Too often, our leaders choose policy according to trends and rhetoric instead of facts and data.
For years, federal and state subsidies have propped up select green energy options as solutions to the country’s environmental needs. While many green energy options could one day be the environmentally friendly, sustainable way to power the country, they are still largely expensive unknowns.
And now, thanks to its new report, the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) has shown how electric vehicles (EVs) represent one of the most blatant examples of this phenomenon.
When California passed their Advanced Clean Cars II legislation in 2022, it marked an extreme new benchmark in the electric car discussion. The new legislation mandated that after 2035, all new cars, trucks, and SUVs sold in California be zero-emission (i.e. electric). While the federal government and states have been incentivizing electric vehicle purchases through tax credits and rebates for years, California’s law was the first to ban the sales of gas and hybrid cars altogether.
California is not alone though. Other states and the federal government have been steadily increasing the push for electric vehicles through rhetoric and policy.
So, with the push for EVs reaching a fever pitch, the experts at TPPF wanted to explore the data on EVs and show what the realities for consumers (and taxpayers) truly are.
In October 2023, TPPF released their report, Overcharged Expectations: Unmasking the True Costs of Electric Vehicles.
It immediately started having impacts.
The report not only delivered first-of-its-kind data on the true costs of EVs given all the federal and state subsidies, it debunked many myths about the EV industry.
Some of the key insights of the report include:
· If the subsidies for EVs are translated into fueling costs, the cost of fueling an EV is the equivalent of over $18 per gallon (not less than $2 per gallon as EV proponents claim).
· EVs put a significant strain on the power grid. Each EV draws as much electricity as eight homes when charging overnight and as much as a small grocery store when fast charging in under an hour. Just four EVs on high-speed chargers use as much electricity as a Walmart Supercenter.
· It costs far more to produce EVs than their prices reflect. In 2021, Federal and state subsidies and regulatory credits suppressed the retail price of EVs by almost $50,000.
· Utility ratepayers and taxpayers pay an average of $11,833 in socialized costs per EV for home and public charging stations.
· Over 10 years, each EV receives almost $9,000 in direct state and federal subsidies.
After TPPF released Overcharged Expectations, Senators Rick Scott, Mike Lee, Roger Marshall, Dan Sullivan and Pete Ricketts made an official request for the Government Accountability Office to quantify the costs of these EV incentives and ensure EVs aren’t being illegally subsidized by taxpayers. The problem is now ripe for correction in 2025.
Also, TPPF coordinated their release of the report to coincide with the Biden Administration’s new fuel economy standards. This meant that at the same time Congress and the White House were revising the fuel efficiency requirements for auto manufacturers, they were also being forced to answer the questions TPPF’s report were raising.
TPPF’s report was covered by dozens of national news outlets such as Fox News, The Dallas Morning News, The Washington Times, The New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, Real Clear Energy, The Center Squared, The Hill, Fox Business, and many more.
TPPF has long been a leader in Texas and nationwide for data-driven, sensible policy solutions. With Overcharging Expectations they again proved that data, facts, and common sense, must guide policy over trends, rhetoric, and talking points.
