Op-Ed: Cutting NJ rebates for electric vehicles is a losing strategy
The MEP goal is of 330,000 EV registrations by 2025. As of December 2020, there were slightly over 41,000 EV’s registered in the state. Just over 11,000 EV’s were registered in 2020. Assume 15,000 EV’s are registered in 2021, no numbers are currently available.
This means 274,000 EV’s must be sold and registered in the next three years. That is 91,300 EV’s per year. What will make people increase EV buying from 11,000 – 15,000 per year to 91,3000 per year starting January 2022? These numbers show the plan is failing miserably.
Will the State require we pay every EV buyer $5000? If so, the subsidy is $457,000,000 per year for 91,000 cars. If $5,000 is insufficient should the subsidies be raised to $10,000 or $15,000 per car?
The $5,000 per vehicle subsidy is a transfer of wealth from poorer residents to wealthier residents. Did the poorer residents agree to this transfer?
The Op-Ed claims the EV will improve the environment and prevent (the disaster of) climate change. What is the expected decrease in sea level rise, storm intensity and frequency and air particulate levels? The Op-Ed should identify the reduction in each category. However, the EV only reduces air particulates and oxides.
Britain has 300,000 EV’s on the road with four time the electrical generating capacity of New Jersey. Yet Britain is limiting charging time available for EV’s to prevent grid overload. How will New Jersey avoid the same problem?
Political will (dictated quotas by law) and bribery (subsidies) will not significantly increase EV sales. Sales will increase when people perceive the EV to be an economical, reliable, primary form of transportation.
This will occur when the EV battery issues are solved and the range and charging (refueling) times are equivalent to an ICE car. This is an industry and engineering problem. The state is incapable of solving this problem.
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