OPINION:
Earlier this year, the media were abuzz with reports of electric vehicles failing to maintain their battery charge during Chicago’s severe cold snap. This demonstrated the practical challenges of using electric vehicles in cold climates.
Despite this, the Biden administration pushed its disastrous Final Rule: Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles. This rule is focused on the vehicles everyday Americans rely on and aims to remove all gasoline-powered vehicles from new-car sales by the early 2030s.
The Environmental Protection Agency has set forth vehicle emissions standards that are, quite frankly, unrealistic. The rule requires automakers to sell an unattainable number of battery vehicles. By 2032, the rule would require two out of three cars sold to be battery-electric vehicles — a stark contrast to the mere 8.3% of cars sold in 2023 that were BEVs. To meet the EPA standard, the U.S. auto industry would have to sell more than eight times the number sold today.
This removes all consumer choice regarding what car they buy. When given a choice, a major car manufacturer stated that customers would choose hybrid vehicles. Many franchises have only five days’ worth of inventories for all hybrids compared with more traditional and electrified vehicles. Electric vehicles are rarely people’s first choice; the majority of EVs sold are second or third cars in someone’s driveway. Often, Teslas and other fully electric vehicles are token show cars. Here’s why this should be more impactful to the Biden administration.
Electric cars are not ready for prime time. Not all car owners can charge their vehicle at their home or place of work. Few apartment complexes have charging ports, and those that do cannot accommodate a complete switch to electric vehicles. There are 41 supercharger stations in Colorado, compared with over 2,300 gas stations across the same state. At a supercharger station, a driver might spend 30 minutes waiting for a charge when gas fueling takes a fraction of the time. Other charging stations take even longer.
Electric vehicles place a further drain on the current overuse of the electric grid. Colorado’s electric grid is straining under current use, and expectations for home energy use are expected to skyrocket in the coming years. This is being echoed across the energy sector, Americans nationwide feel the pain of unreliable and unaffordable green energy options.
To build these fully electric cars, almost 400 pounds of additional critical minerals will be needed per new vehicle. Using the same amount of scarce critical material, Toyota can build 90 hybrids and reduce 37 times as much tailpipe carbon emission than one battery electric vehicle. That statistic is glaring and leads one to think that the Biden administration is not serious about an electric future but simply saying for optics. This electrified future proposed by the Biden administration requires mining, and currently, the United States is overmatched by China’s dominance in the mining sector.
In addition to the amount of metals needed for an EV, these cars are heavier than their gas-powered and hybrid counterparts, yet only sometimes the safer alternative. Our roads are built for current gas-powered vehicles, and Colorado Springs is seeing increased traffic due to the city’s growth alone. The change in the types of cars on the roads could seriously affect limited infrastructure budgets.
And finally, Coloradans need vehicles different from those favored by Washington bureaucrats. Average low temperatures are in the teens from December to February in Colorado Springs — Pikes Peak’s low temperature averages 1 degree in those months. A single mother of three who needs to drop her kids off at day care and school and still make it to work will choose the vehicle that will do so safely and reliably. Mountainous terrain in Colorado makes EVs even more problematic due to the need for greater power.
Suppose the Biden administration is serious about making the country a better place for the average American. In that case, they will listen to how drivers make their choices as consumers and will advocate for affordable cars through reliable energy and mining choices.
• Doug Lamborn has represented Colorado’s 5th Congressional District since 2007. He is an attorney and a member of the Republican Party. His district is based in Colorado Springs.
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