Editorial: Intrusion into free market by our government officials is expensive and unrealistic

Want to buy a Tesla, cheap? Check out Hertz car rental website — you can buy a used one for as little as $15,000.

The company is trying to unload 30,000 of the electric vehicles by year’s end, and apparently is willing to make a deal. Most of them are only slightly used.

You can thank Joe Biden for the deals.

Hertz, however, might not be so grateful. When Biden took office in 2021 and issued a directive that half of all new car sales in the United States be EVs, the company ordered 100,000 of Elon Musk’s popular cars, seeking to get ahead of the competition with its early investment.

Unfortunately, the American public didn’t respond to the mandate; rentals of the vehicles have been anemic. The company has taken a bath on its purchase, accelerating depreciation on the vehicles in order to cushion its financial losses.

The situation isn’t unique to Hertz; General Motors has reduced its planned EV production by 50,000 units this year alone, and canceled plans to build an electric pickup truck. Ford also has drastically reduced its plans to build EVs, citing low public demand.

Their losses are only amplified with Donald Trump’s election victory. Despite his professed love for Musk, Trump has also expressed his disdain for renewable energy including electric vehicles, and has vowed to rescind Biden’s fiat.

Not that it matters; public response to Biden’s order has made it clear that it was unrealistic. EV sales continue to climb and this year already has set records, but they still account for about 9% of new vehicle sales in this country. Many of those sales surely were driven by the $7,500 tax credit given for EV purchases, $4,000 for used models. Those tax-funded rebates will end with Biden’s administration.

One reason for the vehicles’ low sales levels is the cost. The Census bureau reports that 60% of Americans can’t afford to buy a new car — much less electric models, which on average cost at least $10,000 more than gas-powered models in each vehicle class.

President Joe Biden speaks during a visit to the General Motors Factory ZERO electric vehicle assembly plant, Nov. 17, 2021, in Detroit. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo)

Another issue is practicality, especially in Texas.

Think about it: A Rio Grande Valley resident who decides to drive to Dallas or Fort Worth — and such trips aren’t uncommon for many Texans — can just hop in a car, refuel in San Antonio and keep driving. A person leaving early in the morning can get to the destination by mid-afternoon.

An EV will get one to San Antonio, maybe Austin; most EVS have a range of 300-400 miles per battery charge. Then recharging will take about half an hour — if one can find a public charging station. Otherwise, one will have to find a usable outlet to plug into, and wait up to 8 hours to power up.

Certainly, such problems will be addressed. But it will take time. And many people might never be interested in buying an electric vehicle, even if the government says they have to.

They should have the freedom to make such decisions on their own. It’s their money; they earned it, and the right to spend it as they wish.

Biden’s edict was wrong, and any similar effort from Trump to promote gas-driven vehicles at the expense of EVs is equally wrong.

The free market changes when it’s ready. Government officials don’t have the power to change it, no matter how hard they might try.

The post Editorial: Intrusion into free market by our government officials is expensive and unrealistic appeared first on MyRGV.com.