With exuberant fanfare, the Biden Administration unveiled a plan in 2021 to spend $7.5 billion to build thousands of electric vehicle charging stations. The funding was shoehorned into the engorged $1.3 trillion Infrastructure Bill. Three years later, guess how many stations have been constructed?
If you said "thousands" you are in the camp of most Americans. The exact number according to the Federal Highway Administration is seven as of March 29. The progress--or lack of it--is an indictment of government intervention into free market capitalism.
By comparison, Tesla, the U.S. EV market leader, has constructed a labyrinth of 4,436 charging stations with 27,527 total ports. Elon Musk's company has stations in all 50 states. The public firm has managed to build out an extensive network while still making a profit for share owners.
Companies selling electric vehicles are now partnering with Tesla to adopt a charging station standard that will support their autos. Tesla has opened its super fast charging network to Ford and GM. Other auto companies will make their future EV's compatible with Tesla's chargers.
A group of seven auto firms recently revealed plans to open 30,000 of their own charging stations across the country under the Ionna brand name. It is a clear signal that EV makers recognize the lack of a charging infrastructure as a major impediment to consumers purchase of electric vehicles.
Washington bureaucrats carrying suitcases full of money are no match for private industry. The charging revolution is surging without taxpayers picking up the tab. Big government cannot not compete with the innovation and speed of businesses incentivized by profits.
When gasoline cars replaced horses and buggies, the government did not spend a dime to build gas stations across the country. Oil companies invested in gas stations because it was in their economic interest. Now there are 145,000 gas stations in the U.S--not one built by Washington.
What if the charging industry followed the evolutionary map of gas stations? Electric utility companies, like the oil producers, stand to benefit from millions of vehicles hooked up to chargers. Unleashing utilities to build retail charging networks would accelerate the deployment of a national infrastructure.
Naturally, there would be resistance from the New Green Deal crowd, who would carp about increasing electricity output, likely through fossil fuels. Do they not realize government chargers will be hooked up to the electric grid? The grid will collapse without added capacity for chargers, regardless of which entity constructs the station.
The federal government also has shelled out millions of dollars in subsidies to charge up sales of electric vehicles while using regulations to quash companies building gasoline powered cars. Taxpayers, most of whom own gas vehicles, are underwriting these generous handouts to wealthy EV buyers.
A study by Harvard's Law School's Labor and Worklife Program found the so-called subsidies end up going to more affluent Americans. The government gives up to $7,500 as an incentive for the purchase of an electric vehicle. The study by Ashley Nunes, Ph.D., concluded the following:
"By subsidizing richer households and not secondhand (EV) buyers, we are rewarding those who aren't always helping to reach emissions targets while ignoring those who actually do. It's a situation that is both unfair and detrimental to our climate goals."
Nunes points out that many EVs are purchased by wealthier households as secondary cars, which are typically driven fewer miles than a primary gas vehicle. His research showed that "electric vehicles must, when used as second cars, remain in service longer to deliver an environmental benefit."
Even with government largess, the Biden Administration's plan aimed at achieving 50% of new vehicle sales to be electric by the end of the decade remains an auto galaxy too far.
U.S. electric vehicle sales hit a record 1,189,051 last year. Electric vehicles accounted for 7.5% of the light vehicle market (excluding trucks). However, the rate of sales growth has dipped slightly over the last six months, although it remains on a steady incline.
Tesla has garnered the largest share of the electric vehicle market in the U.S. Although its share dipped last year, Tesla sold 654,888 cars in 2023. Worldwide Teslas sales soared to 1,808,581. Tesla now has a bigger share of the U.S. car market (4.2%) than Volkswagen, Subaru, BMW or Mercedes.
There will be an eventual rationalization of the EV market. The winners will be determined in the free market place, not dictated by Washington. Government sales goals are a poor substitute for American consumers, who are capable of choosing their next automobile purchase.
Electric car makers, especially Tesla, are gradually shrinking the cost disparity between electric and gas vehicles to even the playing field. Kelley Blue Book estimates the price paid for the average electric vehicle was $53,469 last year. By comparison, the average gasoline powered car sold for $48,334.
With parity within grasp, there is no justification for the federal government to continue to ask taxpayers to underwrite someone who buys an electric vehicle. Likewise, the government should scrap its exorbitantly costly plan for building chargers.
It's past time for Washington to butt out of the electric vehicle business. Less big government heavy-handed intervention and regulation will provide more impetus for the growth of the EV industry.
