Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg rejected criticism of the Biden administration’s push for America to embrace a future where electric vehicles (EVs) overtake internal combustion engines, comparing the dynamic to that of landline phone loyalists at the dawn of the cellular age.
Buttigieg denied such a push is premature, despite critics pointing to the costs of some green vehicles and the lack of technological proliferation to a realistic extent at the moment.
When “America Reports” anchor Sandra Smith reported on cuts to the workforce at Ford’s F-150 Lightning assembly plant in Dearborn, Mich. — where only one-third of workers will remain, beginning this week, according to the Detroit Free Press — Buttigieg said purchases of EVs continue to increase on an annual basis.
“Tesla is facing more competition as GM and Ford and Stellantis and other competitive players start to make sure they get a piece of the EV market. Let’s be clear that the automotive sector is moving toward EVs, and we can’t pretend otherwise,” he said in the wake of reported decreases in Tesla sales.
“Sometimes when these debates happen, I feel like it’s the early 2000s, and I’m talking to some people who think that we can just have landline phones forever.”
Buttigieg made a point to highlight an electric vehicle technology race brewing between the United States and China, telling Fox News it is crucial that America stays ahead of China in the manufacturing game.
“We’ve got to make sure that those are made on American soil in places like northern Indiana, where I grew up, places like Michigan, where I live right now,” he said, adding that China made inroads in the sector during former President Trump’s administration.
“We’ve been working to make sure that that advantage comes back onto American soil,” Buttigieg stressed.
For his part, Trump blasted the Biden administration’s EV push, offering an anecdote about Iowa’s bitterly cold winter and claiming “there were [stalled] electric cars all over the streets” because their batteries could not handle the -40 degree conditions.
Buttigieg said it is important to adhere to the administration’s shift toward an EV future while acknowledging critics pointing to the fact the battery charging stations are themselves powered by the same fossil fuels the policies seek to move away from.
The secretary claimed there is a difference in the side effects of charging stations powering lithium batteries versus internal combustion in an 87-octane engine.
“A lot of electricity is still generated by fossil fuels, but if you look at the science of it, you’ll see is that it is still more efficient, just as a matter of physics, to convert those fossil fuels into energy at a utility plant and then run it through transmission lines into a car than it is to burn it,” he said.
Buttigieg added that most IC engines rarely realize anything higher than 40 percent efficiency.
He compared the state of the EV industry to the fledgling petrol-powered car industry of the 1920s.
“[W]e can’t afford to fall behind China,” he said.
“Remember, the number one way that we have supported EVs is by making them more affordable. That’s what those tax credits are about, and that’s one of the reasons why you’ve seen the prices get closer and closer to parity, so more Americans can save both buying an EV and then the savings that tend to come with owning one.”
