It takes a certain amount of humility to look at a policy, realize it's wrong, and turn around. Here's what the next session of the General Assembly needs to do regarding the misinformed decision to end all new gasoline vehicle sales in Virginia from 2035.
Families in Virginia are plagued not only by very high inflation in food, groceries, electricity, etc., but also in automobiles. An adopted, unelected California bureaucrat is responsible for U.S. emissions standards.
That's not the worst thing about the new rules. The worst thing is that they don't work.
Finding a gas station is not a problem. But outside of Northern Virginia, or off one of the major highways he has, there are very few electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. As of June, there are 832 quick chargers that can charge a car within an hour.
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When was the last time it took you an hour to buy gas? Even slow chargers are hard to find. Building them is expensive and someone has to pay for it. Usually that means the payer of the electricity bill takes the tab away. Not to mention the cost of building the power generation and transmission needed to charge cars in homes and businesses.
Assuming your home's electrical system has the capacity to charge at "level 2", the plugs used in electric ovens, it can consume 7-10 kilowatts of power. It's like running an oven and dryer together. Multiply it by all the houses in your neighborhood and the base load on the grid will rise rapidly.
But most of all, people don't seem to want or can afford these cars. Besides being expensive and mid-life he needs a five-figure overhaul, plus it lacks the range most Virginians need and many need. Driving an EV or Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) leaves us unable to handle long family trips in a reasonable amount of time. There's a reason the majority of Virginia's EVs are in Northern Virginia. Perfect for short trips.
Virginians who want to buy an EV should be able to if they choose. But forcing dealers to sell EVs? Unless Virginia reverses course, that's exactly what will happen.
First, 35% of new sales should be electric or zero-emission vehicles by 2026. This is a large migration. Currently, EV and ZEV sales in Virginia account for about 2% of new car sales. By 2035, all new car sales should be EVs. Then want to buy a new car in Virginia? Electric or whatever. Even major manufacturers are starting to sound alarm bells behind the scenes.
Let people buy the car they want, and when EVs become reliable and affordable, people will change their minds.
I hope our Democratic friends have the humility to admit they were wrong.