Electric vehicles, you might have heard, are miraculous. Just a sliver of new cars sold in the United States are EVs, but these machines have united a mishmash of people eager to move America away from gasoline. Environmental groups are all-in, and the federal government is offering hefty incentives to spur sales. Automakers now offer twice as many EV models as before the pandemic, and are pumping out endless commercials to promote them. “We believe in an all-electric future,” General Motors CEO Mary Barra said in an interview a few weeks ago. Even car enthusiasts are getting on board: YouTube offers endless videos of people racing their EVs.
Such enthusiasm is warranted. The urgency of climate change requires electrifying the 278 million personal vehicles plying American roadways as quickly as we can. After all, EVs are far more climate-friendly than equivalent gas-powered models because they eliminate the tailpipe emissions that warm the planet and pollute the air. Better yet, EVs are simply fun to drive: Most models are quicker and quieter than your average gas car.