For one of the wealthier countries on this planet, America, with 330 million that represents about 4% of the world’s 8 billion on this planet, President Biden is speeding ahead with EV mandates to ditch most new gas cars by 2030.
In America, the elites have bought EV’s, and the elites may continue to buy EV’s, BUT we’re quickly running out of elites!
- The average debt in America is almost $60,000 across credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, and student loans.
- The common folk need a workhorse vehicle, not just a second car toy that sits in the garage to be used on short ventures!
- The current EV ownership profiles are reflected in the oligarchic elite that are highly educated, highly compensated, multi-car families, with low mileage requirements for the families second car.
- Current EV owner profiles are dramatically different from most vehicle owners as they are single-car owners, not as highly educated, nor as highly compensated, and have higher mileage requirements for their workhorse vehicle.
Mandating a change to EV ownership and further austerity onto those that can least afford, the Nation and the other 96% on this planet may face a rebellion from those that need transportation.
Biden seems to be oblivious to the fact that there are more than 1.4 billion vehicles in the world, and almost 300 million trucks in the world, there’s been a mandate movement to have EV’s replace ICE vehicles to reduce emissions from the vehicular transportation sector.
Well, to-date, the mandate to EV’s has been a failure as we’re running short of elites that are buying them, and the auto manufacturers are starting to absorb the financial hits !
The previous worldwide gasoline usage peak was in 2019 before the Pandemic.
- Today, there are 30 million EVs on the world’s roads that are owned by the elites that can afford them, and are mainly 2nd vehicles parked in the garage, or with low mileage usage, vs the high mileage workhorse vehicles that are internal combustion engines.
- Today, there are also hundreds of millions of workers that now work virtually since the Pandemic and thus do not “drive” to work as often.
Well, even with those 30 million EV’s and millions of workers not driving as much, gasoline usage continues to rise. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that global gasoline consumption in 2023 blew past the pre-lockdown 2019 peak !
By re-enforcing the mandates to EV’s, Biden is forcing automobile manufacturers into a death spiral, as most of the 8 billion on this planet will never be able to afford an EV !
Photo by Gage Skidmore. Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic.
Ronald Stein is an internationally published columnist and energy consultant, and a policy advisor for The Heartland Institute.
