Protests against President Donald Trump’s administration have been cropping up nationwide. They appear to have two things in common — gray hair and a lack of energy. Are Americans supposed to believe these are organic? Or are they organized by left-wing groups to undermine Trump’s administration?
Now the answers to those questions are becoming clear. The “Hands Off” protests of April 5 and earlier anti-Tesla protests were supported by a coalition of powerful leftist groups, including The Indivisible Project, and organized through Mobilize America — which was initially founded as a Democrat PAC. Now leftist organizers are planning more demonstrations across America for the socialist holiday May Day.
The ‘Hands Off’ Protests
Leftists gathered in cities across America to protest Trump’s administration on April 5. As images of the events streamed in from across the web, something soon became clear — many of the protestors were elderly.
Anti Trump protest in Charles Town, WV. About 200 people, not paid protestors, but the median age appears to be about 70. pic.twitter.com/ygFoKa8Ybn
Whether disaffected boomers, one-time hippies, or former bureaucrats, these were people with extra time on their hands. This was not lost on far-left activists, who used Mobilize America — a “volunteer management platform and network that connects left-wing organizations, campaigns, and activists,” according to InfluenceWatch — to stage the Hands Off protests, apparently attempting to subvert confidence in the Trump administration.
Hands Off is tied to the Indivisible Project, which launched in 2016 to help leftists “Resisting the Trump Agenda,” according to InfluenceWatch. Indivisible is listed among Hands Off’s “partners,” and the group’s website directs users to various Hands Off materials. Hands Off directs “general inquiries” to an Indivisible.org email address. When The Federalist asked about this, Indivisible Project Chief Campaigns Officer Sarah Dohl said the address online was a “typo.”
“Hands Off is a campaign, not an organization,” according to Dohl. She called it a “broad coalition effort,” pointing to “nearly 200 partner organizations.” According to Dohl, Indivisible provided Hands Off participants with content, toolkits, and “digital infrastructure.”
“We were proud to help build the Hands Off website and provide early infrastructure to get the campaign off the ground,” Dohl said. “The site and campaign are now supported by many different groups, not just Indivisible.”
A host of leftist groups “partner[ed]” in the Hands Off protests, including the anti-religious freedom Human Rights Campaign, leftist League of Women Voters, far-left Our Revolution, radical environmentalist group Greenpeace, and anti-Trump Women’s March. Left-wing union giants AFL-CIO, American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, Service Employees International Union, and United Auto Workers also supported the demonstrations.
Indivisible provided graphics and messaging to protestors, even suggesting wording for their signs and offering to reimburse groups up to $200 worth of expenses for each protest — though Dohl previously told The Daily Signal the group does “not pay protestors.”
An Indivisible document online guides demonstrators on “Tesla Town Halls,” specifically “how to plan a Tesla protest” and “executing your Tesla protest.” It listed grievances with Trump’s administration, including alleged “economic terrorism.”
“The idea of ‘Tesla Town Halls’ was one of several suggestions we offered as part of our early February congressional recess guidance — alongside more traditional options … ” Dohl said. As The New York Post reported, Indivisible also backed the “Musk or Us” protest during Congress’s March recess, encouraging the use of messages such as “Fire Elon Musk” and “GTFO Musk.”
Another main group behind the anti-Musk town hall protests was MoveOn, as The Washington Free Beacon reported. MoveOn is listed among the “partners” of the Hands Off protests.
Despite the burning Tesla graphic, Indivisible included a disclaimer in its document about a “commitment to nonviolent action.” The group recommended protesting “during business hours when foot traffic is high,” and focusing on “Tesla showrooms, factories, and dealerships.”
“Indivisible was not the central organizer of the Tesla day of action. … Some local groups chose to participate and did so peacefully,” Dohl said to The Federalist.
In the protest guidance document, Indivisible told anti-Tesla demonstrators to register their event with Mobilize America — the same group used to organize Tesla Takedown and Hands Off demonstrations. Dohl called Mobilize a “widely used events platform.”
