After all this time pushing how utterly wonderful EVs are, the NY Times finally got the memo. The best part is the subhead
Electric Cars Too Costly for Many, Even With Aid in Climate Bill
Battery-powered vehicles are considered essential to the fight against climate change, but most models are aimed at the affluent.
Oh, now they tell us
Policymakers in Washington are promoting electric vehicles as a solution to climate change. But an uncomfortable truth remains: Battery-powered cars are much too expensive for a vast majority of Americans.
Congress has begun trying to address that problem. The climate and energy package passed on Sunday by the Senate, the Inflation Reduction Act, would give buyers of used electric cars a tax credit.
But automakers have complained that the credit would apply to only a narrow slice of vehicles, at least initially, largely because of domestic sourcing requirements. And experts say broader steps are needed to make electric cars more affordable and to get enough of them on the road to put a serious dent in greenhouse gas emissions.
High prices are caused by shortages of batteries, of raw materials like lithium and of components like semiconductors. Strong demand for electric vehicles from affluent buyers means that carmakers have little incentive to sell cheaper models. For low- and middle-income people who don’t have their own garages or driveways, another obstacle is the lack of enough public facilities to recharge.
Sell cheaper? There’s a cost to make a vehicle. Does the NY Times sell it’s paper cheaper, or, do they need to actually sell at a profitable price?
To some extent, the carmakers are following their usual game plan. They have always introduced new technology at a luxury price. With time, the features and gadgets make their way into cheaper cars.
But emission-free technology has an urgency that voice navigation or massaging seats did not. Transportation accounts for 27 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Battery-powered cars produce far less carbon dioxide than vehicles that run on gasoline or diesel. That’s true even accounting for the emissions from generating electricity and from manufacturing batteries, according to numerous studies.
The strange part is that those in a position to demand this stuff, like those in the Credentialed Media, appointed officials, and elected politicians don’t seem, for the most part, to be giving up their own fossil fueled vehicles and travel. If the GOP had any cajones they’d start introducing legislation requiring members of Congress, their staffs, appointed Executive Branch officials, and members of the White House to take non-fossil fueled travel. Sure, it won’t pass at the moment, but, it would show the hypocrisy.
Read: NY Times: Say, These EVs Are Rather Expensive For The Middle And Lower Classes, Eh? »