Briefly Noted: School Choice, EVs

I periodically write about the importance of education in our current political situation, and especially how the American public’s growing awareness to the abuses of our woke Ed establishment may be transforming the political landscape. Steve Huntley has a good article on that topic. While he doesn’t present much that’s actual news, it’s a well expressed overview. One point he does make is the degree to which public support for school choice—for real alternatives to woke government indoctrination—has increased. In doing so he does a good job explaining the obstacles to that change, which makes it all the more impressive. The biggest obstacle, as Huntley explains, has been ingrained support for government schools among the middle class:

Real School Choice for America’s Families, the Civil Rights Issue of our Time

I’ve been watching articles about EVs for a while now, but never got around to trying to write about it. I’m sure many readers are aware that, as the Zhou regime has attempted to make an argument for trading in pickups for Chevy Bolts, scientists and engineers have been pushing back strongly, demonstrating the impracticality of EVs. For example, Tucker Carlson has a recent excellent segment in which it was shown that, in Lansing, MI, charging stations are reliant on coal generated electricity—so much for clean energy! Then there’s the whole conundrum of the batteries—how they’re produced and the problem of disposing of them. Again, very unfriendly to the environment at both ends of the process. And the problem that our power grid is simply insufficient to support charging any large number of EVs.

Today Fox has an article with a general overview of some of the other impracticalities:

Experts slam Pete Buttigieg's comments on EVs: 'A con job'

"Americans have been given a false impression about EVs," researcher Patrick Anderson tells FOX Business

Just a few excerpts:

However, experts highlighted that cheaper EVs are still more expensive than comparable traditional cars and must be charged more often due to their relatively low range. For example, the 2022 Chevy Bolt referenced by Buttigieg costs $26,595 and has a range of 259 miles while the traditional engine 2022 Chevy Spark costs $14,595 and has a range of 297 miles, according to company data.

"Customers are clever enough to figure this out despite the snow job from the electric vehicle promoters and people like Secretary Buttigieg," Myron Ebell, the director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Center for Energy and Environment, told FOX Business in an interview.

"It's really kind of a con job," Ebell said. "It may be a good deal for some people in some places under some circumstances. But by-and-large right now, it's not a good deal."

Overall, the average cost of an EV was $64,338 while the average cost of a compact car was $26,101 as of May, according to Kelley Blue Book. Factoring in government incentives, the average cost of EVs are likely closer to $60,000.

In addition, the Department of Energy reported in January that the average range of model year 2021 gasoline vehicles was 403 miles compared to the median 234-mile range of model year 2021 EVs. That means EV owners must pay to charge their vehicle more frequently than owners of traditional cars.

…

EVs charged using residential and normal commercial charging methods cost about $0.50 more per 100 miles than comparable traditional vehicles, according to the report. EVs charged using more expensive commercial charging stations cost about $4 more per 100 miles.

"The first thing that a lot of potential electric vehicle owners need to be aware of is that they're probably going to be paying both their home utility bills and the cost of charging at commercial chargers," Anderson told FOX Business. "Failing to understand that a large number of miles that the typical American travels are away from home and require using a fueling station that's not in their garage, would be a very costly mistake for a potential EV driver."

Anderson added that AEG's research showed 78% of electric vehicles are luxury vehicles and most EV purchasers also own traditional vehicles.

"A very large share of the electrical vehicles themselves are owned by affluent people and, often, wealthy people," he said, arguing government subsidies for EVs mainly benefit the upper class.

Ebell echoed Anderson and said EV owners are "free-loading" off Americans who own gasoline-powered cars since the federal gas tax funds roads and infrastructure. EV owners aren't required to pay an equivalent tax for infrastructure funding.

Right. Wealthy, virtue signaling white liberals freeloading off the rest of the population? Some things never change. Also, I’m gonna bet that virtually all of those EVs are owned by people in major metro areas who t use them for scooting to the store and back, rather than longer trips.. That’s significant, because longer trips with relatively less braking causes the batteries to run down much more quickly. But you didn’t think metro libs care about anyone but their own kind, did you?

Here’s that excellent Tucker segment from a few days ago: