The Mississippi Energy Institute sponsored and authored this post.
Have you considered an electric vehicle for your next car, or maybe in the future? Maybe you own one of the 1.2 million EVs that was purchased in 2023, or about 7.6% of new car sales nationally, but chances are, you're among the vast majority of people who continue to prefer a gasoline-powered car or truck.
President Biden and his Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would rather you drive an electric vehicle. That's why, last week, they issued their final rule which will effectively require a majority of all light cars and trucks manufactured in the U.S. in 8 years to have zero tailpipe emissions, i.e. battery-powered electric vehicles.
In other words, whether U.S. car and truck buyers want electric vehicles or not and whether it makes good business sense or not, U.S. automotive manufacturers will be required to significantly scale up EV production, scale back gasoline-engine production or both to comply with federal regulations. Against the advice of automotive manufacturers, the Biden Administration has taken this aggressive and creative approach to an effort to push gasoline and diesel vehicles out of the marketplace.
To all of us individually and to the economy as a whole, the costs of this rule will likely be great. If it seems like vehicle costs have risen dramatically in recent years, it's because they have - on average 32% higher now than in 2018.
Existing federal regulations must be a big reason for that. About 12 years ago and also against the advice of automotive manufacturers, the federal government required very aggressive fuel mileage standards. To comply, U.S. auto manufacturers have been forced to light-weight vehicles and find creative ways to reduce fuel use. The hidden result has been sacrificed safety and durability, and the obvious result has been higher costs.
This new rule will compound the problem of skyrocketing car and truck costs. Perhaps, the bigger problem is, the politicians and bureaucrats behind this know this rule will disrupt the U.S. automotive sector and significantly increase consumer costs, but they press forward nonetheless. Another thing they know is, the rule is likely illegal. The U.S. Supreme Court has already decided once that EPA, or any federal agency, is not allowed to make rules that have drastic economic impacts and fundamentally alter industry sectors without clear authority provided by Congress. How do we deal with federal agencies that care not about consumer costs or legality of rules?
Even if the rule is eventually struck down, how much damage will be done to the automotive manufacturing sector in the meantime? If consumers continue to demand mostly gasoline-powered vehicles, will investment in new manufacturing capacity shift to places like Mexico or overseas?
To be clear, electric vehicles are not the problem. New products and options in the marketplace is great thing, driving innovation and competition.
The problem is totally absurd, ideological policies that force products into the marketplace. Regardless of the rule's fate in the courts at whatever point in the future that may be, this rule will cause economic damage ultimately paid for by consumers, you and me.
41 comments:
Well then, AFL, CIO, TEAMSTERS AND other Unions dependent on their captive dues squeezed workers: EV production will significantly reduce your working Union membership,in lieu of RTW (right to work states) and hopefully move even
MORE production to the SunBelt, as the German and Japanese makers have done, wisely.
I remember when factories and industrial waste really polluted the environment. I’m glad we no longer live like China.
Short version:
Electric vehicles suck and the government f--ks up everything they touch.
What kind of bs is this? Another liberal dog and pony show.
"Have you considered an electric vehicle for your next car, or maybe in the future?"
No. I can't work on an electric car.
The system is appearing
The federal government, including Congress, has no authority to do such things, the corruption of commerce clause notwithstanding.
There are two types of people in the world. People who have driven a Tesla and know. And people who are ignorant. I don’t own a Tesla because I’m some tree hugger. I own a Tesla because it is faster than a Corvette, Lamborghini, and Ferrari.
This is BS from Biden. Come November voters will put Biden where he belongs! Get a second room ready at the nursing home for Hunter as his brain is gone too! Electric car our ass!
EVs weigh about twice as much as their fossil fuel counterparts, thereby causing more wear on tires and brakes, which in turn cause more particulates to pollute the air.
EVs have less range and need vastly more time to recharge than fossil fuel cars need to refuel, hence EVs are less efficient. The very expensive $15,000 batteries quickly decline in ability to accept a charge. These batteries require heavy polluting, rare minerals to produce and then can pollute when discarded.
Teslas are high fashion date night cars for urban elites with money to burn.
It is things like this that make me glad I am old and won't be around for this nonsense.
Is there a difference between:
1) Your NEXT one
and...
2) In THE FUTURE
I read in some book that 'everything after this present moment is actually in the future'.
"I remember when factories and industrial waste really polluted the environment."
Glad to see you still typing at 87. Now we import everything, including your diapers and orthopedic shoes.
Mississippi Energy Institute bitching about electric cars! Shocking. If smart, they would be promoting the massive need for natural gas to power the transition to the electric future. That future is here with significant energy demands of data centers to power AI, and to power aluninum and steel plants. Only a couple of years ago most utilities forcast 0.5-2.0% growth in electricity demand (a lot of that owed to the ever improving efficiency of electrical appliances et.al.). Now some are forecasting 5% growth in demand, we need that power from somewhere quickly amd cheaply. Enter natural gas (not coal).
