U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s recent column, “We’re ending Biden’s EV madness and restoring freedom,” is comically ignorant.
Electric vehicles cost too much? In 1908, the Ford Model T cost $840. A decent horse-drawn buggy and horse cost significantly less. How did that cost imbalance pan out? Look around. Where are the horse and buggies?
Onerous fuel mileage standards? Duffy’s premise that lower mileage will “free” the hardworking American is absurd. The beleaguered hardworking American will get to drive a more expensive car to operate and increase his or her dependence on the oil industry.
Cars all look the same? Duffy is not paying attention. Tesla, for one, has made the corporate decision to retain the appearance of its cars while continuing to improve them through frequent downloaded updates. Meanwhile, check out Cadillac’s line of electric SUV’s and compare them to any other car on the road.
Combustion cars mean more jobs and long-term investments in the Heartland? Tell that to Normal, Illinois, home of Rivian, Warsaw, future home of Slate, and all of the component manufacturers who are adapting their product lines and advancing to the future.
Duffy’s column displays a provincial, out-of-step understanding of what is happening in personal transportation. I can only assume if this were 1908, he would be defending the horse and buggy industry from the encroachment of the horseless carriage.
100-year-old thinking is not going to advance our country. It will leave us globally non-competitive and mired in out-of-date technology. Is that the “freedom” we want?
J. White lives in Carmel.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Defending gas cars is like defending horse buggies | Letters
Reporting by J. White, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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