“Like many other organizations, we use it to share volunteer opportunities and amplify partner events,” Dohl said. “There’s nothing unusual about that — it’s just a tool.”
Plotting May Day Protests
The Hands Off website hosts a link to the May Day National Day of Action. “This is a war on working people — and we will not stand down,” the May Day webpage reads. Itlinks to a “May 1st National Day of Action Host Toolkit,” featuring the popular Marxist iconography of the raised fist. The guide provides demonstrators with things like “sample social media posts,” a “sample email,” and even a “sample message frame” to “[a]lign your message with the broader movement,” even providing specific wording.
The guide tells organizers to register their event with Mobilize America to enable radical activists to “push out your event and help recruit attendees.” The document gives “[f]ull credit to Hands Off and Indivisible for sharing a sample toolkit we are building from.”
Dohl told The Federalist her group “isn’t involved in planning May Day actions directly, and our understanding is that plans are still coming together across the coalition.”
“[W]e expect to see mobilizations happening throughout the spring,” Dohl said.
The left-wing Action Network is also involved, hosting a map of the May Day events and description that declares, “We will not be intimidated by Trump, Musk, or their billionaire backers. … Their time is up. And May Day is just the beginning.” According to InfluenceWatch, Action Network “emerged during the Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011.” It also helped organize the anti-Keystone XL pipeline protests, the anti-gun March for Our Lives, and the anti-Trump Women’s March. Some Tesla Takedown “global day of action” organizers used Action Network to plot anti-Tesla demonstrations on March 29.
According to an online map, the May Day protests are planned for the coming weeks in major cities across the country.
Follow the Money
Indivisible was “founded by two left-wing activists” in 2016 to oppose the Trump agenda, according to InfluenceWatch. The infamous Tides Foundation, a leftist dark money giant that sponsored pro-Hamas protests on college campuses last spring, is a “funding partner” to Indivisible’s 501(c)(3) branch. LinkedIn co-founder and Democrat megadonor Reid Hoffman, who said he wished he had made Trump a “martyr” before last summer’s assassination attempt, has also contributed to Indivisible.
Mobilize America initially began as a Democrat PAC and received thousands from Democrat sources, according to InfluenceWatch. But Federal Election Commission filings listed the PAC as “terminated” in fiscal year 2019-2020. And, as Capital Research Center Investigative Researcher Parker Thayer pointed out, Mobilize’s privacy policy shows the group was listed as part of Bonterra LLC as of February 2023. Bonterra provides various left-wing volunteer and fundraising services.
The Federalist also contacted Hands Off and Mobilize, but they did not comment in time for publication.
Logan Washburn is a staff writer covering election integrity. He is a spring 2025 fellow of The College Fix. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo’s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.
The unhinged left, fueled by Trump Derangement Syndrome and seething hatred for Elon Musk, is trending more violent, according to a new study that finds political violence targeting President Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser is “becoming increasingly normalized.” The report, produced by the Network of Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) in partnership with Rutgers University’s Social Perception Lab, finds a broader “assassination culture” appears to be “emerging within segments of the U.S. public on the extreme left, with expanding targets now including figures such as Donald Trump.”
Less than a year after assassination attempts on then-presidential candidate Trump and the literally explosive violence against Musk’s Tesla electric vehicles, it’s no secret that leftists are ratcheting up violent rhetoric and actions. The more troubling trend is that an “assassination culture” isn’t just coming from the “fringe” left.
“These attitudes are not fringe — they reflect an emergent assassination culture, grounded in far-left authoritarianism and increasingly normalized in digital discourse,” states the report, titled, “Assassination Culture: How Burning Teslas and Killing Billionaires Became a Meme Aesthetic for Political Violence.”
“The reports found widespread justification for lethal violence — including assassination — among younger, highly online, and ideologically left-aligned users,” the authors of the latest study write.
On Friday, a California man reportedly“angry with pharmacies” was arrested on charges of murdering a Walgreens employee just days after the Luigi Mangione Act was filed with the state. ABC 30 reported that Erick Velazquez, the victim, was not a pharmacist, and was a respected husband and father of two.
