It might seem like there’s never been a better time to buy an electric vehicle.
If you go by the headlines, you might be forgiven for thinking you can afford to upgrade your old gas-guzzling sedan with a sleek new zero-emissions EV. And if you can’t, government rebates will knock thousands off the price tag, right?
Well, not necessarily.
To qualify for the ever-changing and complicated federal $7,500 rebate on EVs, you have to be rich enough to afford a new EV. (Some used models qualify, but good luck figuring out which ones—and better luck finding one that’s available).
Forget TikTok—it’s Chinese-made EVs that keep U.S. auto CEOs up at night.
But to qualify for the rebate, you can’t be too rich. If you’re middle-income like me, you can lease an EV, but then you don’t qualify for the rebate—your leasing company does.
EV prices have come down in recent years. But they’re still unaffordable for the majority of Americans, especially those who want to reduce their carbon footprint as well as their expenses. “Pricing is still very much the biggest barrier to electric vehicles,” according to one analyst.
Too bad consumers don’t have access to China’s new EV, the BYD Seagull, a car that test drivers in the U.S. are gushing over—and whose price tag begins at a mere $9,698. “That undercuts the average price of an American EV by more than $50,000,” reports Bloomberg.
In fact, more than 70% of all EVs sold globally are Chinese manufactured. You don’t have to live in China to buy one. You just have to live outside the United States, which is waging a fierce trade war with China.
Forget TikTok—it’s Chinese-made EVs that keep U.S. auto CEOs up at night.
To protect them, the Biden administration is fanning the flames of anti-China sentiment. “China is determined to dominate the future of the auto market, including by using unfair practices,” said President Joe Biden in late February. “China’s policies could flood........