We are providing lots of automotive coverage this month.  Being a blog, this coverage may add a bit more editorializing than this month’s podcast or editorial/commentary.

In much of our coverage because it’s most of what is out there in the news, electrics are dominating the discussion. U.S. consumers purchased 800,000 EVs in 2022, which accounted for 5.8% of all vehicles sold. This is up from 3.2% in 2021. A Pew Research poll indicated that Americans are almost evenly split when it comes to whether they would or would not purchase an EV.

Electric for automobiles is not the only electric discussion happening at the moment. I believe that if the current administration had its way, everything would be electric tomorrow. In addition to no ICE cars, we would have no more gas stoves/ovens in our homes, and I wonder what the plan for our high-temperature industry would be.

Not that electric is a bad thing in itself, it’s just that the discussion is so disingenuous. The rhetoric sounds as if electric cars are emission-free. Well, maybe they are from tailpipe emissions, but that electric generation is certainly not emission-free. And from everything we have read, the charging infrastructure as well as the electric-grid infrastructure is inadequate to meet the current push.

My editorial from May 2022 discusses how electric-vehicle and other electric usage is not created equal. That’s because electric power is generated differently in different areas/countries. For instance, due to the country’s use of nuclear power, EVs in France save 96% of the “carbon” emissions. In Poland, EVs actually are “dirtier” than ICE vehicles because so much coal is used in electric generation!

It always makes me nervous when the government decides who wins and who loses because they don’t always make the best decisions. The logic is also shocking at times. I saw a couple of recent quotes from our Climate Czar, John Kerry. In one, he puts the natural-gas industry on notice that they have a decade to get their act together and reduce emissions. Another quote illustrates the logic of those in power. It went something like, we can make alternative fuels competitive by raising the price of petroleum. Apparently, he thinks fuel prices should double (or more) in order to transition to green energy. Who wants to sign up for government-mandated $8.00/gallon gas?

I don’t think there is much else to say. Stay vigilant about the effect of regulations on your business, pay attention to who is promoting what and make the necessary changes at your polling place. Check out May’s editorial and/or this month’s podcast for more automotive news.