Source: NCRI data
NCRI accessed the violence zeitgeist with original survey data and open-source intelligence analysis to determine “how normalized and justified violence against the administration has become in public discourse.”
“The findings signal a threat to political stability and public safety,” the reports warns.
Here are some of the troubling numbers, according to the report:
Murder Justification: 31% and 38% of respondents stated it would be at least somewhat justified to murder Elon Musk and President Trump, respectively. (These effects were largely driven by respondents that self-identified as left of center, with 48% and 55% at least somewhat justifying murder for Elon Musk and President Trump, respectively, indicating significantly higher justification for violence against these figures.)
Property Destruction: Nearly 40% of respondents (39.8%) stated it is at least somewhat acceptable (or more) to destroy a Tesla dealership in protest.
Psychological/Ideological Correlations with Assassination Culture: These beliefs are highly correlated with one another, as well as with the justification of the murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO and hyper-partisan left-wing ideology. (This suggests that support for violence is part of a broader assassination culture, underpinned by psychological and ideological factors.)
Interestingly, the report finds liberal social media platform BlueSky “plays a significant and predictive role in amplifying radical ideation.” BlueSky has seen its new user numbers surge since November’s election, according to the leftist publication The Guardian. Curiously, the “great X-odus” has been driven by liberals “seeking to escape Elon Musk’s X amid warnings from anti-hate speech campaign groups and the EU about misinformation and extremism on the platform,” The Guardian asserts.
NCRI also found that users are increasingly tying the “memification” of Mangione with calls for political violence against Trump, Musk and others, “reflecting the growing cyber-social presence of assassination culture.” Mangione supporters have been using a meme of the Luigi character from the Super Mario Brothers video game/movie franchise as a symbol of political violence. Some of the threats echo the “Deny, Defend, Depose” mantra inscribed by Mangione on the shell casing that killed Brian Thompson, according to the report.
Source: NCRI data
‘We Will Gut You’
In February, law enforcement officials charged 28-year-old David Allen June Cherry of southern Indiana with felony intimidation after police say he posted online multiple violent threats against Elon Musk, including that Cherry would “gut” the close adviser to President Donald Trump.
“You’ve broken the law. You’re on the hit list,” Cherry allegedly declared on the Musk-owned social media platform X, to a Musk post, according to an affidavit.“You’re robbing American people. We will gut you and parade your corpse in the streets,” the leftist allegedly menaced Musk a short time later.
Indiana State Police tracked Cherry at his job at Batteries Plus and arrested him, according to news accounts. Detectives reportedly seized an AR-15-style rifle, a handgun, ammunition and a ballistic vest at his Palmyra home, according to Fox7.
Cherry, who reportedly runs an online business selling anti-Musk merchandise — including an “anti-oligarch” patch with what appears to be an image of a raised-arm Musk in cross-hairs — told officials he merely wanted to make his posts “edgy” to spur social media reactions, and that he meant Musk no harm. He was released on $2,500 bond and faces the potential of six years in prison on the felony counts while he continues his hate campaign against the billionaire founder of Tesla and SpaceX. His trial is set for August, according to court records.
Southern Indiana man arrested after allegedly posting threats towards Elon Musk on X https://t.co/URy7n3vnxu
Cherry appears to be celebrating his alleged intimidation game on his Red Pawn Dynamics page.
“Let it be known that Red Pawn scared the richest man on the planet. What a giant p*ussy,” the webpage boasts.
His GoFundMe page has raised $4,500 of a $15,000 goal, supposedly for legal fees and to get his car out of impound. His supporters claim the First Amendment protects Cherry’s speech and that he is being persecuted because “his opinion was about a billionaire.”
