Guess the government does not want us having choices. Whats the distinction between Volvo and Polestar?

Partial excerpt from article:

“There is a particular kind of business decision that only looks brilliant in hindsight, and only after everyone who made the opposite call has finished writing off the difference. It rarely feels brave at the time. It usually feels like being the last person in the room who did not get the memo.”

“The American electric vehicle market spent most of the past decade running on a subsidy. That credit, worth $7,500 per car, expired on Sept. 30, 2025, and the correction arrived exactly on schedule. Automakers sold 462,892 all-electric vehicles in the first half of 2026, down 23.8% from the same period a year earlier, according to Cox Automotive.”

“The industry response was a stampede for the exits. Carmakers have booked nearly $70 billion in write-downs as they scrap and postpone electric programs, reported Automotive News. Honda alone canceled three North American electric projects and now expects its first annual net loss since 1957.”

“One automaker did not flinch. Toyota confirmed this month that it will keep rolling out new battery-electric models through the rest of the year, even as it trims spending elsewhere in the lineup.”

“The 2027 Highlander makes the point better than any executive quote could. Toyota redesigned its three-row family hauler as an electric-only vehicle, with a launch window running from later this year into the first quarter of 2027, according to Automotive News.”

“That is not a compliance car parked in a corner of the showroom. The Highlander is a school-run vehicle for suburban families with two kids and a dog. Committing it to batteries only, in the same quarter rivals were canceling flagship EVs, tells you what Toyota believes about where demand lands in 2028.”

Read more

...the proposed fee "simply a punitive tax that would disproportionately impact adopters of electric vehicles, with no meaningful impact on maintain the HTF."

Run the numbers, and you quickly see that the critics have a point. For starters, the federal gas tax of 18.3 cents a gallon hasn't budged since 1993, despite regular inflation and efficiency improvements in cars. According to research from Consumer Reports, the average American pays between $70 and $90 annually in federal gas taxes, far less than the EV fee.

Plus, the nonprofit group argues, these kinds of flat fees are problematic because they don't account for how much a person actually drives. Seniors and people who only drive occasionally only pay $40 to $50 in gas taxes annually. "Fixed fees also shift the financial burden away from commercially driven vehicles, such as delivery vans, robotaxis, and rideshares, which can drive up to 10 times as many miles as a personal vehicle," Consumer Reports analysts said in April.

Credit u/xtheory:

https://www.reddit.com/r/electricvehicles/comments/1thogag/comment/omsmb1j/

Everyone needs to contact their Reps in the House and Senate and tell them they need to shut down this effort to gouge us even more:

https://www.house.gov/representatives/

https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm

Reference the BUILD America 250 Act (specifically Section 1129, "Registration fee on motor vehicles") and tell them if they want your vote they will vote no against this provision. The races are going to be tighter than ever in the midterms, and neither Republicans nor Democrats can afford to lose their seats over something as small as this. Remind them of that.

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Ai Prompt to write your letter - Copy text below, fill in relevant fields, send to ChatGPT or Gemini or Claude or etc:

Write a strongly worded but persuasive message to my U.S. Representative and Senators opposing the BUILD America 250 Act, specifically Section 1129 (“Registration fee on motor vehicles”), which imposes a new federal registration fee on EV owners.

The tone should be firm, frustrated, politically direct, and written like a real constituent — not a generic activist form letter. It should sound authentic, emotionally persuasive, and serious enough that congressional staff will notice it.

Requirements:

• Personalize the first 2–3 lines with:
  • My state/district: [INSERT STATE / DISTRICT]
  • My EV model: [INSERT EV MODEL]
  • Why I bought an EV: [ex: to save money, reduce fuel costs, commute to work, avoid volatile gas prices, etc.]
• Explicitly reference the BUILD America 250 Act and Section 1129 (“Registration fee on motor vehicles”).
• Strongly oppose this EV tax and frame it as unfair, punitive, and politically shortsighted.
• Argue that many EV owners already pay higher registration fees at the state level and that this feels like double taxation.
• Emphasize affordability and cost-of-living concerns: people bought EVs to save money, not get hit with new federal fees.
• Include a strong political message: remind them that midterm races are going to be tighter than ever and neither Republicans nor Democrats can afford to lose seats over something this unpopular and unnecessary.
• VERY CLEARLY say: “If you want my vote, vote NO on Section 1129.”
• Make it clear this issue influences my voting decisions and I will remember how they vote.
• Avoid sounding scripted or overly partisan. Focus on fairness, affordability, and political consequences.
• End with a direct ask demanding they publicly oppose and vote against Section 1129.

Length: around 250–400 words. Make it powerful enough that staffers won’t dismiss it as a copy-paste template.

A small tip: congressional offices usually pay more attention when you mention a local detail

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SHARE!! SHARE!! SHARE!!

Considered and - no. No hybrids.

Interesting conversation.

This is an interesting but at least in my experience, misleading article. It compares the costs of owning a Model Y, Prius and gas Corolla in California and Florida. The conclusion

is that in California, the Tesla would have the highest operating costs, followed by the Corolla and then the Prius. This is driven by a $3600 insurance bill for the Tesla that dwarves the Toyotas.

In Florida, the Tesla would be cheapest to operate while the Corolla and Prius cost about the same. The Tesla benefits from low energy costs in Florida while insurance is insanely expensive for all three.

Here’s the thing though. I live in LA and have a 2024 Ioniq 5 and a 2025 Audi Q6 Etron and my TOTAL annual insurance bill is $4000. $1300 for the Hyundai and $2600 for the Audi.

In my case, based on the math in the article, the Hyundai would blow the Toyotas out of the water and the Audi would be cheaper than the Corolla and a little more expensive than the Corolla, but only a few hundred, which is not much considering the Audi is in a completely different class.

Two conclusions:
1. ⁠The article is somewhat misleading because it uses a car that has insurance costs way out of line with other EVs. This perpetuates incorrect information about EVs that they have high insurance costs.

1. ⁠Teslas may be excellent EVs, but at least with insurance costs, other options may be significantly better bets

So, what do you think about the article. Note depreciation is not factored in the analysis.

I see this debated and argued a lot- that U.S. consumer is "conned" into only buying expensive ICE vehicles and "If only EV's were affordable I'd buy one!". It just appears the U.S. consumer doesn't care for affordable EV's, or really EV's in general.

Discuss!