>EVs were destined for the culture wars. “When we buy a car, the model and the brand that we choose also represents a statement to our neighbors, to the public, of who we are,” Loren McDonald, an EV consultant, told me. Like the Toyota Prius in years prior, zero-emission electric cars are an easy target for Republicans who have long railed against climate change, suggesting that it’s not real, or not human-caused, or not a serious threat.
This is a very real thing and I think it’s something that a lot of folks in Europe don’t understand about the American auto market. Because car ownership and use is such an intrinsic part of American life, the car someone drives becomes an intrinsic part of not only their own identity, but how they are perceived by others.
It’s dumb and stupid, but it’s the way we are. I’m a little guilty of it too.
WeirdWillieWest
To quote my 90 year old Fox “News” watching dad, upon seeing our 2nd EV: “Oh, a Joe Biden car.”
deuxcerise
It’ll be really interesting to see that change in the wake of Hurricane Helene. Bidirectional charging means that EV owners have been able to tap battery power and keep the fridge running and the lights on while everyone else was scrounging for gas for their generators.
CarlyRaeJepsenFTW
It sucks that, as the article says, “EVs have been ‘construed as an environmental and liberal object.'” Like someone else on this subreddit commented, if Ford or Dodge or Chevy released a new line of their respective flagship muscle cars featuring near-instantaneous shifting, 800+ hp engines that don’t explode in one second or need turbos to spool up, ungodly traction control and sub-3 second 0-60 that drinks premium gasoline, every car nut on the planet would be splurging all over their phone screens reading about it. But when companies like Lucid and Hyundai (or even BYD!) release electric hypercars with stats that would be impossible with a gas engine, vehicle enthusiasts trip over themselves calling them gay and stupid and feminine.
If vehicle enthusiasts embraced the electric motor, racing would grow in leaps and bounds.
tandyman8360
The real war is going to be over cars vs. expanding public transportation and walkable communities.
Aol_awaymessage
I explained to my MAGA uncle that for me it’s about energy sovereignty. I’m sure he knows some prepper types. Why would I want my electricity and my fuel shipped in from far distances when I can get it straight from my roof and store it in my car? And the sun will likely keep rising to do it every day.
ZobeidZuma
The article notes that it’s a combination of socio-political groupthink along with very real pragmatic factors, i.e. city folk versus country folk who see cost, range and charging infrastructure differently.
I’m one of those country folk myself, and I raise an eyebrow when someone says EVs are only good as “short range city cars”. I’d point out nearly almost everyone out here in rural, small-town America park our cars in places where we are able to charge overnight. Not being able to do that is a city folks problem.
The other concern a lot of people have is: Whenever I venture further out of town, where am I going to find a charging station? I never see any charging stations! Well, they exist, but they certainly could be more visible. Gas stations are usually super-visible with a big forecourt and big signs, and the iconic red-and-green LED prices sign.
As a Tesla owner, I never have to think about that. My car knows where all the stations are, and if I use the navigation system then it guides me to them as needed. Couldn’t be easier. But again, for somebody who doesn’t have an EV, they don’t understand how that works. They only know that, “I never see any charging stations!”
EaglesPDX
The EV culture wars are EXACTLY what they seem. Anything that makes the right wing face the facts of climate science is going to be attacked. Same for biology (there’s no “fetal heartbeat” until 12 weeks), medical science (Covid was not “just the flu”) etc.
elihu
I think it’s just human nature for people to react adversely by the implication that something they’ve been doing their whole life and was deemed normal is seriously harmful. Buying an EV for environmental reasons would be like admitting that they were wrong, if they’ve been driving gas cars up until now.
This isn’t a super old person issue either. I realized recently that, due to rapid expansion of fossil fuel consumption over the last few decades, somewhere around half the atmospheric CO2 excess since the industrial revolution happened between when I got a driver’s license and now, and I’m 45. So basically I’m as much to blame as anyone.
shin_getter01
All this fluff, and the end message is simply: the government is the force that will push EV forward, don’t support republicans in any way or form.
The unspoken counter argument is that by repelling the red tape that result in long interconnection queues, the market naturally would move towards the cheapest power generation and transportation method.
If it weren’t for dysfunctional CAFE the US wouldn’t have been the land of giant trucks.
If you just paid money for charging sites as opposed to support business with coherent overall plans, you’d get a network like Electrified America.
And of course from the libertarian “alt right” point of view, the fastest way to electrification is to just lower tariffs and let the OEM sink or swim. From industrial policy perspective one can do a reverse uno and force joint ventures so the US gets to steal hot new CATL tech like how its done previously.
