Over-the-top anti EV propaganda piece

[Larry Paul]

I did not write this specifically because of this article, but last Saturday Michael Smerconish published an article’s that I wrote about my 25 years of driving EVs. This type of “Journalism” has been going on for decades.

https://www.smerconish.com/exclusive-content/25-years-of-driving-electric-vehicles/

It touches on the perpetual misinformation campaign like this “article.”

I had a great deal more to say, but I was already over the recommended word count and had to get permission to write an article this long.

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[Thunderanger]

Jason Isaac is founder and CEO of the American Energy Institute

I mean... it is basically written by the oil and gas industry as an "opinion" piece.

Exactly. https://americanenergyinstitute.com/

 

[Thunderanger]

It's an opinion piece and clearly labelled as such.
Opinion pieces are meant to persuade the readers to the writer's side.

Sadly opinion pieces nowadays are often chock full of crap, disputed facts and red herrings.

 

[Thunderanger]

Usually the media source, in the interest of transparency, would identify the writer's employer or industry if the opinion was about or affected that industry.

It did. But unless you know or take the time to find out who the https://americanenergyinstitute.com/ is, you wouldn't know that the author comes from an entity devoted to pushing OIL.

 

[AEGinMD]

...and of course there is not a comment section...

https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/4442633-why-americans-dont-want-electric-vehicles/

Even as an opinion piece, an essay by an apparent fossil fuels advocate that declares that "Americans don't want electric vehicles" without ever once noting the continuing rise in EV sales (even acknowledging that the rate of increase is has declined) is just another bad attempt at political persuasion. But to what end, I wonder? It's not like EVs are going away, even if government subsidies do. Americans are free to choose.

 

[Ghost Ryder]

Sadly opinion pieces nowadays are often chock full of crap, disputed facts and red herrings.

Not going to dispute that we have become hyper-partisan. People wants media that reinforce their beliefs and "writers" are all too willing to spoon feed it to them. This goes for both sides. It's really hard to find a balance well thought out article now. If it's not another article about how polar bears are being stranded on floating block of ice because of global warming, or about how EVs are spontaneously catching on fire and burning down the house, , it seems like everyone has an agenda.

 

[ChehRob]

EV battery recycling is limited because most of those EV batteries are still active and running cars. With a few notable exceptions the batteries are lasting a long time, and longer than expected. I am expecting recycling not to take off before late in this decade, when there will be a steady supply.

 

[Ghost Ryder]

Even as an opinion piece, an essay by an apparent fossil fuels advocate that declares that "Americans don't want electric vehicles" without ever once noting the continuing rise in EV sales (even acknowledging that the rate of increase is has declined) is just another bad attempt at political persuasion. But to what end, I wonder? It's not like EVs are going away, even if government subsidies do. Americans are free to choose.

That is the one arguement I have trouble with in his article. He should of said the majority of Americans are not considering an EV. The demand for EVs is still there, but may have leveled out or even slightly declined from it's peak, but has not evaporated completely.

This survey by Yahoo says that only 31% would want an EV where as 57% were not likely to buy an EV.

So let's not pretend that the majority of people want an EV.

https://www.businessinsider.com/most-americans-dont-want-an-electric-car-2023-10#:~:text=Of that majority, 36% said,likely to buy an EV.

All the other negatives of EVs he points out are not earth shattering, ground breaking or even controversial.

 

[Ghost Ryder]

EV battery recycling is limited because most of those EV batteries are still active and running cars. With a few notable exceptions the batteries are lasting a long time, and longer than expected. I am expecting recycling not to take off before late in this decade, when there will be a steady supply.

They're talking about the percentage of batteries that are end of life being recycle is about 5%. I don't think they're using batteries that are active in the denominator in that calculation.

 

[JWPortland]

...and of course there is not a comment section...

https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/4442633-why-americans-dont-want-electric-vehicles/

More anti-EV propaganda from the Oil and Gas industry. Unfortunately, the main stream media repeats many of these outright lies and distortions without fact checking. In particular, the cost per taxpayer for supporting EV incentives. Shameful.

 

[AllenXS]

I really like my GTPE, and we use it a lot but I struggle to see where this guy is missing much. The dates and milestones set by our government are reduculous. The math does not work. Especially on trucks. Let the market work and ditch the hard dates.

Hard dates are about leadership, the call to action on something bigger than capitalism theory is critical here. I love free market and no taxes is great, but sometimes you need to accelerate key issues.

This guy just wants to keep us in the ice age, and that really worked last time!

 

[AllenXS]

Always sends to be lots of imbalances with the over opinionated. This la crosse coach with unmentioned academic mentions research from his own published research yet doesn’t cite a link to it.

Yes sales have slowed as the ev world has picked up initial demand from the last round, but showing doesn’t equal stopped. It’s like the GT five second rule, I might be slowed after an initial burst up to 5% of car sales, but I’m still moving quick enough to go the distance with some pauses as we recharge.

after all this un-academic ranting, I had a dose of diesel poisoning a few years ago. Nothing major but the lack of gas fumes is one of the best features in an ev for me.

Is this an article though on why ev’s suck or about the Presidential election? I hear that’s coming soon.

 

[mkhuffman]

It's eye opening that I have never, EVER read an article that railed against the tax credits for EVs but also mentioned the DPAD / QPAI / QBI that domestic oil producers get. It's super easy to select any facts that support any narrative. Admittedly the government makes the situation worse because the DPAD et. al. are refunded to the producer whilst the EV tax credits are refunded to the consumer. Most consumers have never heard of the DPAD or been a part of a Limited Partnership or S corporation that claimed them.

I think there is a big difference between a tax deduction and a tax credit.

And from what I read about those deductions you referenced, they are not just for the petroleum industry. They are designed to encourage American businesses to stay in this country instead of moving operations overseas.

The BEV tax credit is a hand out to rich people. If you can afford a $50k car, you don't need a handout from other taxpayers who cannot afford a $50k car.

 

[mkhuffman]

The Oil Industry has a shelf life. Granted, it will not be shelved tomorrow but it's days are numbered.

Some will try everything under the Sun to keep it propped up except ironically, the Sun.

They do have hope though. There is enough of you to buy their BS and that gives them more time but it will die sooner than you think.

There are a few of us who want a healthy oil and gas industry.

It is simple economics. We want cheap energy so that even the poor can afford to drive a car if they want or need to. We want cheap energy so that it doesn't cost more to charge our cars at home than to fill up a gas tank. We want cheap energy so our economy thrives, inflation is low, and unemployment is low.

The policies that are forcing a change that will happen naturally to occur earlier is driving up the cost of energy, and consequently, everything. That is why "right wingers" are against all the mandates and bans leftists support.

It isn't because we want to bathe in it or something.

 

[Ghost Ryder]

Hard dates are about leadership, the call to action on something bigger than capitalism theory is critical here. I love free market and no taxes is great, but sometimes you need to accelerate key issues.

This guy just wants to keep us in the ice age, and that really worked last time!

Actually we as in homo sapiens did quite well in the last ice age. It was because of the ice age that Neanderthals died out and we became the dominant species.

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