OUR VIEWS Using families to prop up far-fetched dreams
UNDER President Barack Obama’s new fuel standards, working families in Oklahoma could soon be forced to indirectly pay a portion of the tab for the trendy car purchases of movie stars.
Obama’s standards call for the U.S. vehicle fleet to average 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. Under the rules, however, companies making alternative-fuel cars can obtain credits and sell them to traditional carmakers that fail to meet the unrealistic standards.
The Wall Street Journal notes, “That could be a boon to electric carmakers such as Tesla Motors Inc.”
In plain English, people who buy traditional vehicles will be subsidizing cars sold by Tesla and similar companies. After all, the money used to buy credits will come from the wallets of those purchasing gas-fueled cars.
Tesla electric vehicles start out at a sticker price of $57,000 on the low end (using that term loosely), but can run well over $100,000. A Tesla is the kind of thing you’ll see in multimillionaire actor George Clooney’s garage. In fact, Clooney recently placed his 2008 Tesla Roadster up for auction. It was expected to sell for $125,000.
According to the Census, Oklahoma’s median household income was $42,979 in 2011. That means it would take two to three years for a majority of Oklahoma households to save enough money to purchase a Tesla car — and only if they did without food, clothes, or housing in the meantime.
Even if price was not an issue, it is unlikely most Oklahomans would want a Tesla. The company’s $57,000 model can travel only 160 miles before it requires recharging, which is not a fast process. Using a 240-volt home charging station, Tesla officials say the company’s Model S takes about five hours to recharge.
If you left Oklahoma City driving a Tesla south on Interstate 35, you would not reach Dallas before having to make a five-hour pit stop to refuel.
Not surprisingly, Tesla has operated in the red. The company was founded in 2003; its CEO recently predicted 2013 would be the company’s first profitable year.
In comparison, the two best-selling vehicles in America in 2011 were the Ford F-150 and the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, according to Edmunds.com. Those are vehicles that could be hard-hit by Obama’s new fuel standards. To meet the mileage standards, those trucks will likely have to become lighter, less powerful, less safe, and more expensive.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates the fuel standards will add an average of $2,937 (in 2010 dollars) to the price of a vehicle, while a report by the National Automobile Dealers Association shows the jump could be as much as $12,349 per vehicle under a worst-case scenario.
This scheme springs from the same mindset that led the Obama administration to dump taxpayer money into Solyndra, the now-bankrupt solar panel maker, while bashing viable oil-and-gas production. When citizens won’t directly purchase Obama-favored products, he forces them to pay for them anyway.
An affordable electric car that doesn’t require chessmaster strategy sessions to overcome logistical challenges on road trips would find a receptive market in this country. But that market will never develop so long as Obama forces working families to prop up companies that don’t cater to real-world consumer needs.