‘Too Far Down the Deep End’
Musk reportedly has been the target of a growing number of threats over his leadership role in Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency and his pledge to trim $2 trillion a year from the bloated, wasteful and fraud-plagued federal budget. A Tennessee man reportedly upset with Trump and Musk was arrested on charges of assembling explosives to “burn down” Musk’s artificial intelligence data facility in Memphis. Ethan Paul Early, 25, told police that his friends talked him out of going through with the plan. He said had gotten too wrapped up in politics and had gone “too far down the deep end,” according to the affidavit, KBTX reported.
A recent Fox News analysis found that there have been more than 50 reported targeted attacks on Tesla EVs, dealerships and charging stations in the U.S., and at least 17 internationally.
“The incidents range from minor vandalism, such as keying or graffiti, to more extreme cases like arson and drive-by shootings allegedly targeting Tesla vehicles,” the news outlet reports.
Trump, who was shot and narrowly escaped being assassinated at a Pennsylvania campaign rally in July, is a constant target of threats from members of the unhinged left. On Friday, Jupiter, Florida, police arrested Glen DeCicco on charges of making written threats on his Facebook page a to kill Trump. “The Jupiter Police Department worked in coordination with the United States Secret Service throughout the investigation,” the press release states.
‘Real-World Escalation’
The NCRI report on the growing assassination culture notes support for such political violence on the right, but the prevalence is not nearly as large.
“This report points to disturbingly high levels of support for political violence, particularly targeting President Donald Trump and Elon Musk,” the authors write. “Across survey responses, nearly one-third of respondents—and a significantly higher share of left-leaning respondents—expressed some degree of justification for acts of lethal violence.”
While threats and acts of violence rise on the left, the silence from Democrats in power is deafening. But we’ve seen this movie before. Spoiler Alert: It doesn’t end well for a lot of innocent people. Attorney General Pam Bondi has rightly called the spate of attacks against Tesla “nothing short of domestic terrorism,” because that’s what it is. Just like the myriad acts of domestic terrorism by the left during the Black Lives Matter riots at the end of Trump’s first term.
“For the last five years, the violent left has run rampant with few consequences for the chaos it has sown,” Karol Markowicz recently wrote in the New York Post.
The NCRI report includes a stark warning.
“Unless political and cultural leadership explicitly confronts and condemns this trend, NCRI assesses a growing probability of real-world escalation,” the report concludes. “Given the current economic volatility and institutional distrust, the online normalization of political violence may increasingly translate into offline action.”
Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.
I’ve never keyed a car. Growing up poor teaches you the value of things—you don’t destroy what others worked for, even when furious. Sure, I’ve wanted to. Like when some smug jerk stole the parking spot I’d waited 10 minutes for, engine idling, blinker flashing like a damn lighthouse. But I didn’t. Because adults don’t throw tantrums over petty slights.
Law enforcement have made an arrest of a suspect in last months fire bombing of a Tesla dealership in Las Vegas Vegas
Paul Hyon Kim, 36, was booked into the Clark County Detention Center yesterday on a total of 15 counts, including suspicion of arson, destroying or injure real… pic.twitter.com/cPD24af0Ll
Yet today, Teslas are being keyed, torched, and firebombed by people who’ve never met the owners. These vandals aren’t reacting to personal wrongs—they’re attacking symbols. A Tesla isn’t just a car to them; it’s a stand-in for Elon Musk, “tech bros,” or capitalism itself. This isn’t anger; it’s ideological possession.
The Escalating Insanity
The crimes are getting bolder. Last week, the Department of Justice announced charges against three individuals who attacked Tesla.
In Salem, Oregon, a man armed with an AR-15 hurled eight Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership.
In Loveland, Colorado, a Leftist tried to burn Teslas—police found bomb-making materials in his home.
In Charleston, South Carolina, a man firebombed Tesla chargers, leaving profane anti-Trump notes as his manifesto.
This isn’t random hooliganism. It’s coordinated rage, fueled by a movement that glorifies destruction as “justice.”
The Left’s Hypocrisy on Violence
Democrats shriek about “right-wing extremism” while their own movement literally burns cities and glorifies murderers.
