Coming around
Our governor finally figures out expressed public sentiment.
I opened the post where I previously used this photo with the following statement:
Recently my home state of Delaware followed the lead of several other benighted states and decided that the purchase of electric cars should be encouraged in the name of fighting climate change, this despite the fact that over 90% of the public comment was negative about the idea. However, this is simply an outgrowth of a decision made legislatively a few years ago, when they decided to follow California emission standards. The issue should have become moot when a Delaware General Assembly revamped into sanity and governor who listens to the people and not manufactured hype repealed that law, but it didn’t.
That was back in December, 2023, just after regulators in our state wrote rules that required us to sell an increasing percentage of EVs beginning in 2027. As you may have guessed, there’s practically no way we’ll meet that mandate so Governor Matt Meyer is scrapping the idea. According to WHYY, Meyer stated, “I’m not a strong believer in government mandates on consumers. The mechanism we take has yet to be determined, but I’m assuring Delawareans that the electric vehicle mandate will not go into effect.”
Now that may come as a surprise to legislative Democrats, who recently shelved a bill that would have repealed the mandate via legislation. This is despite the fact that EV sales are now up to 12% of the market, albeit goosed along by generous state rebates (on top of federal paybacks) as well as regulations demanding charging equipment in new residential units. Of course, all that comes with a toll as Delaware is considering the adoption of an EV fee of perhaps $200 a year to replace money it’s losing from the gas tax as people switch.
Yet the blame isn’t being placed on the regulation, but on external factors. A recent confab sponsored by the Spotlight Delaware organization revealed the following:
On Wednesday, state Sen. Stephanie Hansen (D-Middletown) and Greg Patterson, Delaware’s top environmental regulator, discussed their concerns with meeting the mandate during a panel discussion at Spotlight Delaware’s Shifting Sands Environmental Sustainability Summit in Dewey Beach.
Patterson, secretary of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, said the landscape for buying electric cars has changed since the mandate was formalized in late 2023. It was established with the understanding that there would be federal support through rebates and infrastructure subsidies to build out a comprehensive charging network, he said.
“All that is now in question,” he said, referencing President Donald Trump’s past pronouncements that he wants to undo Biden-era subsidies for the electric vehicle industry.
The pair went on to also blame the tariffs being imposed by the Trump administration while reporter Julia Merola also blamed surging electrical rates in the state - rates which inspired a slew of legislative fixes during this year’s General Assembly session.
On the other hand, legislative Republicans explained the car dealers’ perspective:
The ZEV mandate poses a looming threat to the financial viability of Delaware’s car dealers, as well as what Delawareans will be able to purchase on dealers’ lots, and how much they’ll pay.
New car dealers do not typically own their inventories. They belong to a finance company. The dealer borrows money through a mechanism called "floor plan financing" to keep the inventory on their lots, paying interest on the loans. The longer a car sits on the lot, the more money the dealers pay and the more it undercuts their potential profit.
A statement published this week by the National Automotive Dealers Association criticized California’s Advanced Clean Cars II rule, to which the ZEV sales mandate in Delaware and other states is linked. “No legacy automaker, in California or any of the eleven states that have adopted California’s ZEV mandate, is on track to meet this mandate for Model Year 2026 or 2027. California’s ZEV mandate will soon start distorting the vehicle market. To comply with the mandate, auto-makers will need to either sell more ZEVs or sell fewer gas cars in these states…For context, EV sales are currently 7.5% of sales nationally.”
You know, I’m thinking these and many other points were made by the 94% of comments that came out against the mandates in the first place. Just because you’re a bureaucrat, it doesn’t mean you know what’s best - oftentimes you “solve” a problem by creating three more, ensuring your job security.
It’s not likely I would consider buying a plug-in truck, because I need a little bit of range (18 mile commute each way to work) and don’t want to invest thousands into upgrading my electrical system to accommodate a home charger. My ICE-powered truck does just fine, and I only need to go to the gas station about every 10 days or so. No one handed me $10,000 to buy my ICE truck like they would have if I bought an EV truck that would have cost me up to triple what I paid for my barebones Tacoma. I don’t need a truck payment the size of my mortgage payment.
As for Meyer following through, a “wait and see” approach would be prudent. It would be better if he demands his party take care of this through legislation so the problem doesn’t come back.
In the meantime, though, you can Buy Me a Coffee, since I have a page there now.
Let's start with the watermelon sized balls that these "public servants" think that THEY HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO TELL YOU WHAT YOU CAN AND CANNOT BUY!
Private companies would be prosecuted into oblivion for conspiring to control markets. I have noticed forever how Constitutionally uneducated the average American is to allow this. Jefferson said give the people the information and they will do the right thing.
The chickens are out to roost thanks the Michael!