Are we still convinced that electric vehicles are the best way forward?

[teamzr1]

Bye Bye EV mandate and strict fuel mileage rules !
In his first action, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy axed Biden’s CAFE fuel economy standards that were seen by critics as a de facto EV mandate.
WASHINGTON — Yesterday, Sean Duffy was officially sworn in as the 20th Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT). Secretary Duffy was administered the oath of office by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at the U.S. Supreme Court, and was joined by his family.
Upon arrival at USDOT headquarters, Secretary Duffy’s first act was signing a memorandum directing staff to start the process of resetting Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, which will ultimately lower the price of a car for American consumers and eliminate the electric vehicle mandate.

“I am deeply honored by the trust placed in me by President Trump to lead this important Department and for the Senate in swiftly confirming my nomination,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
“We are already hard at work executing the President's vision to usher in a golden age of transportation by taking immediate action to remove government overreach and lower costs for hardworking Americans.

The memorandum signed today specifically reduces the burdensome and overly restrictive fuel standards that have needlessly driven up the cost of a car in order to push a radical Green New Deal agenda.
The American people should not be forced to sacrifice choice and affordability when purchasing a new car.”

The memorandum signed by the Secretary directs the Office of the General Counsel, the Office of the Undersecretary for Policy, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to immediately initiate a rulemaking to rescind or replace all existing CAFE standards.

As a result of the regulatory costs, fuel economy standards have diminished the strength of America’s auto industry and denied Americans the full range of affordable vehicles they need.

According to data from Cox Automotive

• From March 2021 to March 2024, the cost of a car increased by a total of 15.5%, from an average of $40,881 to an average of $47,218.
• Current rule requires all passenger cars and light trucks to meet a standard of 50.4 miles per gallon (mpg) in Model Year 2031. This government mandate has dramatically increased the average price of a new car to nearly $48,000, driving up the cost and making it unaffordable for American consumers.
• The price of a car has continued to spiral. In March 2024, of the 275 new-vehicle models available for purchase, only eight had transaction prices below $25,000. By comparison, in March 2021, more than 20 vehicles had transaction prices below $25,000.

This direction will implement Executive Order 14148, titled Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions, and Executive Order 14154, titled Unleashing American Energy, which were issued by President Trump on January 20, 2025.

You can read the full memorandum by clicking here.

Or read what I attached below

 

[Chuffer]

Can you send Duffy over to the UK when he`s done . Maybe he can sort out the f**kwits in our government !!!!

 

[Pinhead]

Ah but then with the 25% tarrifs on imports from Mexico and Canada coming in on Saturday and many cars or parts coming from there will prices actually go down or just up by less than they otherwise would ?

 

[CaptainK]

I can't see car prices coming down much - auto companies have invested in research and dev etc for this stuff and will want money back etc, even if they don't implement it. That and they want all the money they can get.

 

[teamzr1]

The administration of now-former President Obama/Biden tried to bankroll the use of electric school buses at government schools across the country.

But as the electric buses continue to have massive reliability issues, some schools regret taking the federal handouts and now want help from the Environmental Protection Agency to get themselves out of the program.

Maine Department of Education Commissioner Pender Makin wrote a letter to the agency voicing concerns with the program, asking for waived penalties for not using buses provided by manufacturer Lion Electric, according to a Monday report from WGME-TV in Portland, Maine.

“Specifically, we urge the agency to pursue legal remedies, including claw-backs of federal funding or other resources provided to the company,” he wrote.
There are at least six districts reporting massive problems with Lion Electric school buses they bought through the federal program.

The six electric buses received by Yarmouth Schools have been with the district for a year and a half, but they have only been used a few times because of functionality issues, per WGME-TV.

“We are trying to work with Lion to have those buses replaced, or to receive compensation for those buses, but really not making much progress at this point and time,” Yarmouth Superintendent Andrew Dolloff said in comments to the station.
“We run them for only a day or so and then we get error messages about engine failures or battery failures,” he described.

Dolloff reported difficulties in communicating with a representative from Lion Electric, which does not have any staffers in the area to handle bus maintenance.
“We are not able to run them until those messages are cleared,” Dolloff added.

WPFO-TV in Waterville, Maine, reported on the same issue at government schools in the state, noting that the Biden administration earmarked $3 billion for the project across the country.
As of last fall, the EPA burned $1 billion of those funds to put just 2,000 electric buses on the roads.

For those keeping score at home, that’s a healthy $300,000 per electric bus, which is much more expensive than your typical diesel school bus.
Even beyond the inflated cost, the poor reliability of these electric buses points to the folly of trying to manipulate the free market for political reasons.

While electric vehicles are advancing in their sophistication, they still have reliability issues that do not affect gas-powered alternatives, such as the fact that they do not charge as easily in the winter.
That is, of course, a relevant factor for Maine, which receives quite a bit of winter weather.

Despite all of these concerns, rather than simply waiting a few more years and allowing the free market to advance the technology, Biden and his handlers put their thumbs on the scale.
Responding to federal handouts, producers and consumers alike shifted toward making and selling more electric vehicles,
overlooking reliability issues to access those federal dollars.

Now they just want their money back.