RedditNoobForSure
Mods on this sub make no sense. I’ve had posts about EV politicization blocked because “policy not politics”. But then I see multiple posts like this every day that somehow are fine
Lysol3435
EVs, which bathroom you use, what you do with your body, whether or not you wear a mask and get a vaccine during a pandemic. It almost feels like one political party is trying to make everything a culture war
13 Comments
Non-paywall link: [https://archive.ph/gbjUG](https://archive.ph/gbjUG)
>EVs were destined for the culture wars. “When we buy a car, the model and the brand that we choose also represents a statement to our neighbors, to the public, of who we are,” Loren McDonald, an EV consultant, told me. Like the Toyota Prius in years prior, zero-emission electric cars are an easy target for Republicans who have long railed against climate change, suggesting that it’s not real, or not human-caused, or not a serious threat.
This is a very real thing and I think it’s something that a lot of folks in Europe don’t understand about the American auto market. Because car ownership and use is such an intrinsic part of American life, the car someone drives becomes an intrinsic part of not only their own identity, but how they are perceived by others.
It’s dumb and stupid, but it’s the way we are. I’m a little guilty of it too.
To quote my 90 year old Fox “News” watching dad, upon seeing our 2nd EV: “Oh, a Joe Biden car.”
It’ll be really interesting to see that change in the wake of Hurricane Helene. Bidirectional charging means that EV owners have been able to tap battery power and keep the fridge running and the lights on while everyone else was scrounging for gas for their generators.
It sucks that, as the article says, “EVs have been ‘construed as an environmental and liberal object.'” Like someone else on this subreddit commented, if Ford or Dodge or Chevy released a new line of their respective flagship muscle cars featuring near-instantaneous shifting, 800+ hp engines that don’t explode in one second or need turbos to spool up, ungodly traction control and sub-3 second 0-60 that drinks premium gasoline, every car nut on the planet would be splurging all over their phone screens reading about it. But when companies like Lucid and Hyundai (or even BYD!) release electric hypercars with stats that would be impossible with a gas engine, vehicle enthusiasts trip over themselves calling them gay and stupid and feminine.
If vehicle enthusiasts embraced the electric motor, racing would grow in leaps and bounds.
The real war is going to be over cars vs. expanding public transportation and walkable communities.
I explained to my MAGA uncle that for me it’s about energy sovereignty. I’m sure he knows some prepper types. Why would I want my electricity and my fuel shipped in from far distances when I can get it straight from my roof and store it in my car? And the sun will likely keep rising to do it every day.
The article notes that it’s a combination of socio-political groupthink along with very real pragmatic factors, i.e. city folk versus country folk who see cost, range and charging infrastructure differently.
I’m one of those country folk myself, and I raise an eyebrow when someone says EVs are only good as “short range city cars”. I’d point out nearly almost everyone out here in rural, small-town America park our cars in places where we are able to charge overnight. Not being able to do that is a city folks problem.
The other concern a lot of people have is: Whenever I venture further out of town, where am I going to find a charging station? I never see any charging stations! Well, they exist, but they certainly could be more visible. Gas stations are usually super-visible with a big forecourt and big signs, and the iconic red-and-green LED prices sign.
As a Tesla owner, I never have to think about that. My car knows where all the stations are, and if I use the navigation system then it guides me to them as needed. Couldn’t be easier. But again, for somebody who doesn’t have an EV, they don’t understand how that works. They only know that, “I never see any charging stations!”
The EV culture wars are EXACTLY what they seem. Anything that makes the right wing face the facts of climate science is going to be attacked. Same for biology (there’s no “fetal heartbeat” until 12 weeks), medical science (Covid was not “just the flu”) etc.
I think it’s just human nature for people to react adversely by the implication that something they’ve been doing their whole life and was deemed normal is seriously harmful. Buying an EV for environmental reasons would be like admitting that they were wrong, if they’ve been driving gas cars up until now.
This isn’t a super old person issue either. I realized recently that, due to rapid expansion of fossil fuel consumption over the last few decades, somewhere around half the atmospheric CO2 excess since the industrial revolution happened between when I got a driver’s license and now, and I’m 45. So basically I’m as much to blame as anyone.
All this fluff, and the end message is simply: the government is the force that will push EV forward, don’t support republicans in any way or form.
The unspoken counter argument is that by repelling the red tape that result in long interconnection queues, the market naturally would move towards the cheapest power generation and transportation method.
If it weren’t for dysfunctional CAFE the US wouldn’t have been the land of giant trucks.
If you just paid money for charging sites as opposed to support business with coherent overall plans, you’d get a network like Electrified America.
And of course from the libertarian “alt right” point of view, the fastest way to electrification is to just lower tariffs and let the OEM sink or swim. From industrial policy perspective one can do a reverse uno and force joint ventures so the US gets to steal hot new CATL tech like how its done previously.
Mods on this sub make no sense. I’ve had posts about EV politicization blocked because “policy not politics”. But then I see multiple posts like this every day that somehow are fine
EVs, which bathroom you use, what you do with your body, whether or not you wear a mask and get a vaccine during a pandemic. It almost feels like one political party is trying to make everything a culture war