Summer 2020: After George Floyd’s death (a career criminal high on fentanyl), Leftists rioted in over 140 cities, causing $2 billion in damages. CNN called it “fiery but mostly peaceful protest.”
Luigi Mangione (December 2023): This Leftist activist gunned down an insurance executive in broad daylight. Progressive media nuanced the murder, with pundits suggesting the victim “represented healthcare greed.”
Portland Autonomous Zone (2022): Leftist militants seized city blocks, assaulted journalists, and firebombed federal buildings—yet the DOJ prosecuted fewer than 10% of arrestees.
Meanwhile, when conservatives disagree with a company (Target, Bud Light), we boycott. When Leftists lose an argument, they reach for a brick and a gasoline can.
They’re not thinking—they’re believing. Tesla = evil, so destroying it = holy.
This Isn’t Normal Crime—It’s Political Warfare
Random car keying’s? Annoying. Organized firebombings? Domestic terrorism. Biden’s DOJ treated January 6 protesters like Al-Qaeda but yawns as Leftists literally make bombs. The media to this day commits to the lie of J6 but expresses little outrage to the domestic terrorists torching Tesla dealerships.
If this were MAGA fans torching Priuses, CNN would demand martial law. But since it’s their side? Mostly crickets.
And what if it escalates to direct attacks on people driving Teslas?
The Left’s Cult of Destruction
This isn’t about cars. It’s about what happens when ideology replaces morality—when people are trained to see violence as virtuous. The Tesla vandals aren’t rebels. They’re brainwashed foot soldiers in a movement that rewards destruction.
And until the FBI starts treating them like the terrorists they are, it’ll only get worse.
A.F. Branco Cartoon – Elon Musk is under attack for finding waste, fraud, and abuse in our government by Democrats and radical leftists, going so far as to attack Tesla owners and dealerships.
Elon Musk Rips into Democrats as Their Violence Escalates Across the Country: “There’s Some Mental Illness Going on Here Because This Doesn’t Make Any Sense” (VIDEO)
Elon Musk joined Sean Hannity on FOX News last night after his company rescued two astronauts stranded on the space station by Joe Biden for nine months. Only Elon Musk could make this happen. Elon explained to Sean Hannity why he joined with President Trump to clean up Washington DC. READ MORE
A.F. Branco Cartoon – Governor Walz’s rhetoric is designed to bring down Tesla stock because of his hatred for Elon Musk and his connection to DOGE, uncovering waste, fraud, and abuse.
As of Dec. 31, 2024, the Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) had invested in Tesla through both its U.S. Stock Actively Managed Fund and U.S. Stock Index Fund. Gov. Tim Walz appeared to relish the declining stock price of Tesla, Inc. during a recent town hall event—held not in Minnesota, but in another state. Speaking to a Wisconsin audience, Walz referenced Tesla’s stock price in real time. “On the iPhone they’ve got that little stock app. I added Tesla to it to give me a little boost during the day. 225 and dropping!” he said, appearing pleased by the company’s declining market value on that day. READ MORE
A.F. Branco has taken his two greatest passions (art and politics) and translated them into cartoons that have been popular all over the country in various news outlets, including NewsMax, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and “The Washington Post.” He has been recognized by such personalities as Rep. Devin Nunes, Dinesh D’Souza, James Woods, Chris Salcedo, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, Elon Musk, and President Trump.
The left likes to treat skeptics of electrical cars as if they were Luddites. Truth is, making an existing product less efficient but more expensive doesn’t really meet the definition of innovation.
Even the purported amenities and technological advances EV-makers like to brag about in their ads have been a regular feature of gas-powered vehicles going back generations. At best, EVs, if they fulfill their promise, are a lateral technology.
Which is why there is no real “emerging market” for EVs in the United States as much as there’s an industrial policy in place that props up EVs with government purchases, propaganda, endless state subsidies, cronyism, taxpayer-backed loans, and edicts. The green “revolution” is an elite-driven, top-down technocratic project.
And it’s increasingly clear that the only reason giant rent-seeking carmakers are so heavily invested in EV development is that government is promising to artificially limit the production of gas-powered cars.
