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Pete Buttigieg, the EV Industry's Man in Washington

A short while ago, we showed you how the beef between EV mogul Elon Musk and card-carrying petrolhead Jeremy Clarkson may have played a role in electric vehicles gaining international attention for the first time. But let's be honest, to put any kind of public EV policy into action, you need a man or woman in a suit.
Pete Buttigieg 6 photos
Photo: NPR (Backround) Ford,Tesla,Rivian, GM (Foreground)
Buttigieg's EV PlanButtigieg's EV PlanButtigieg's EV PlanButtigieg's EV PlanButtigieg's EV Plan
Say hello to Pete Buttigieg, also well known by his nickname "Mayor Pete," gained during his meteoric rise to fame as the openly gay Mayor of South Bend, Indiana. For the non-Americans reading, Buttigieg is one of only a handful of openly LGBTQ men or women to have been elected to high public office in America. He currently serves as the U.S. Secretary of Transportation under president Joe Biden.

But if you think being one of the very few openly gay politicians is the only thing of any note in regards to Mayor Pete, you're mistaking. Because he's about to attempt to make one heck of an impact on the American auto industry. A lot sooner than you think, too.

What Buttigieg is trying to accomplish with electric cars is what gasoline automobiles did to the horse-drawn carriage. That being, save them from their life of drudgery while BEVs and Fuel-Cell EVs take over the bulk of the heavy lifting. Thus helping to remediate the environment all the while, at least after it leaves the factory.

Some, including the New York Post, have called Mayor Pete's push towards EVs in America "tone-deaf," but is this really the case? Let's take a look at some of the specifics of Mayor Pete's Electric Vehicle initiative to find out the facts for ourselves.

Buttigieg's EV Plan
Photo: Google Creative Commons (Fair Use)
In all honesty, you could find out just about anything you wanted to know about any of Mayor Pete's official positions on certain topics by referring to his official government-run website and its many press releases. But let's sift through the nitty-gritty politician babble to understand the nuts and bolts of Buttigieg's ideas because politicians almost always talk in riddles, it seems.

As you all no doubt know, the month of February 2022 was a landmark month in the history of EV manufacturing. Not the least bit because Mayor Pete and his Secretary of Transportation staff announced that it would disperse $5 billion in federal funds to expand American EV manufacturing, charging, and maintenance infrastructure over the next five years. That all sounds great, but one has to think there has to be more to it than that.

And you'd be right. As it turns out, the logistics networks needed to keep EVs moving from factory to consumer and beyond are just as complex as gas or diesel cars. If not more so, in a handful of instances, especially in battery mineral refinement. But at least from a charging perspective, Mayor Pete appears to be opting for a more holistic approach in his rhetoric. One in which the virtues of public and at-home EV charging are as accessible as filling up with diesel or gas is to most Americans, even today.

A robust and dependable EV charging network nationwide would be beneficial in ways that genuinely speak for themselves. Not the least because EV charging stations have historically only been the domain of individual U.S. city governments. Essentially, groups of city legislators in places like Los Angeles and New York make executive decisions to sway people over to electric vehicles in their jurisdiction.

Buttigieg's EV Plan
Photo: Google Creative Commons (Fair Use)
That is, of course, unless you're Tesla, their privately funded Supercharging network is the current gold standard for American EV infrastructure. The trouble is, only Tesla cars, at least until recently, could use them. At least officially, that is. Under Mayor Pete's plan, at least according to the rhetoric in his USDOT press releases, this system, or an equivalent, would be available and open to all American EV drivers. This allows for charging times to be as efficient and expedient as manufacturers and engineers can design. All regulated under the same DOT standards present in the regulation of petrochemical-based fuel.

There's a reason all the gasoline that comes out of the pump in the United States contains all the same detergents and other compounds. Under Mayor Pete's plan, he aims to bring the same level of consistency to the EV sphere. Something that absolutely must be done for EVs is to ever truly replace internal combustion. Mayor Pete plans to use funds from President Joe Biden's infrastructure bill to make it happen.

Furthermore, Pete Buttigieg was a strong proponent of the government-mandated tax incentive for individuals purchasing new EVs on American soil. Such legislation would allow quality battery EVs to finally fall into the buying capability of more working-class Americans, perhaps the biggest hurdle between us and a fully EV automotive ecosystem.

This incentive was a piece of legislation wrapped inside billions of dollars of other government programs that were cut out of President Biden's infrastructure bill after Democratic Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin refused to sign off on their implementation. Even so, Mayor Pete appears adamant that an eco-friendly, pollution-free American public road system is indeed possible. But also cost-saving, to boot.

Buttigieg's EV Plan
Photo: Google Creative Commons (Fair Use)


"Clean transportation can bring significant cost savings for the American people as well,"
Buttigieg told White House Press on March 7th, 2022. If Mayor Pete is true, it means the EV revolution really is about to begin in earnest very soon. It also helps that gas is $5.50 in some places. That'll be incentive enough if you ask us. Whether or not Mayor Pete's grand plan succeeds or not remains to be seen.
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