Stick to your knitting boys.
Try driving an electric car from Memphis to the coast and back the same day and see what happens. Ask the state of Maine what happened this past Winter?
I’m not buying any EV. Because in eight years I will own nothing and be happy living in President Harris’s Murka.
@6:24 a.m. @6:00 p.m.
Factories and industrial waste STILL pollute the environment. Among the top polluters in the US (probably the planet) are the various levels of the petroleum industry. From the umpty-zillion well sites, the collection points, the refinery, the pipelines, the terminals, the bulk plants, the gas stations, and everywhere in between, petroleum spills, big and small, contaminate soil, groundwater, oceans, rivers, streams, and the air. And then, it gets burned releasing all manner of funk into the air. I know because I have spent my entire career cleaning up after them, and it's a damn good business! People in my industry are really good at keeping our work on the DL, so most people don't even know that it's happening. In fact, everyone reading this has probably stopped at a gas station where someone like me is actively cleaning up soil and groundwater, but you had know idea.
@ Mr. smarty-pants 4:01 am:
1) the speed limit signs also apply to teslas
2) bring your oh-so-capable toy car down here and pull my tractor out of the mudhole with it.
"Have you considered an electric vehicle for your next car, or maybe in the future?"
Yes I "considered" electric vehicles. My conclusion was they are expensive and impractical gimmicks for those who have more money than they have sense.
March 27, 2024 at 4:01 AM, faster?? That would depend on the distance of the race. If the race is for 500 miles, that Tesla is SOL. On average, a Tesla will go 336 miles, and require a recharge that will at best take 45 minutes. That's 45 minutes you will sit, not moving.
A Corvette can go 352 miles before gassing up. A 5-minute stop to refuel, and that Vette is out riding again, while you sit charging. Now, which one is faster?
There are no electric cars. What they are calling electric cars, are actually battery powered cars. I have tools, that are electric. They have a connection to a continual source of power. I have other tools that are battery powered. They require a battery that requires a recharge to power the tool. These things are not the same.
EV's are only promoted and exist as political tools. Period. They are not an effective replacement for fossil fueled vehicles. Trains are electric but they do not produce power without burning diesel. Our pathetic run to electric will do nothing to curb global warming. China will kill us all with their pollution no matter how green we go. In the end, we will all perish from environmental affects - the only difference is that China will be the world leader when it happens. We are stupid humans and the world will shake us off like a dog does fleas. It will still spin and flourish after we're all dead. We are too pathetic to endure time. We are doomed whether we like it or not.
We should not concede the entire future of auto manufacturing to China. If US manufacturers can’t match their engineering and desire to develop electric vehicles, we will lose out in a big way. I see some more bail out in the very near future.
“ To comply, U.S. auto manufacturers have been forced to light-weight vehicles and find creative ways to reduce fuel use. The hidden result has been sacrificed safety and durability, and the obvious result has been higher costs.”
So auto manufacturers placing more fuel efficient motors in cars made them more expensive, less durable and less safe. Would love to see what info if any the author used to form this false idea. Unfortunately, the author chose not to cite any sources.
How are electric cars supposed to charge their batteries? Are they only going to use solar or wind powered chargers? If they use any other chargers it defeats their purpose.
I’ve had a Tesla for 5 years, it’s been a great car. I’ve saved a good bit on maintenance and gas. It drives great, it’s fast, it’s the safest car on the road, and it gets a lot of attention and intrigue. It’s the first American car I’ve ever owned and I will likely buy another down the road. Once you drive an electric car, it’s difficult to rationally choose anything else.
@11:20 China is converting its energy grid to renewables faster than anyone else. They are up to 31% of their total grid - mostly from solar. China also accounts for 60% new battery/electric cars sales. In the not-too-distant future, China won't be needing fossil fuels, and, consequently, will not be affected by the global oil market. They simply won't need petroleum, so they won't be subject to arbitrary price increases from the Middle East or Russia. I don't know, but it seems like a smart move on their part.
Before the mainstream news media went apeshit crazy trying to smear Trump at one of his events, Trump was telling people about the automobile factories the Chinese are building in Mexico.
