Car dealers across the United States are warning President Joe Biden that his “unrealistic” green energy agenda must be abandoned, mainly because Americans are not buying Electric Vehicles (EVs) as the administration expected.
Executives with car dealerships from Massachusetts to Alabama to Wyoming sent a letter to Biden this week, urging his administration to drop EV mandates and green energy requirements on the auto industry, citing a lack of interest among American consumers in EVs.
“… we are asking you to slow down your proposed regulations mandating battery electric vehicle (BEV) production and distribution,” the car dealers tell Biden:
Your administration has proposed regulations that would essentially mandate a dramatic shift to battery electric vehicles (BEVs), increasing year after year until 2032, when two out of every three vehicles sold in America would have to be battery electric. [Emphasis added]
…
The reality, however, is that electric vehicle demand today is not keeping up with the large influx of BEVs arriving at our dealerships prompted by the current regulations. BEVs are stacking up on our lots. [Emphasis added]
According to the car dealers, “enthusiasm has stalled” with EVs and the number of unsold EVs sitting on dealership lots are piling up “even with deep price cuts, manufacturer incentives, and generous government incentives.”
“With each passing day, it becomes more apparent that this attempted electric vehicle mandate is unrealistic based on current and forecasted customer demand,” the car dealers write to Biden. “Already, electric vehicles are stacking up on our lots which is our best indicator of customer demand in the marketplace.”
Americans are mostly concerned with the cost of EVs, the car dealers write, as well as the unavailability of charging stations, the time it takes to charge an EV, and the loss of driving range depending on the weather and towing.
“Today’s current technology is not adequate to support the needs of the majority of our consumers,” they write:
Many of these challenges can and will be addressed by our manufacturers, but many of these challenges are outside of their control. Reliable charging networks, electric grid stability, sourcing of materials, and many other issues need time to resolve. And finally, many people just want to make their own choice about what vehicle is right for them. [Emphasis added]
Mr. President, it is time to tap the brakes on the unrealistic government electric vehicle mandate. Allow time for the battery technology to advance. Allow time to make BEVs more affordable. Allow time to develop domestic sources for the minerals to make batteries. Allow time for the charging infrastructure to be built and prove reliable. And most of all, allow time for the American consumer to get comfortable with the technology and make the choice to buy an electric vehicle. [Emphasis added]
Auto industry experts who spoke to Axios said their dealerships have struggled to sell EVs. Mickey Anderson, whose firm owns dealerships in Colorado, Missouri, and Nebraska, said Ford’s F-150 Lightning all-electric pickup truck is their latest hard sell.
Last year, for instance, the firm’s dealerships sold just 25 of the all-electric trucks out of about 1,000 F-series trucks sold.
“We’ve been far too focused on the Tesla buyer, the well-heeled one-to-two percenters,” Anderson told Axios. “We’re forgetting about the people where a car is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.”
Likewise, dealerships in North Carolina told Axios they are similarly unable to get EVs off their lots. Instead, the cars are collecting dust.
“If people were dying to have EVs, it’d be great because I could sell them,” Toyota dealership owner Mary Rice told Axios. “Instead, I’m going be at the end of the year with this car no one wants. There’s no amount of money that makes sense for an EV here.”
Across, the nation, the data on EV sales tell the same story.
Data from Edmunds.com found in September 2022, EVs sat on dealership lots for just 21 days before they were sold. Today, EVs are sitting on dealership lots for 65 days.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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