maintenance costs, and the federal government just committed $7.5 billion to expanding the network of charging stations nationwide, putting the Elon of it all aside, which I admit, is a bit of a pill to swallow, but it is what it is. EVs are more or less accepted as a key solution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and curbing air pollution with bipartisan support, historically backing their adoption, and yet consumer confidence in EVs is dropping. And Ipsos poll found that the share of American car buyers who believe that they present a net positive has dropped by five points, which may not seem huge, but it points to a more significant issue than just the fact that your Aunt Edna will be picking up a cyber truck anytime soon, which is good. Those make me crazy. The concerns that car buyers cite about EVs include their larger upfront price tag. Charging is time consuming, or it’s tricky, or they think they’re not as high performance as gas cars. But most of these issues are either based in misinformation or have been addressed, and there’s a vibe to them. To some extent, your interest in EVs seems to be influenced by your political party. This makes some sense, if you look at it, from the historical conservative opposition to government mandates and regulations, many conservatives argue that government interventions infringe on market freedom and consumer choice. Of course, they don’t mind infringing on my body or yours, but I suppose that’s a topic for a different day. I don’t know many people who make their large purchases based on fears about government regulation that doesn’t seem to account for the drop. But do you know what might consider the fact that as EV adoption grows, the demand for gasoline and diesel, few fuels is expected to decline, posing an obvious threat to the profitability of oil and gas companies enter their vested interest in slowing down the transition to electric cars and lobbying to influence policy decisions in favor of fossil fuels. They have a financial incentive, a massive one, to fight this. I
and we see the pushback on EVs play out in conservative media, where personalities may highlight the drawbacks of EVs while downplaying their environmental benefits, or even criticize EV policies as part of a broader narrative against environmental regulations and government intervention as an example, conservative commentators and politicians frequently argue that EV mandates are part of a liberal agenda that prioritizes environmental concerns over economic realities and personal freedoms new technology. It’s scary. Change is truly hard. I get it. The idea of plugging my car into my house is odd, and the idea of learning a new navigational system so that I can easily find a charging station is exhausting, full self driving capacity. Oh, I’m as terrified as you are. But also, do I trust a computer to monitor my surroundings more efficiently than say I do while navigating the drop off line and some Cheetos that have been thrown at my head. Yeah, I do anything that is worth it tends to take some getting used to. The transition to EVs is, to me, such a no brainer that while it is sadly unsurprising to see conservatives attacking it, it’s also pretty on brand, with their long standing policy of bad for you, good for us. So I encourage you as always, to do your own research, Think for yourself and remember, follow the money, and you’ll usually figure out what’s up you.
