Follow this authorGeorge F. Will's opinions

Vehicle manufacturers, which are losing serious money on every EV they build, are compensating by raising prices on the ICVs that customers actually want. Manufacturers begging government for ever-more multibillion-dollar subsidies resemble 9-year-old Oliver Twist holding out his gruel bowl: “Please, sir, I want some more.” Vehicle manufacturers, having become government appendages, also want government to provide more charging stations to combat potential customers’ “range anxiety.” What could go wrong?

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In 1920, there were only 9.2 million U.S. passenger cars and commercial vehicles; by 1930, that number had nearly tripled. And there were more than 121,000 filling stations provided by the private sector. A miracle, like the multiplication of the loaves and fishes? No, just the market working. In the two years since Congress allocated $7.5 billion for government-built charging stations, seven have been built.

This glacial pace is partly because government regulations about implementing government regulations cause government to congeal. “Equity” considerations (charging-station money is skewed toward “marginalized” communities) and vote-buying (electricians unions are favored) converge.

Businesses relying on electric pickup trucks find that time (which is money) is squandered on charging. When the trucks are used as, well, trucks — loaded, and towing things — batteries sag even faster.

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Winter is unkind to EVs: Cold slows the batteries’ chemical reactions. Some drivers who joined lines at charging stations with (supposedly) ample miles of remaining battery capacity had to be pushed, after long waits (high-speed chargers are slow — 30 to 60 minutes — compared with five-minute gas fill-ups), to the chargers. Hot weather, too,........

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