There’s nothing wrong with people buying electric vehicles – as long as they want to – GOP presidential hopeful and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said this week.
However, a DeSantis administration won’t coerce Americans to buy electric vehicles (EVs) and it’ll eliminate all of Pres. Joe Biden’s mandates forcing them to do so, DeSantis said in a radio interview this week on the Doug Wagner Show:
“We're going to rip out all the Biden mandates, all this stuff that they're doing to try to promote EVs. I have no problem with you purchasing one on your own, if that's what you want. There's nothing wrong with that. This is a competitive market and that's how it should be.”
“But, what [Biden’s] doing makes us more reliant on China because China mines the critical minerals that go into things like these batteries. We actually could do that here in the United States. Biden won't let us do that,” DeSantis said.
“It's bad for the auto companies, it's bad for the auto workers, because most Americans don't want electric vehicles,” noting how Pres. Biden’s Green New Deal is anathema to U.S. energy independence.
DeSantis touted his state’s “massive” reduction in carbon emissions, which he attributed to the use of cleaner natural gas, which liberals and environmentalists oppose.
“So we're not going to allow the electric vehicle stuff to go through,” DeSantis promised:
“We're going to make sure people can make cars that people actually want to buy and that you as an American have the right to buy what you want. We will, in short, save the American automobile.”
In April, Pres. Biden issued a mandate, in the form of a proposed rule by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designed to compel auto manufacturers to ensure that 67% of all new light-duty vehicles sold are electric.
By setting emissions standards that would be virtually unattainable for gas-powered vehicles, the proposed rule/mandate seeks to overpower America’s free market system to advance Biden’s anti-traditional energy agenda.
All-electric vehicles made up 5.8% of the 13.8 million new cars sold in the U.S. and fewer than two percent of new heavy trucks sold in 2022, according to data from the Kelley Blue Book.
Meanwhile, Ford Motor Company has raised its projected loss from electric vehicles this year to $4.5 billion from electric vehicles (EVs), up from the previous projected loss of $3 billion. A $4.5 billion loss by its Model e division would more than double its $2.1 billion loss suffered in 2022.
Bloated inventories on electric vehicles on dealership lots are expected to eventually drive down prices. At a nearly one hundred days’ supply, EV inventory has more than doubled from the same point a year ago.
According to the Q3 2023 Cox Automotive Dealers Sentiment Index published earlier this month, franchised automobile dealers have declining expectations for EV sales in the coming months.
And, then there’s the danger of electric vehicles catching fire, especially when their batteries get too wet and explode.
Listen to Doug Wagner's full interview of Gov. DeSantis HERE.