Electric Cars: Why the Rush?
The hurry to put us all into EVs is the beginning of a move to centralize control over the population by controlling access to electricity.
Image: Getty Images
I’ve written much about the motor vehicle “transition” away from gas-powered cars and toward electric vehicles (EVs), only to be astounded at the mindless speed by which we are expected to replace the massive $3 trillion global car industry with newly engineered and built EVs.
Thinking about the extremely high economic gamble we are making, particularly in the West where we have a definitive car culture, and considering the impressive wealth that was made possible by our car-based mobility, I have to wonder why everyone is in such a hurry to replace our gas-powered cars with glorified electric golf carts.
I’m Getting a Wee Bit Tired of Being Lied To
We already know there is no “climate crisis” which has been propagandized for decades by those who crave power and those who have been brainwashed into believing it is so. We already know that EVs are hardly “green;” Volvo has come clean and has told us that their EVs require 70 percent more emissions to manufacture than their gas-powered equivalents, due mostly to the battery mining and manufacturing process. And the affordability and value of EVs versus their gas-powered rivals? – Well, that argument is pretty much settled.
We have logical and practical evidence that EVs are environmentally damaging, they have performance challenges that cannot be mitigated through the use of today’s technologies, and they cost more to own and operate on a per-mile basis than their gas-powered equivalents. So why are we issuing EV mandates, banning gas- and diesel-powered vehicles, and forcing everyone into cars they simply don’t want? And why are we doing it so rapidly?
Cashing In!
Taking a “follow the money” approach is always useful in explaining societal movements, and the EV “transition” is no different. The U.S. government’s infrastructure spending bill of 2021 has allocated over $80 billion for EV development and the charging networks to power them, and the auto, technology, and energy industries are rushing forward to claim a piece of that taxpayer wealth while the gettin’s good.
While other forms of tailpipe emission reduction technologies exist, the big money seems to be flowing in one direction only: Electrification.
Adding to this curiosity, those pushing hardest for an all-electric future tend to ignore the economic and technological challenges within their plans. The enormous demand for key battery materials, such as cobalt, lithium, graphite, and copper, has caused the prices of these materials to more than triple since 2021 – and because this demand is going to increase, there is no legitimate economic argument to claim that battery prices will fall over time.
Then there’s the question of the electrical grid and its ability to handle a projected doubling of demand in the coming years due to the massive increase of at-home overnight charging of EVs. Last year, the state of California, just days after announcing a ban on the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2035, begged residents to stop charging their EVs during a late summer heat wave for fear of collapsing the power grid.
And then we have the cost factor. The average price of an EV is now over $60,000, nearly $20,000 more than the average price of a gas-powered sedan. In 2023, the average annual salary in the U.S. is $53,490. The gap between EV cost and affordability among average citizens is widening, completely counter to what has been promised by EV zealots.
So again, why the rush? And why is electrification the only “zero emissions” option available to consumers when hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell models are demonstrably viable and more affordable?
The Electricity Kill Switch
Electricity is unique to other energy sources in that it can be turned off at will. EVs must be tethered to the power grid and continually trickle charge at all times in order to operate unplugged. Once that power is turned off, anything running on electricity becomes inoperable and battery-powered EVs start to run out of juice even when they’re not being used due to the on-board battery management system which runs full time, eventually draining the battery completely.
By consolidating the power source for cars, homes, appliances…pretty much everything, and choosing electric over all other energy sources, the goal of central control over an entire population becomes much more achievable. And it needs to be done in a hurry before enough of the population becomes wise to what’s happening.
Have We Reached Peak EV?
The pushback is already taking place in Europe. Germany and Italy have threatened to block EV mandates as proposed by the European Union in order to save what is left of their industrial base. Poland is appealing the EU’s mandate to ban gas- and diesel-powered vehicles by 2035. The U.K. is considering similar action.
Here in the U.S., the United Auto Workers are withholding their 2024 presidential endorsement until EV mandate concerns over union job losses are addressed. Even the United Nations announced it has dropped all gas emission-reduction requirements for its Net Zero Insurers Alliance (NZIA) due to potential violations of U.S. anti-trust laws.
It won’t be long before the reason for the radical and absolutist rush into EVs becomes obvious to anyone once their personal mobility is affected. Therein lies the hurry to spend, build, deploy, and mandate EVs until there is simply no other personal transportation option. By then, it won’t matter because the plan for an “electric future” will be in full motion.
Image: World Economic Forum Urban Mobility Scorecard Tool, May 2023
Predicting an Electric Future
“We will control your car’s usage by controlling its access to electrical power which will be limited by our authority. We will also require that you give up the charge inside of your EV battery upon our demand, since we don’t intend on increasing the charging capabilities of the power grid. Yeah, we’ve been pushing wind and solar for years, but it’s become obvious they cannot power a modern economy.
“With unreliable and intermittent ‘renewable’ energy, not everybody can use it at once. Now that everything is electric, we will take the juice when we want and place it wherever we think it is needed. You act like ‘rationing’ is a dirty word.
“Rolling blackouts are to be expected, so you will need to rely on solar panels and batteries as backup. Oh, you can’t afford it?
“Maybe you should ditch the EV and your home altogether and move into one of the tiny apartment dwellings we built (electrified, of course). We call it a “compact city ” where you’ll live in close quarters with thousands of your fellow peasants citizens, enjoying the bliss of an ownership-free life and the knowledge of having done your part in saving the earth’s climate.
“Guess it’s time to admit the obvious: None of this is actually saving the earth’s climate and, in many ways, it has made the environment much worse. And we’ve known this all along.
“You see, we’ve been lying to you about how humans have been causing imminent destruction of the planet for over fifty years, ignoring the historical, naturally occurring phenomena that have contributed to the earth’s climate for 4.5 billion years. Humans have an impact on climate just like trees, oceans, ice caps and wild animals have an impact. But for maximum shock value, we placed all of the blame firmly at your feet, you dirty carbon-spewing, earth-killing human.
“Years ago, if only you had only seen through the charade of EVs as good for the environment and our need to mandate them to save the planet, we might not have developed the foothold needed to arrive at this destination. Which is, of course, total control over your life through the rationing of electricity.”
With That Delightful Scenario Out of the Way…
Even with all of the mandates, bans, media saturation, shaming campaigns, misinformation, subsidies, bribes, and payoffs, EVs have a very long way to go to reach any scale of volume that represents a viable consumer choice. Twenty years of market availability, and EV registrations still sit at below ten percent of total annual vehicle sales in the U.S. The market viability of EVs has always been exaggerated, so the only way to sell them is by force feeding them to us.
Sure, governmental fleets will go all electric to boost those numbers, and that is okay. EVs make sense for short inner-city trips, and the insane direct and indirect costs of EVs are a perfect match for taxpayer-funded municipal fleets. Who knows…maybe that’s how the story ends.
Or not. This mad rush to ban gas- and diesel-powered vehicles and mandate the purchase of EVs isn’t subtle, it isn’t persuasive, and it isn’t voluntary. Entire governments are pushing the electrification of our mobility, and don’t think it will stop with just your car.