ARE ELECTRIC CARS RACIST?

Tales of Commuters

Lionel uses his 30-year-old truck for his Anaheim-based landscaping business.  Without a college degree in his field, he charges less for his services to keep his business viable.  A single dad, he spends every free penny on his kids.  When he heard that all trucks and cars sold in 2035 would have to be electric, he panicked.  Lionel began taking on additional jobs, missing time with his kids and the chance to be at their sports events and school plays.  He knew he would have to try to buy a “new” used truck soon, as prices would sky-rocket as 2035 approached.  He can’t imagine ever affording an electric vehicle.

Maria has three children and works nights as a nurse.  Juan is autistic and needs special help; this takes all her money.  Her car is a beater—almost nothing works on it, but it is the only way she can get to and from work at night.  Public transit is limited at those hours and it’s not really safe in Oakland.  She’s heard the news that electric cars are going to become mandatory, but wonders how she could afford the car, nor charge it. Her apartment complex has no chargers and she doesn’t expect to ever see any.  After all, it took three months for them to fix her stove.  Her rent is reasonable for the area, but the maintenance is horrible.

The Electric Car Mandate

Politicians love to virtue-signal. After all, they can afford a sudden change to an electric stove or furnace.  Gavin Newsom loves to play the climate change card, knowing it won’t hurt him at all.  In August, 2022, he approved the rule to make it impossible to buy new gas-powered cars starting in 2035.  He pledged funding to help lower the cost for people, but this funding is a mirage.  California’s in trouble financially, having made too many promises including unfunded pensions to government unions.  One can pledge money to help make a dream reality, but when push comes to shove, the pledge will mean higher taxes on everyone, including those who are already struggling.  The average price for an electric vehicle is $66,000, which is more than I would be willing to spend, and I have a reasonably good income.  Add to that the continually rising inflation, which shows no sign of abating, and the affordability becomes worse even for the middle class.

But cost is only one factor, and, likely not the major hurdle California faces.  Charging is a huge issue.  Look at companies who provide a few charging stations for employees.  One employee might have to use a charger for four hours; there would never be enough capacity for everyone.  Smaller businesses don’t have them at all, and for those working in service industries such as farming, hospitality and retail, the charging stations that might be in place are for customers, not employees.  If you can’t charge your car, how can you have one?  These are people who generally must rely on their vehicle.   Public transit is often too costly, not available the hours needed or too far from home to be useful.

City dwellers don’t have garages, even if they were willing to incur the expense of charging at home.  And who lives in the cities?  In many cases, cities are packed with low income and minority families.  Even if you have a garage, how can the many people with two-income families charge both cars?

We also have an electricity problem.  Electric car owners and politicians like to ignore our failing and too-low-capacity power infrastructure, and promise to add many more charging stations, but remember:  Newsom asked electric car drivers to not charge their cars during a heat wave.  This problem will be compounded by the mandate.

Add to that the fact that while the car may be low emission, the way you charge it is not.  Drivers have gotten used to thinking that the power is free with the charging stations out there, but it isn’t.  And it really shouldn’t be.  Also, consider where that magic electricity comes from.  The origins are NOT carbon-free, except for our one remaining nuclear power plant.  While acting very pious about their “clean” cars, electric car owners ignore that electricity comes from a variety of polluting energy sources, including coal.

The Racism Factor (and Poverty Factor)

It’s all very well for extremely rich politicians (Newsom, Biden, Obama to get behind alternative energy and electric cars.  No matter the price, they can afford these options.  Poor people cannot.  They struggle to maintain the older cars they have and just hope they last as long as needed. They can’t afford to have to wait to charge a car and they certainly aren’t buying Teslas and fast chargers.

The data is clear.  Of the working poor in this country, a higher percentage are minorities.  After all the flowery language of “helping the unfortunate” and “focusing on minority rights,” the Left is famous for their insincerity.  After all, the lockdowns immediately caused many in this group to lose their jobs and have few options to survive.  Their schools offered even poorer education than usual and even this only worked for those lucky enough to have a device and working Internet.  Now, Newsom expects them to buy electric cars.  Isn’t that racist?

The Left has called many things racist lately, including anyone who doesn’t vote for them.  But this is simply a failed argument.  Look at what they do, not at what they say.  If anything is discriminatory against the very groups they claim to care about, it is probably their “Green” causes.  Math isn’t racist, but green mandates are.  It’s that simple.

It’s time for a reality check.