Based Underground is now a conservative news aggregator AND curated newsletter.
Donald Trump has promised that during his second term he will rein in the tyrannical electric vehicle mandates that have put U.S. automakers in precarious situations the past four years. But some are suggesting that as bad as the mandates are, revoking them could make things worse.
In essence, they’re suggesting that the damage is done, the investments are made, so they need to somehow generate a return on those investments before Trump pulls the plug on the mandates.
A report by Brady Knox over at Washington Examiner, commenting on a NY Times article, suggests car companies may ask President Trump to keep Joe Biden’s rules in place for now:
According to a report from the New York Times, the Biden administration’s actions to boost domestic EV manufacturing may have already set the auto industry past the point of no return. Following Biden’s initiatives, automakers have already invested billions of dollars in transitioning to electric vehicles. If Trump were to scrap the initiative, major automakers fear they could be undercut by smaller manufacturers producing cheaper, internal combustion engine cars.
Three of the country’s largest automakers, Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, are already lobbying Trump against scrapping the rules.
Some had hoped that one of the biggest proponents of electric cars, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, would be able to sway Trump to keep those rules in place, but now, his priorities seem to be cutting regulations. He expressed opposition to the $7,500 tax credit for buyers of electric cars, saying he opposes all subsidies.
“In my view, we should end all government subsidies, including those for E.V.’s, oil and gas,” Musk said last week.
Musk’s calculation was more cynical in a July earnings call, speculating that the end of the subsidy would hurt Tesla somewhat, but hurt its competitors much more.
Is it worth keeping the mandates so the big three U.S. automakers can prevent smaller competitors from eating their lunch?
Nope, Not Worth It
As horrible as the situation is for major U.S. automakers, keeping the mandates in place would be far worse. Americans need relief far more than automakers right now. Getting the price of vehicles down to a manageable level is crucial if America is going to have any chance of recovering from the financial decimation we’ve felt for the last four years.
But there’s actually a good business reason for pulling the mandates immediately. The Biden-Harris regime forced automakers to try to usher in a future that was too far off, but that doesn’t mean OPTIONAL electric vehicle adoption isn’t part of the future.
The damage has been done by the mandates, but there have also been significant investments into research and development that can flourish if they’re allowed to transition without government interference. In other words, they can return to internal combustion engines as the primary driver for now to get their revenues back while reducing costs for American consumers. Simultaneously, they’ll be expanding on what they’ve built in EV infrastructure, albeit without mandates forcing the issue. They’ll be able to work at the speed of the market instead of the mandates.
It’s a sour consolation for the biggest automakers because it means they’ll have to wait years or even decades to realize benefits from their electric vehicle investments, but the long-term returns should be worth the wait… if they can survive long enough to see them.
Rather than using the current rules to stifle competition, they should hope that President Trump immediately sides with the free market and the consumers to allow enough short-term benefit for U.S. automakers to recover.
‘Merely Coincidental’: Secular Scientist Work Overtime to Explain Away the Miracles of Christ
by Harbingers Daily
Was the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with just five loaves and two fish a little less than miraculous? Well, that’s what a group of scientists are claiming in a recent paper published in a scientific journal. Instead of a supernatural provision by the Lord, they claim the feeding…
Google Hosts Party for Democratic Operatives Plotting To ‘Resist the Republican Agenda’
by Free Beacon
The resistance’s bar tab is on Google. Priorities USA, a top Democratic super PAC with an affiliated dark money group, is convening a summit of left-wing digital activists on Wednesday afternoon to deliver a post-mortem on Vice President Kamala Harris’s election loss and strategize how to “resist the Republican agenda,”…
“The Correction Before the Surge”: Why Gold and Silver’s Future Is Brighter Than Ever
by Sponsored Post
It was long overdue by most estimates. Precious metals prices have been steadily rising for far longer than even the …
Ukraine Denies Reports From Think Tank That It Is Months Away From Developing a Nuclear Weapon
by Natural News
Ukraine has denied reports suggesting it could develop a nuclear weapon soon, following claims by a Ukrainian military think tank. The report, published by the Ukrainian think tank and nongovernmental organization the Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies, claimed that Kyiv could use spent nuclear fuel from its remaining…
Alex Jones Reveals Elon Musk Saved Infowars From Being Sold to The Onion
by End Times Headlines
Alex Jones has declared ‘the cavalry is here’ as attorneys for Elon Musk’s X jumped in to help put a temporary pause on the sale of his controversial Infowars to The Onion. The satirical news publication said the bid was sanctioned by the families of Sandy Hook Elementary victims who…
FBI Whistleblower Says FBI Intentionally Blocking Security Clearances for Trump Officials
by The Conservative Treehouse
It should not come as a surprise to see the same methods deployed against President Trump in 2024 that were used by the FBI in 2016. The difference is now that President Trump understands the full power of his office in the security clearance process and that he doesn’t need…
Pastor Greg Locke Burns Voodoo Doll He Claims Was Found on His Property
by End Times Headlines
Even amid ongoing warfare, we are called to stand firm on the Word of God. Pastor Greg Locke knows well the spiritual and physical attacks directed at him; he was recently targeted by a gunman. Now, he faces another spiritual assault, this time from someone attempting to place a curse…
Trump’s Incoming FCC Chief Already Putting Target on Big Tech ‘Censorship Cartel’
by WND
Social media companies have become a “cartel” for suppressing information with which they disagree, and that agenda now is going to be getting the attention of Brendan Carr, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. It was social media companies who played a role…
Sabotage: Two Undersea Internet Cables Connecting Four NATO Nations Were Severed
by Publius
Many in the international community are claiming sabotage as the only viable explanation for two fiber optic internet cables in the Baltic Sea being severed less than 24-hours apart. Fingers are being pointed at Russia as one of the the cables connected NATO nations Germany and Finland. The latter was…
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Orders Democrats to Immediately End Counting of Illegal Ballots
by Infowars
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday ordered Democrats in several counties to immediately halt their unlawful counting of illegal ballots in the Senate race recount. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court had ruled before the election that mail-in ballots lacking formally required signatures or dates should not be included in official results….
22-Year-Old Woman With Depression Was Almost Euthanized, She Changed Her Mind Right Before She Was Killed
by Life News
Why do you oppose euthanasia, Wesley? If people want to die, we should help them die. No. And here’s an individual example explaining just one reason why. A deeply depressed woman was about to be lethally injected in the Netherlands — but changed her mind just in the nick of…
“Massive Breach”: T-Mobile Network Hacked by Chinese State Sponsored Intelligence
by Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge
(Zero Hedge)—Where’s John Legere in a pink t-shirt when you need him? Among the multiple stories over the last few weeks about Chinese intelligence and hackers either attempting to, or outright gaining access, to U.S. cell phone networks (with reports stating President Trump and his team were targeted), comes news…
Trump’s Idea to Shut Down Department of Education Gets High Five From Top Christian Evangelist
by WND
A priority for the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump is to tackle the Deep State, the bureaucracy in Washington that is a self-perpetuating industry, to find what American taxpayers don’t need or want. And get rid of it. One of the targets he’s already identified is the Department of…
Experts Sound Alarm Over ‘Shocking’ Spike in Strokes Among ‘Healthy’ Young People
by Slay News
Health experts have issued a chilling warning to the public over a “shocking” spike in strokes among “healthy” young people. The “alarming” surge was identified in official UK government data. The data shows that recorded cases of deadly strokes skyrocketed in 2023 and continued soaring this year. In 2023/24, the…