Move over Ford, but there a new gas-guzzling turncoat. And surprisingly, it’s Joe Biden.
According to this New York Times article, the Biden administration is planning to slow down the rollout of a rule that was designed to juice the United States’ transition to electric vehicles. The plan involves relaxing its limits on tailpipe emissions. Another desperate election year move. Some say this is a concession to labor unions and automakers.
Before I go into detail on the specifics, understand that the writing has been on the wall for EVs for some time. People have thought past their knee-jerk virtue-signaling, and understand the far-reaching negative ramifications of Biden’s insane green-energy policies.
Rental car companies sounded the first alarm bells recently. I wrote:
It’s reported that Hertz is reversing course on an initiative to make the move towards more electric vehicles. Even more surprising perhaps, the company announced that it will sell a large amount of its electric fleet and transition back to gas-powered automobiles.
But the rental car companies also signaled something else:
I consider this move one of the biggest signs of Trump’s triumphant return to power. Because what company would make such an anti-climate move if they thought Biden or some other braindead moronic Democrat would win?
Biden get the picture.
Biden’s original dictatorial edict forced automakers to produce an insane amount of EVs. This hit a snag as major automakers decided to cut production themselves.
Late last year Ford announced that it was rethinking EV production:
In its latest setback, Ford is cutting back on another significant EV investment. The company is scaling back plans at its $3.5-billion EV battery plant in Michigan as it adjusts to market demand.
Ford said it was “re-timing and resizing some investments” in a statement Tuesday. Although it remains bullish on its long-term strategy, Ford is reducing its investment and cutting jobs at its Michigan EV battery plant.
The company is cutting production capacity at the facility by over 40%. Ford now expects the facility to produce around 20 GWh, a big difference from the 35 GWh initially expected.
Ford is also reducing its investment in the facility by nearly $1.5 billion while cutting the expected number of jobs to 1,700.
Apparently Ford’s move or Trump’s poll numbers inspired Biden to relax the rules.
Now he’s giving manufacturers until after 2030 to boost their sales significantly, the sources said. The final version of the rule is expected to be announced in the spring.
The Environmental Protection Agency originally announced a new rule last year that would require nearly 70 percent of new car and truck sales to have no tailpipe emissions by 2032. Not only would this be impossible for multiple reasons (mostly related to consumer demand), but the levels are untenable due the grid, the availability of resources, and many more. Put succinctly, the quick change to EV devastate the U.S. auto industry to say the least.
Keep in mind this is more a symbolic slowdown. Because logic in the energy sector is the least of Biden’s concerns. He’s intentionally trying to ruin the U.S. economy. So the slowdown still requires automakers to transition nearly 70 percent of their new car and truck sales to have no tailpipe emissions by 2032, only they can take a less steep angle to accomplish the feat.
A concession to the union perhaps. Particularly given the amount of money the automakers are losing massive amounts of money with EVs, save Tesla.
As I mentioned earlier, the biggest barrier to EVs is the marketplace. People don’t want EVs.
A lack of charging stations nationwide, the higher sticker price, and lower resale value hurts EV sales. Also, it doesn’t hurt that EVs have been stuck on the road in cold conditions or won’t start at all. Inconsistent distance calculations add to the anxiousness of consumers to make the switch.
Consider this another sign that Team Biden is scared. Just so we are clear: Biden has no chance of being the Democrats’ nominee, even with this latest Kabuki theater.
