EVs Now a Metaphor for Polarization of Democrats and Republicans

It had to happen. Trump and Biden turn up in Detroit at about the same time and give their pitch to striking members of the United Automobile Workers (UAW). “Here’s the big difference between Democrats and Republicans”, proclaims Trump. “We want to know why Detroit aren’t making cars that are going to sell, cars that are going to be able to go long distances.”  He then goes on about how many jobs will be lost because of the Democrat’s EV policies.

For Republicans, Trump is doubling-down and appealing to the good ol’ apple pie values of the American dream, where real cars are all about twenty five foot long and guzzle plenty of cheap American gas.

To a Democrat, Trump is a self-styled King Midas, preaching solidarity with the people from an ivory tower. To them, he is the anti-alchemist – he knows how to turn gold into lead.

Then there’s Joe. Joe talks to the workers about how much money his government is ploughing into subsidies for EV manufacturing plants, battery plants and longer-term hydrogen plans for the automotive industry. No one gets left behind.

To a Democrat, Joe is the transitional rebound president who thinks he’s Irish and needs to be reminded what day it is.

And to a Republican – the kind who isn’t cowering in the shadow of Trump – Joe is an irrelevant rebound president .

There’s clearly an economic divide here about EVs, which has been repurposed to become a political schism about America’s future.

Meanwhile, the higher-ups in the auto industry are blushing for a reason other than the loss of thousands of jobs. A year ago, executives of the auto industry were imagining statues in their image, so visionary were their plans.

Not anymore

Because the demand for EVs has slowed to such an extent that GM is delaying a Michigan EV factory. Ford has pushed back its target of over half a million EVs a year, and then there’s Elon. The man, whose biographer claimed was a risk addict, has slowed down his Tesla plant in Mexico. Higher interest rates would seem to be a major factor in the deceleration of interest in the technology.

So between the Democrats and Republicans, we have a fight about what’s right for Americans (if you believe that you’ll believe anything).

But America’s wallets have more or less battened down the hatches in the light of these higher interest rates.

They ain’t buying them EV critters in the amounts they were s’posed to, dammit!

So ultimately it doesn’t matter what political capital Biden and Trump expect to gain from this rather Shakespearian quandry of ‘to EV or not to EV’.

They won’t have the final say.

But China will.

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