I honestly believe that the political class in Sacramento is losing their collective minds. In my last commentary (“Solutions?” July 13), I pointed out that “the U.S. government is now preparing to hand out $400 billion for green energy projects, and this is just the beginning of the trip down the climate change rabbit hole.”
I recently read that a low-income housing project, Brisa Encina in Mission Hills just north of Lompoc, includes a total of 60 parking spaces including handicap parking and electric vehicle charging stations.
Really, “vehicle charging stations.” We must ask ourselves: How could a person or family that qualifies for affordable housing afford to buy and maintain an electric vehicle?
InsideEVs, a website dedicated to the all-electric car market, reports (see table “All Electric Vehicle Comparison – U.S.” at bottom of webpage) that prices vary with the least expensive being $20,000 and the most being over $200,000.
The National Auto Dealership Association says, “Financing is a component of many consumers’ purchase process. The average cost of an EV financing is $4,583, while an ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicle is $3,247.”
Kelley Blue Book “calculates the five-year cost to own a vehicle, which includes all vehicle-related costs a consumer will likely have within the first five years of ownership. The data pulled from the first week of February in 2023 shows that EVs cost consumers an average of $65,202 during this time period, while ICE vehicles cost $56,962.” In other words, you’ll spend a yearly average of $2,000 more to own an EV.
My point here is that low-medium income families will struggle or may not be able to purchase and maintain an EV.
Next is recharging the EV; the lower-cost EVs have a very limited range and require several hours to recharge. Refueling your gas/diesel powered vehicle only takes five to 10 minutes. Most low-medium income families must work long hours to make ends meet, so they really don’t have time to sit and wait several hours for their EV to recharge.
A friend recently traveled from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Las Vegas, Nevada, in an EV, which is a little more than a 500-mile trip. In the past he was easily able to make the trip in one day; this time he had to stop overnight to find a charging station and recharge his vehicle halfway, thus extending his trip by an extra day both ways.
Unlike ICE vehicles, the EVs have a very limited range; thus, a worker traveling from Lompoc to Santa Barbara would most likely have to recharge their EV three or more times a week for several hours, while “gassing up” takes less than 10 minutes.
When gas/diesel vehicles were invented, the government didn’t build refueling stations—private industry did. In today’s world, where the government is mandating that everyone convert to EVs, they are spending billions to build a charging network even though most electric utilities are privately owned by stockholders whose dividends depend on generating income.
Look around at the multi-family buildings and many single-family neighborhoods in your area; how many cars are parked on the street? Both the on-site parking areas and streets are filled with cars. Will the government provide curbside charging stations? Will the housing authority or private market-rate owners renovate on-site parking areas to accommodate EVs, and will the road systems be re-engineered to handle the additional weight of an all-EV fleet?
Unless Sacramento politicians have a “top secret” long-range plan to provide, at taxpayers’ cost, electric vehicles for low- and moderate-income families, the idea that they can convince the public, most of whom are in this income category, to convert to an all-EV fleet any time in the future is just a pipe dream.
Ron Fink writes to the Sun from Lompoc. Send a letter for publication to letters@santamariasun.com .
This article appears in Jul 27 – Aug 6, 2023.
Fortunately, Ron is wrong. EV prices continue to plummet and charging stations continue to multiply. A quick perusal of EV prices brings up the Chevy Bolt EV 1LT with a range of 259 miles for under $18,000—now this price is after incentives for “low” income individuals. The actual price is $26,000 which is actually cheaper than the average price for a gas-powered vehicle. As for charging, I recently read about an ingenious new startup that replaces your depleted battery in less than ten minutes with a fully charged unit. We are indeed seeing a transportation revolution and, like all revolutions, many will oppose it.
Contrary to what Ron believes, it’s going to be a lot more expensive in the long run to continue burning fossil fuels than for the state to convert to all EV. Already some insurance companies are discontinuing coverage in our state. This will only continue as climate related calamities cost them billions of dollars a year. I’m not exactly sure what Ron’s motivation is for continuing to deny climate change, but my guess is he’s either employed by the fossil fuel industry or he simply listens to too much right-wing media (which, by the way, is often funded by big oil). See for yourself:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/22/rightwing-war-on-woke-capitalism-industry-interests