The electric vehicle revolution cannot be stopped. It won’t be stopped by car companies, it won’t be stopped by consumers, and it certainly won’t be stopped by the president. The EV revolution is happening. The only thing left to decide is whether America wants to lead it or be left behind.

If an all-out push to phase out electric vehicles had materialized 10, five, or even two years ago, it might have succeeded. The electric vehicle market was new and underdeveloped. Few companies on any continent were doing much to get excited. But in the last two years, the market has been flooded the relatively affordable, long-range, fast-charging electric vehicles that buyers like. Consumers around the globe are interested and comfortable with electric vehicles as an option.

Most say they won’t go back to gas. And if there’s one thing to take away from public policy, it’s that inertia is hard to overcome. Electric vehicles make up 22% of the California auto marketelectrified vehicles are half of the Chinese market and Europe is moving forward. The federal government can do nothing to stop it.

Ford CEO Jim Farley has been driving a Chinese-made Xiaomi SU7 EV for months and says it’s incredible.

I’m writing this because I don’t want anyone who believes in this to lose hope. It’s true that America’s next president is a vocal critic of electric vehicles. He really wants to reduce incentives, delete a (non-existent) “mandate” and “driving, dear, drill”. However, his countless failed attempts to push the Affordable Care Act repeal through Congress last time are instructive examples: it’s very hard for presidents to get away with things that voters like.

Not all voters like electric vehicles. But voters like America’s status at the forefront of automotive and industrial technology. Voters like good paying jobs in disadvantaged communities. And voters, when they drive one, tend to like electric cars, too. They don’t want a “mandate,” sure, but EVs don’t need a mandate. They will win because they are a better solution.

The current crop certainly has its problems. Many models on the road are the first mass-market long-range electric vehicles ever produced by their parent companies. Teething problems are to be expected. But Tesla, a company not exactly known for quality control, managed to do it cars that consistently go up to 200,000 or even 300,000 miles without significant work. That’s not because Tesla is the leader in quality, but because the initial promise of electric vehicles is true. They are much simpler to build than internal combustion cars, with fewer moving parts, fewer parts that require ultra-precision manufacturing, and much less maintenance required. Figure out your battery chemistry and production, sort out your motors and the rest is easy money. In the future, you will tire of your car long before it needs expensive repairs.

Of course, many modern electric vehicles also cost more than their internal combustion counterparts. But that’s changing fast. With tax credits, a The base Chevy Equinox EV already costs the same as a base Toyota RAV4. But it drives better, looks better, has better software, goes 319 miles on a charge and costs half as much to fuel. Remind me again why it’s political. What, because of these incentives?

Photo by: Chevrolet

Legacy automakers have poured billions into their electric vehicle efforts, and those investments are just beginning to pay off. The first wave of desirable affordable, long-range EVs is just getting started.

I hate to break it to you, but the gas car market wouldn’t have been possible without incentives either. American taxpayers built the roads. Government Expenditures in World War II helped build the great automotive giants we know today. The US has spent the last 100 years pulling every lever in its geopolitical control center to keep oil prices lowwhile subsidizing drilling and not charging users the full environmental cost of what they are doing. In addition, today’s cars are all connected to the Internet—impossible without government support from the start— and the biggest gas truck makers all took billions in federal money to survive the crash of 2008. They had gotten so used to making bloated, thirsty, excessively large vehicles that they couldn’t survive a market shift to efficiency. Any automaker looking to abandon its electric vehicle plans has only that example to follow.

Even foreign car factories that build gasoline cars get billions in handouts from state governments, which are eager to get jobs in politically important fields. The point is, if you want a car built without the explicit help of the US government or the meddling of politics, you’ll have to build it yourself. Just make sure you don’t order any of the parts online because the internet also relied on government incentives to get started.

While electric vehicles from US automakers are great, China’s BYD is on track to overtake Tesla as the world’s largest electric vehicle maker. The company builds electric vehicles at a price that American companies can’t match.

As the Internet example shows, the US has long invested public funds to lead tomorrow’s technology market. It is that alignment of public and private spending that has helped the US outperform all of its Western peers over the past five decades in terms of jobs, technology, GDP growth, wage growth and value creation. China has now taken that playbook and applied it to electric vehicles, and the result is a market where electric vehicles are cheap, plentiful, and already ahead of the West. Imagine if the US lost the competition for tomorrow because we didn’t want to spend the money today, and perhaps for the first time, failed to be a leader in a new form of technology. Starting today, every taxpayer and politician will have to ask themselves if this is the America they want to live in.

But I’m not really worried about that. Because there are really only two things a technology needs to succeed in a largely capitalist world. The first is the investment. And on this front, electric vehicles are safe. Some automakers may cut back on expenses, but I’d bet my paycheck won’t drop entirely. GM says it will continue regardless, and that’s the smart move. Because whatever happens in the US, Europe is going electric. So is China. So is much of the Global South. So is Japan, albeit slowly. South Korea shows no signs of slowing down. Many companies from those countries have already invested here, taking advantage of the credits and loans provided by the Inflation Relief Act. Trump may want to repeal them, but this issue of the Affordable Care Act is coming up again.

By being early and bold in the long-range electric vehicle market, Kia and Hyundai are taking advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime shift in the auto industry. It pays off for their businesses, and American companies know it.

Sure, maybe a politician wants to repeal “Obamacare,” but would any voter accept giving up protections for pre-existing conditions? Sure, you want to end the EV “mandate,” but do you want to tell the 8,500 workers in Georgia that they are out of a job? That they’ll have to find another high-paying job in rural Georgia, a swing state? You wouldn’t want to close the Honda plant in Ohio or the Ford plant in Michigan, would you?

This brings us to criterion number two for technological success: Value creation. Whether through public or private mechanisms, Americans have proven that we will always invest in technologies that create value. That’s why we’re leaders in aerospace, pharmaceuticals, computer chips, finance, AI, everything a billion-dollar company can create. Love it or hate it, creating shareholder value is what America was built to do.

The 2024 Chevy Blazer EV lease payment is less than a Honda Civic. For that, I get an ultra-quiet, ultra-smooth all-wheel-drive crossover with a great interior, all the tech I could ever want, and 279 miles of range. It’s cheaper to run than a Prius and faster than any comparable gas crossover on the market.

The value in the EV market is obvious. The world’s most valuable carmaker pioneered electric vehicles. The next 10 on the list have all electric vehicles for sale and others in development. More customers than ever say they are interested in EVs, and most who buy EVs don’t return. The value is that the experience is better. I say this to my own surprise as a lifelong fan of petrol cars. Electric vehicles are quieter, more refined, offer better software and safety technology than most internal combustion cars. They are cheaper to operate and, if you have charging at home or at work, much easier to use. It is almost maintenance free. It doesn’t make noise. It doesn’t spew toxins at pedestrians, in the garage, or into the air. They are also faster and much easier to drive.

People like them. Get someone over their initial hesitation, give them a little education and it will be their favorite car they’ve ever owned. This does not mean that the problems with them are solved; Prices are still too high, the formula doesn’t really make sense for trucks with current battery chemistry, and charging for those without an outlet at home or work is a real barrier.

But these are obstacles to overcome. The market will overtake whoever is in charge. Because the EV revolution is happening. Any smart American company will not be left behind.

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