Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was ripped by critics Monday after he argued that more Americans should purchase electric vehicles so that they “never have to worry about gas prices again.”
The former South Bend, Ind., mayor claimed on MSNBC’s “Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart” that families who own electric vehicles would see a “$12,500 discount” in transportation costs.
“The people who stand to benefit most from owning an EV [electric vehicle] are often rural residents who have the most distances to drive, who burn the most gas, and underserved urban residents in areas where there are higher gas prices and lower income,” Buttigieg said.
“They would gain the most by having that vehicle,” he added. “These are the very residents who have not always been connected to electric vehicles that are viewed as kind of a luxury item.”
According to Kelly Blue Book, the average price of a new electric vehicle as of October of this year was $55,676. By contrast, the average price of a new compact car was $25,240 — less than half that amount. The average price of a new compact SUV was $34,122, while the electric vehicle price was even higher than that of the average new sports car ($44,981).
Conservatives on Twitter mocked Buttigieg’s argument that buying an electric vehicle would be a money-saver for Americans.
“Everyone can probably afford electric cars in the world that Pete Buttigieg lives in,” tweeted Trump White House communications official Mercedes Schlapp. “Average Americans struggling with record high gas prices? Not so much.”
Reuters/Yves Herman/File Photo
(AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File
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