In March, Joe Biden signed an executive order to “set a target” for half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 to be zero-emission. California claims it is banning combustion engines in all new cars in about 10 years. So carmakers adopt business models to deal with these distorted incentives and contrived theoretical markets of the future.
In today’s real-world economy, though, Ford announced this week that it was firing at least 1,000 employees — many of them white-collar workers on the EV side. Ford projects it’s going to lose $3 billion on electric vehicles in 2023, bringing its EV losses to $5.1 billion over two years. In 2021, Ford reportedly lost $34,000 on every EV it made. This year it was losing more than $58,000 on every EV. In a normal world, Ford would be dramatically scaling back EV production, not expanding it. Remember that next time we need to bail out Detroit.
Then again, we’re already bailing them out, I suppose. Last week, the U.S. Energy Department lent Ford — again, a company that loses tens of thousands of dollars on every EV it sells — another $9.2 billion in taxpayer dollars for a South Korean battery project. One imagines no sane bank would do it. The cost of EV batteries has gone up, not down, over the past few years.
Ford says these up-front losses are part of a “start-up mentality.” We’re still pretending EVs are a new idea rather than an inferior one. But scaremongering about climate and a misplaced romanticizing of “manufacturing” jobs have softened up the public for this kind of waste. In the statist’s utopian vision, highly paid union members will be grabbing their lunchpails and biking over to the local solar panel factory or EV production line and toiling there for the common good.
In the real world, there is Lordstown. In 2019, after GM — which also loses money on every EV sold — shut down a plant in Lordstown, Ohio, then-President Donald Trump made a big deal of publicly pressuring the auto giant to rectify the situation. So CEO Mary Barra lent Lordstown Motors, a new EV outfit, $40 million to retrofit the plant. Ohio also gave the company another $60 million.
You may remember the widespread glowing coverage of Lordstown. After Joe Biden signed his “Buy American” executive order, promising to replace the entire U.S. federal fleet with EVs, Lordstown’s stock shot up. By the start of this year, Lordstown had manufactured 31 vehicles total. Six had been sold to actual consumers. (But to be fair, five would be recalled — following a recall of 19.) The stock was trading at barely a dollar. Tech-funding giant Foxconn was pulling its $170 million. And this week the company filed for bankruptcy.
Without massive state help, EVs are a niche market for rich virtue signalers. And, come to think of it, that’s sort of what they are now, even with the help. A recent University of California at Berkeley study found that 90 percent of tax credits for electric cars go to people in the top income strata. Most EVs are brought by high earners who like the look and feel of a Tesla. And that’s fine. I don’t want to stop anyone from owning the car they prefer. I just don’t want to help pay for it.
Really, why would a middle-class family shun a perfectly good gas-powered car that can be fueled (most of the time) cheaply and driven virtually any distance, in any environment, and any time of the year? We don’t need lithium. We have the most efficient, affordable, portable, and useful form of energy. We have centuries’ worth of it waiting in the ground.
Climate alarmists might believe EVs are necessary to save the planet. That’s fine. Using their standard, however, a bike is an innovation. Because even on their terms, the usefulness of EVs is highly debatable. Most of the energy that powers them is derived from fossil fuels. The manufacturing of an EV has a negligible positive benefit for the environment, if any.
And the fact is that if EVs were more efficient and saved us money, as enviros and politicians claim, consumers wouldn’t have to be compelled into using them and companies wouldn’t have to be bribed into producing them.
Many people believe electric vehicles are higher quality than gas-powered vehicles and are emissions-free, which makes them much better for the environment. But two recent studies have shown that electric cars have more quality issues than gas-powered ones and are not better for the environment.
