Another Roadblock to the EV Transition: Personal Politics

[Zorro]

On paper, Robert Olson is a prime candidate to buy an electric vehicle.

The retired Arizona engineer loves cars, has owned hybrid vehicles and has the means to pay the premium for an EV. And he owns two gas-powered cars, including a Porsche, that he could use for longer road trips.

But Olson is turned off by electric cars. He thinks their potential to help the climate is overstated, and he resents the Biden administration’s pro-EV policies.

“It is being pushed down our throats,” said Olson, who says he is a Republican.

Automakers are fixated on easing the practical concerns around electric-vehicle ownership, primarily high prices and charging hassles. But in the industry’s quest to persuade more Americans to consider EVs, a swath of the buying public could prove tough to convince: those opposed to EVs for political or ideological reasons.

https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/another-roadblock-to-the-ev-transition-personal-politics-ab4e311b?st=g23h9tjoehddbr7&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Looks like EVs are just too woke for many Republicans.

Same as it was with LED light bulbs.

[Think. Again.]

1. Yes, rightwingers have been in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry for ages.

[Shermann]

2. You could argue ICE vehicles are being pushed down our throats too.

Fossil fuel subsidies are in the trillions. ICE vehicle owners aren't paying the true cost for carbon pollution at the pump. Those cleanup costs are being pushed down the throats of everybody including those not even born yet (so much for Republicans being champions for the unborn).

[hunter]

3. The environmental footprint of our car culture is so immense...

... it really doesn't matter all that much if you drive an electric car or not.

I resent the fact that I must own a car to be considered a fully functional adult in this society.

If we want to save the world we ought to be rebuilding our cities, turning them into attractive affordable places where car ownership is unnecessary.

My favorite kind of car is small and cheap with a salvage title. I bought a new car once back in the 'eighties and won't do that again. It only encourages them to make more.