I don’t even know what’s going on anymore. Everyone’s nuts. Donald Trump has promised to end a nonexistent electric vehicle mandate. Liberals are grappling with their views on Tesla, once a status symbol of smug progressive environmentalists. Federal EV incentives have been a hot-button issue since their inception. It all sucks. Can we just leave EVs out of politics?
Unfortunately, no. Why not? The economy, stupid.
Even though EVs only make up 8.7% of the U.S. market share as of Q3 2024, they seem to have an outsize influence on people’s lives. A lot of that is due to manufacturing, as automakers prepare to make more EVs – you see, that 8.7% is a new record, and a sign that EVs still have momentum, despite the naysayers. That means more manufacturing for not just the cars themselves, but for batteries and other components. Some of those manufacturing jobs are going to be at the cost of others. Even if you took the federal incentives off the table, EVs are so integrally tied into people’s livelihood that it’s too late for them to be extricated.
And then there’s foreign policy. Even if a car is assembled in the U.S., the EV supply chain is global, and China looms large both in rare earth metals and in the conversations taking place in boardrooms and Congressional offices (what’s the difference?). Whether it’s tariffs, intellectual property, or national security concerns, both parties must grapple with China (but the Republicans seem a lot more eager to do so, probably justifiably so).
Of course, there’s the environmental aspect, too, a conversation that’s been dreadful for as long as I can remember. You know the formula: the left cares about it, while the right wants to ignore it at best, or, worse, spread misinformation about it. While conservatives might be right to raise the alarms about China, they’re deaf or downright hostile to climate science and love to perpetuate myths about the environmental footprint of electric vehicles.
Ope! Now I’m starting to sound political about it. This is why we can’t have nice things. We turn everything into a wedge issue. So, no, we can’t just keep EVs out of politics, and not just because your cousin thinks you’re a snowflake for caring about emissions. They’re too big of an issue now, even at 8.7% of the market.
The best we can do is tune out the noise. After this, I’m done talking about the politics of EVs — and politics in general — at least until we have a new president and I have new war crimes policies and corrupt politicians to be mad about. If you need me, I’ll be suckin’ on VW Beetle fumes and dreaming about ripping up asphalt in an Ioniq 5 N.
And if your dickhead cousin tells you your electric car is gay (he really shouldn’t talk like that), just offer him that hug he really needs. After all, there’s one thing you both fancy.
It’s cars.