J.D. Power has produced the annual U.S. Initial Quality Study for 36 years, which measures the quality of new vehicles based on feedback from owners.The most recent study, which included Tesla in its industry calculation for the first time, foundthat battery-electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles have more quality issues than gas-powered ones. According to J.D. Power, owners of electric or hybrid vehicles cite more problems than do owners of gas-powered vehicles. The latter vehicles average 175 problems per 100 vehicles (PP100), hybrids average 239 PP100, and battery-powered cars — excluding Tesla models — average 240 PP100. Tesla models average 226 PP100. Given the average cost of an electric car is roughly $60,000, about $20,000 more than the cost of a gas-powered car, it seems owners of EVs didn’t get the value they deserve.
Some blamed the supply-chain disruptions caused by pandemic-related lockdowns as the main reason for EVs’ quality issues. EV makers have sought alternative (sometimes less optimal) solutions to manufacture new vehicles. But the same supply-chain disruption affected makers of gas-powered vehicles. Yet the three highest-ranking brands, measured by overall initial quality, are all makers of gas-powered vehicles: Buick (139 PP100), Dodge (143 PP100), and Chevrolet (147 PP100).
Some pointed to the design as a main contributing factor to EVs’ quality issues. According to David Amodeo, global director of automotive at J.D. Power, automakers view EVs as “the vehicle that will transform us into the era of the smart cars,” so they have loaded up EVs with technologies such as touch screens, Bluetooth, and voice recognition. EV makers also prefer to use manufacturer-designed apps to “control certain functions of the car, from locking and unlocking the doors remotely to monitoring battery charge.” Increasing technical complexity also increases the likelihood of problems. Not surprisingly, EV owners reported more infotainment and connectivity issues in their vehicles than owners of gas-powered vehicles. Amodeo acknowledged that “there’s a lot of room for improvement” for EVs.
Electric Vehicles Are Worse for the Environment
Besides quality issues, a new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that electric vehicles are worse for the environment than gas-powered ones. By quantifying the externalities (both greenhouse gases and local air pollution) generated by driving these vehicles, the government subsidies on the purchase of EVs, and taxes on electric and/or gasoline miles, researchers found that “electric vehicles generate a negative environmental benefit of about -0.5 cents per mile relative to comparable gasoline vehicles (-1.5 cents per mile for vehicles driven outside metropolitan areas).”
Researchers specifically pointed out that despite being treated by regulators as “zero emission vehicles,” electric cars are not emissions-free. Charging an EV increases electricity demand. Renewal resources supply only 20 percent of the country’s electricity needs. The remaining 80 percent were generated by fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas, despite billions of dollars in green subsidies.
“The comparison between a gasoline vehicle and an electric one is really a comparison between burning gasoline or a mix of coal and natural gas to move the vehicle,”according to The American Economic Review.
Batteries Create Pollution
NBER’s study doesn’t cover all the reasons that EVs are worse for the environment than gas-powered cars. For instance, most of today’s EVs are powered by lithium-ion batteries. Due to heavy government subsidies, China dominates the global production of lithium-ion batteries and their precursor materials, especially graphite. China’s graphite production has notoriously contributed to significant pollution in the country.
Pollution can come “from graphite dust in the air, which is damaging whether inhaled or brought down to the earth in the rain,” a Bloomberg report found. More pollution results from the hydrochloric acid used to process mined graphite into a usable form. Hydrochloric acid is highly corrosive and can cause great environmental damage if leaked into groundwater or streams. China’s Shandong province, which is responsible for 10 percent of global graphite supply, had to suspend some of its production capacity due to environmental damages. But the growing demand in the west for EVs means such suspensions will only be temporary.
A typical electric car needs 110 pounds of graphite, and a hybrid vehicle needs around 22 pounds. Ironically, the U.S. government’s EV subsidies end up subsidizing China’s highly polluted production. So, if you think you are doing your part of saving the planet by driving an EV, think twice. We also know from past experiences that pollution in China ends up harming the rest of the world.
Compelling Americans to switch from gas-powered cars and trucks to electric ones has been crucial to President Joe Biden’s plan to fight climate change. He signed an executive order last year to have electric vehicles make up half of new cars and trucks sold in the U.S. by 2030. These recent studies show that Biden’s plan will result in Americans spending more money on vehicles of inferior quality while having little effect on climate change. More importantly, his plan will enrich the Chinese Community Party at the expense of the environment and U.S. taxpayers.