Instead of giving real news, like the Chinese building factories in Mexico, they instead tried to twist Trump's words to portray Trump threatening a bloodbath. The news of the Chinese building battery powered car plants in Mexico would have been relevant news. It's as if the noise being made by the MSM was to cover for the Chinese.
https://www.americanenergyalliance.org/2024/02/china-building-factories-in-mexico-to-cash-in-on-bidens-ev-mandates/
March 27, 2024 at 3:01 PM, does the propaganda taste good, comrade?
https://energyandcleanair.org/publication/china-permits-two-new-coal-power-plants-per-week-in-2022/
Don't worry, your hero Sleepy Joe Biden is doing his part to help the Chinese keep those coal-fired electric plants going.
https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/fossil-fuels/coal/u-s-coal-goes-to-asia-because-of-bidens-war-on-coal/
The gaslighting is so strong on this battery powered car nonsense. The looney left think they are very clean, but there's 500,000 pounds of the earth's crust moved to make one EV battery. What happens when the battery is no longer useful?
https://www.vitalmx.com/forums/non-moto/how-much-earth-has-be-moved-create-one-ev-battery
Should I go on about the birds being killed by wind turbines, or the sea creatures killed, and wounded by the wind turbines? Or the 20, to 25 year life span of these wind turbines, and the cost economically, and environmentally of taking them down and repurposing of these wind turbines? Comrade, tell me how good it is.
@10:10 AM
The Tesla has a faster zero to 60 than a vette.
That’s all that matters.
I live in the 21st century and my Tesla need only take me from my house to the airport if I need to take a trip that is beyond the range of my Tesla.
The emotional support truck is very important to a large segment of men in our country. The more it pollutes, the greater satisfaction that truck provides emotionally to its owner. There are even people who intentionally modify their trucks to burn excess gas in order to create smoke plumes. Until the American men no longer need these trucks for emotional support, they will not be risking their manhood and ego just to help out future generations.
@3:49 - yes, please go on about your intensive knowledge of how wind mills affect birds and sea creatures. Are you also pulling that information from a dirt bike message board? Your 500,000 pounds of earths crust number is completely fabricated. It’s not even in the realm of being reasonably accurate.
In Mississippi you get passed by an A-hole doing 100mph in a Charger, In the Baltimore/DC area you get passed by an A-hole doing 100mph in a Tesla or sometimes a Genesis. Beware of the Smug, gas or electric.
@3:49
Tell us you are uneducated without telling us.
Tell you have never managed a successful project.
We are in a transitional phase.
If you take no action to innovate while waiting for technology to become perfect, you will never innovate.
March 27, 2024 at 5:44 PM, you must think those rare earth minerals are sitting on top of the ground. Have you ever been around the type of mining required to get those rare earth minerals? I can tell from your post that you haven't. I suggest you look into the process of mining these minerals before you make another ignorant post.
What’s the name of those Chinese Cars, are they currently be sold outside of China.
@9:30
China has about 40 automobile manufacturers. Some of the major brands like Geely, Great Wall, Cherry, BYD, etc have partnerships with foreign automakers and produce domestic clones of Chevy’s, Fords, Bows, Jeeps, and Buicks. Right now BYD is the number one EV maker.
To answer the question if they are sold outside of China, the answer is yes. In SE Asia, and BRICS nations. Those markets are several times larger than the USA.
You might be surprised to find that the US is not even in the top 5 automotive markets anymore. Uncle Sam is viewed globally as a corrupt and dying old man who is only fit to have his remaining wealth plundered.
F
@9:08 - clearly your extensive experience in mining involved googling a single query and then posting an anonymous comment from a dirt bike message board. Your comment was so unbelievably inaccurate that you won’t even address it. You think attacking my experience in mining will make you appear knowledgeable, but it doesn’t address why you think a comment from a dirt bike message board is remotely accurate. Also, lithium is found in salt water. It’s not sitting on the ground, but it is sitting in our oceans. So once again, please provide a source, other than a dirt bike forum, that backs up your wildly inaccurate claim.
One question. How long does the battery on a battery operated car last when you are caught in a snowstorm that the roads blocked, or when the coast is evacuated because of a hurricane, or even when a boat destroys the bridge in front of you on your way home?
I'm your huckleberry.
https://www.greencars.com/greencars-101/environmental-impact-of-ev-batteries
"How bad is mining for electric car batteries?
Nickel is a major component of EV batteries and is found in the Rainforests of Indonesia. It resides just below the topsoil and is extracted using a method of horizontal surface mining. Harmful effects include removal of topsoil, extreme environmental degradation, and deforestation."
"using a method of horizontal surface mining"
There is nothing worse for the environment than strip mining.
https://manhattan.institute/article/mines-minerals-and-green-energy-a-reality-check
"Compared with hydrocarbons, green machines entail, on average, a 10-fold increase in the quantities of materials extracted and processed to produce the same amount of energy."
Is the Manhattan Institute good enough for you.
If you think battery cars are a joke just wait until all of the diesel trucks are forced to change over to batteries. Anyone ever wonder how big and how many batteries it will take to get an 18 wheeler from one side of the country to the other? Or how long it will take to recharge the batteries? Joe doesn't think about that. He is going to force them to try.
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