Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joked about Americans not wanting to buy electric cars, claiming they are like people who didn’t want to adapt to cell phones in the 2000s.
It comes as at least eight states run by Democrats like Buttigieg plan to ban non-electric vehicles by 2032.
Buttigieg was speaking on Fox News on Tuesday afternoon when asked about a decline in sales of Teslas and electric vehicles in general, despite the Biden administration pushing them.
He said: ‘Let’s be clear: the automotive sector is moving towards electric vehicles and we cannot do otherwise. Sometimes when these debates happen, I feel like it’s the early 2000s and I’m talking to people who think we can have landlines forever.”
Buttigieg added that the only options were for the US to “get behind China, or for us to claim leadership.” President Biden wants to ensure that those electric cars are made in America, because more and more Americans are choosing electric cars.’
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joked about Americans not wanting to buy electric cars, claiming they are the same as people who didn’t want to adapt to cell phones in the 2000s
He even managed to attack Trump, saying the former president’s administration allowed China to “build an advantage in the EV market.”
‘Of course not because they are big environmental activists in China, but simply because it makes economic sense. “We have been working to ensure the benefit comes back to American soil,” he added.
Buttigieg said that despite the reported sales decline, “consumers have wanted and purchased more electric cars each year than the year before and Tesla is facing more competition as GM, Ford and other competitors ensure they get a piece of the EV market.” ‘
Wall Street is bracing for Tesla’s first sales decline in four years as demand for electric cars continues to decline.
The last time the country saw a year-on-year drop in deliveries was in the first half of 2020, when automakers had to close factories due to Covid-19.
Even as electric car sales have fallen, Democrats continue to push for them and against gas-powered cars.
At least eight states plan to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars over the next decade — and others are considering joining them.
Under the Advanced Clean Cars II legislation, only zero-emission vehicles may be sold in participating states from model year 2035.
Wall Street is bracing for Tesla’s first sales decline in four years as demand for electric cars continues to decline
Buttigieg said: “Let’s be clear: the auto sector is moving towards electric cars and we cannot do otherwise. Sometimes when these debates happen, I feel like it’s the early 2000s and I’m talking to people who think we can have landlines forever.”
At least eight states plan to ban sales of new gas-powered cars over the next decade — and others are considering joining them
The rule, first adopted by California, means that automakers and dealers will no longer be allowed to sell new gasoline-powered cars in those states.
However, Americans will not be forced to take their gas-powered cars off the road and will still be able to purchase used and pre-owned gasoline vehicles.
These states have gone further than the latest federal legislation announced last week, in which the Biden administration issued new rules to phase out gasoline-powered cars by 2032.
The new federal legislation requires automakers to reduce tailpipe emissions from new vehicles by approximately 50 percent between model years 2026 and 2032.
To achieve this, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) aims for 35 to 56 percent of vehicles to be electric by 2032, and 13 to 36 percent to be plug-in hybrids by that date.
It was initially proposed that two-thirds of all cars sold should be electric vehicles by 2030, but last week that plan was put on the brakes, giving carmakers a concession and giving them more ways to meet the demands.
But under Biden’s new edict, automakers will eventually stop making all-gas-powered successors to the beloved muscle cars of the 1960s and 1970s.