Commentary

More than two years ago; on August 16, 2021 to be specific, President Biden was ecstatic during the signing of the bipartisan infrastructure package into law.

It included $7.5 billion specifically directed toward electric vehicle chargers, with a goal of building 500,000 chargers across the United States by 2030.

Now we learn that the program has yet to install a single charger.

In a recent study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, we will need 1,2 million public chargers, including 180,000 fast chargers, by 2030 to meet charging demand.

The program calls for chargers to be built at least every 50 miles over major routes, being operational at least 97 percent of the time with credit card readers for easy payment.

As expected, states and the charger industry blame the delays mostly on the labyrinth of new contracting and performance requirements they have to navigate to receive federal funds. 

Though the feds have so far authorized $2 billion in funds to states, fewer than half have even started taking bids from contractors to build the chargers.

Of course, the Biden administration expects to break ground on a deluge of chargers in early 2024, and meet the 500,000 chargers target in 2026, four years before the goal.  Don’t hold your breath.

You may recall Biden’s fantasy prediction of reducing carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030.

But, as I am sure you have heard, EVs are not selling.  Car dealers are refusing delivery of EVs because their lots are crammed with unsold vehicles they insist that people don’t want to buy.

So again, the CEOs of our nation’s auto manufacturers have been taken to the cleaners, as they have been with Café standards.  This was much worse.  They invested billions of dollars in manufacturing changes and batteries, on the persuasion of man with no business experience, only a lifetime as a civil servant. Where were the boards of Ford and GM when those decisions were made?

That caused some 3,000 dealers from every state to write a letter to Biden requesting he tap the brakes on the mandate.

 Biden’s response in his recent BIdenomics tour included more talk of converting auto manufacturing to build EVs and 500,000 charging stations across the nation.

When his policies are questioned, the president likes to say, “Watch me.”

I’ve been watching, Mr. President, as you refuse to concede that you took us down a much too aggressive path of transitioning the nation from fossil fuels to electricity.  We are now seeing the consequences of that ill-conceived approach.

And because of your unwillingness to “tap the brakes” as requested by the car dealers, American voters will have to wait until Election Day 2024 to bring a halt to it all.

May God continue to bless the United States of America.