President Joe Biden’s Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, boasted about how high gas prices are forcing Americans towards electric vehicles during an interview on Thursday on REAL 92.3’s Big Boy TV.
Buttigieg said:
We’re for cutting the cost of electric vehicles because when you have an electric vehicle, then you’re also going to be able to save on gas, but you got to be able to afford it in the first place. Right now, we’re actually starting to see on some models the costs come to where even if your car payment’s a little higher, your gas payment will be a little lower, and you come out ahead, but the prices still need to come down for most Americans to be able to get an EV.
Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg brags about how high gas prices are forcing people to electric vehicles. pic.twitter.com/zqGwX6IgfZ
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Buttigieg’s comments come as recent U.S. Labor Department data found the annual inflation rate rose to a massive 9.1 percent in June. In addition, Americans are paying record-high gas prices under Biden’s administration.
One day after Buttigieg’s remarks, electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla reportedly asked Texas drivers to avoid charging their vehicles for five hours out of the day due to a heatwave.
“A heat wave is expected to impact the grid in Texas over the next few days. The grid operator recommends to avoid charging during peak hours between 3pm and 8pm, if possible, to help statewide efforts to manage demand,” the Tesla alert sent to customers’ in-car screens said.
Buttigieg’s comments on Thursday are not the first time he’s promoted expensive electric vehicles as a way for American consumers to save on gas expenses. The Transportation Secretary said, “People from rural, to suburban, to urban communities can all benefit from the gas savings of driving an EV,” in March after gas prices broke a record previously set in 2008.
Buttigieg made a similar comment in November during an interview with MSNBC.
“The people who stand to benefit most from owning an EV are often rural residents, who have the longest distances to drive, they often burn the most gas,” he claimed.
Buttigieg’s statements seem to represent the Biden administration’s official position on gas prices, as other members of the administration have promoted switching to electric vehicles in the wake of skyrocketing gas prices.
Last month, Biden’s Energy Secretary, Jennifer Granholm, claimed that American gas prices are “unsustainable,” but noted that the high costs are “accelerating our progress toward clean energy.”
Granholm also said that high gas prices make a “very compelling case” to purchase electric vehicles.
“If you filled up your EV and you filled up your gas tank with gasoline, you would save $60 per fill-up by going electric rather than using gasoline but it’s a very compelling case, but again, we want to bring down the price at the point of purchase,” Granholm said.
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