(Headline USA) Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg claimed that Americans reluctant to purchase electric vehicles are like people who didn’t want to adopt cell phones in the 2000s.
Asked about the slowing sales of electric vehicles despite the Biden administration’s efforts to boost demand with subsidies, Buttigieg insisted Americans need to get with the times.
“Let’s be clear, the automotive sector is moving toward EVs and we can’t pretend otherwise. Sometimes, when these debates happen, I feel like it’s the early 2000s and I’m talking to some people who think that we can just have landline phones forever,” he told Fox News.
Pete Buttigieg dismissed critics of electric vehicles, comparing them to those in the 2000s who believed landlines would last indefinitely.
Cell phones made communicating more convenient.
Electric vehicles don't make traveling more convenient. pic.twitter.com/eXacSkxxdo
— Daniel Turner (@DanielTurnerPTF) April 3, 2024
He went on to claim that the U.S. will lose a competitive edge against China if it doesn’t embrace this forced transition.
“The reality is that the automotive sector is moving towards EVs, and the U.S. can either fall behind China or we can claim the lead. President Biden wants to make sure that those EVs are made in America, especially again as more Americans choose EVs every single year than the year before,” he said.
Buttigieg also pushed back on the idea that consumers are not ready to part with gasoline vehicles, pointing to how there is a low number of consumers who choose to go back to their gas-powered vehicle after making the switch to an EV.
The Biden official’s comments came the same day that Tesla suffered a dip in its quarterly sales – the first time for the electric automaker in its sales history. In response, Buttigieg argued that part of this dip stems from a growing number of competitors that Tesla now faces in the electric vehicle market, including Stellantis and General Motors.
Former President Donald Trump has ratcheted up his attacks on the Biden administration’s EV push, arguing it will destroy the U.S. auto industry.
“The electric vehicle one is one of the dumbest I’ve ever heard,” Trump said at a rally in Michigan this week. “I want you to use gasoline a lot, because we have more gasoline than any other country anywhere in the world.”