Helen Raleigh, CFA, is an American entrepreneur, writer, and speaker. She’s a senior contributor at The Federalist. Her writings appear in other national media, including The Wall Street Journal and Fox News. Helen is the author of several books, including “Confucius Never Said” and “Backlash: How Communist China’s Aggression Has Backfired.” Follow her on Parler and Twitter: @HRaleighspeaks.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg suggested that Americans worried about increasing gasoline prices should purchase electric vehicles to save money. Families that own an electric vehicle won’t ever have to worry about gasoline prices, Buttigieg told MSNBC in an interview Sunday. Americans who live in rural and urban areas would benefit most from buying an electric car since they currently spend so much at the pump, he said.
“Most of the physical infrastructure work was contemplated in the bill that was just signed, but there is more envisioned in the Build Back Better law,” the transportation secretary said during the interview. “It contains incentives to make it more affordable to buy an electric vehicle.”
“Up to a $12,500 discount, in effect, for families thinking about getting an EV,” he continued. “Families that once they own that EV will never have to worry about gas prices again.”
The $12,500 “discount” would be a tax credit under the Build Back Better Act, Democrats’ budget reconciliation package making its way through Congress. The credit would only be available for purchases of cars made by domestic union labor.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg looks on as President Joe Biden speaks during a cabinet meeting on Nov. 12. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
However, Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin has opposed the provision, arguing that not all electric vehicles should be eligible for the credit, according to Automotive News. Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla, which isn’t unionized, in addition to foreign car manufacturers have also opposed the provision.
Gasoline prices, which are tied to the price of crude oil, have surged over the last several months, hitting multi-year highs, Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed. Average nationwide gas prices were down slightly to $3.39 per gallon on Monday, according to AAA.
But the average cost of a new electric vehicle was $55,600 in 2019, nearly $20,000 more than the average price of all new cars, Quartz reported. Charging an electric car with a range of 200 miles costs about $9 and typically takes around eight hours.
Moreover, 60% of electricity generated in the U.S. originates from fossil fuel power plants, according to the EIA. Wind and solar account for 10% of the electricity produced nationwide.
President Joe Biden has stated that his administration will work to make the electric grid completely carbon-free by 2035.
American Family Association
American Family Association (AFA), a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in 1977 by Donald E. Wildmon, who was the pastor of First United Methodist Church in Southaven, Mississippi, at the time. Since 1977, AFA has been on the frontlines of Ame
NEWSMAX
News, Opinion, Interviews, Research and discussion
Opinion
American Family Association
American Family Association (AFA), a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in 1977 by Donald E. Wildmon, who was the pastor of First United Methodist Church in Southaven, Mississippi, at the time. Since 1977, AFA has been on the frontlines of Ame
American Family Association
American Family Association (AFA), a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in 1977 by Donald E. Wildmon, who was the pastor of First United Methodist Church in Southaven, Mississippi, at the time. Since 1977, AFA has been on the frontlines of Ame
You Version
Bible Translations, Devotional Tools and Plans, BLOG, free mobile application; notes and more
Political
American Family Association
American Family Association (AFA), a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in 1977 by Donald E. Wildmon, who was the pastor of First United Methodist Church in Southaven, Mississippi, at the time. Since 1977, AFA has been on the frontlines of Ame
NEWSMAX
News, Opinion, Interviews, Research and discussion
Spiritual
American Family Association
American Family Association (AFA), a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in 1977 by Donald E. Wildmon, who was the pastor of First United Methodist Church in Southaven, Mississippi, at the time. Since 1977, AFA has been on the frontlines of Ame
Bible Gateway
The Bible Gateway is a tool for reading and researching scripture online — all in the language or translation of your choice! It provides advanced searching capabilities, which allow readers to find and compare particular passages in scripture based on
What Did You Say? 
You must be logged in to post a comment.