Electric car prices surge by 17% as Biden promises ‘lower energy costs’

While the Biden administration has been exhorting Americans to “go green” and purchase electric vehicles to escape astronomical gas prices, the prices of electric vehicles (EV) are increasing by as much as 17%. 

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which Biden repeatedly claims will “lower energy costs” for Americans, earmarks $369 billion to “fighting climate change”. Among the provisions in the bill is a $7,500 tax credit for EV owners to encourage EV purchases. 

But as reported by America’s Frontline News, a closer look reveals that EV owners will rarely qualify for that credit. For starters, the battery must be sourced from North America, which cuts the number of eligible models from 72 to 25. It is capped at 200,000 units per manufacturer. Only vehicles under $55,000 (or $80,000 for SUVs) will qualify. Buyers must earn less than $150,000 per year (or $300,000 if married).  

Additional sourcing requirements will go into effect in 2023, which will completely disqualify all current EVs, according to an automotive industry trade group. 

“The $7,500 credit might exist on paper, but no vehicles will qualify for this purchase incentive over the next few years,” Alliance for Automotive Innovation President and CEO John Bozzella wrote in a blog post. 

At the same time, automakers appear to be raising their EV prices to meet the tax credit. 

As reported by the Daily Wire, Ford is increasing its F150-Lightning Pro by $7,000 to $46,974. Last month, General Motors raised the price of its electric Hummer by $6,250. In June, Tesla increased prices by as much as $6,000. 

But American taxpayers emerge the ultimate losers as they receive neither a tax credit nor static prices. 

Nevertheless, the Biden administration continues to press Americans to buy electric vehicles. 

“The more pain we are all experiencing from the high price of gas, the more benefit there is for those who can access electric vehicles,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said before Congress last month. 

Buttigieg has been pushing this narrative for some time.   

“To support the transition to electric vehicles, we must build a national charging network that makes finding a charge as easy as filling up at a gas station,” tweeted Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in June after suggesting the previous month that Americans buy electric cars to avoid high gas prices.   

“The people who stand to benefit most from owning an EV are often rural residents who have the most distances to drive, who burn the most gas, and underserved urban residents in areas where there are higher gas prices and lower income,” Buttigieg said last year. “They would gain the most by having that vehicle. These are the very residents who have not always been connected to electric vehicles that are viewed as kind of a luxury item.”   

Biden also hailed the “transition” to electric vehicles.   

“And when it comes to the gas prices,” Biden said in response to a reporter in Tokyo recently, “we’re going through an incredible transition that is taking place that, God willing, when it’s over, we’ll be stronger and the world will be stronger and less reliant on fossil fuels when this is over.”   

Indeed, a November Cars.com report showed that over two-thirds of Americans would consider switching to an electric vehicle if gas prices continue to rise.