A new digital advertisement campaign is rolling out Thursday to highlight the additional expenses affiliated with President Joe Biden’s aggressive electric vehicle (EV) agenda.
Alliance for Consumers (AFC), a nonprofit group that advocates for consumer protection, is rolling out the campaign to bring attention to the hidden and obvious costs that the Biden administration’s suite of EV policies will eventually impose on Americans. The advertisement, titled “Biden’s Dream Garage” and drawing on a litany of sources, asserts that EV ownership could add up to $26,000 in additional costs per garage before factoring in tax credits and other subsidies.
“The campaign demonstrates a litany of costs that will fall squarely on the shoulders of everyday people thanks to the Biden EV push. And it’s so important, because when you see your neighbor buy a Tesla because they want to, they have already decided that those costs are worth it,” O.H. Skinner, the AFC’s executive director, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Lots of consumers are not fully aware of what this life is going to look like when Biden forces them into this progressive lifestyle. When Biden basically mandates that you have an electric car, what does that mean? The answer is, more than normal people are aware.”
![](https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Alliance-for-Consumers-Ad.jpeg)
A new ad from the Alliance for Consumers depicting the additional costs that Americans are likely to incur as a result of the Biden administration’s electric vehicle (EV) push. (Alliance for Consumers, obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation)
Citing Kelley Blue Book, the AFC ad points out that EVs cost nearly $13,000 more than internal combustion engine equivalents on average. The campaign also asserts that new outlets for EV charging can cost up to $2,500 to install, and that additional electricity usage to charge EVs can jack up utility bills by over $700 annually.
Average EV insurance premiums are approximately $1,300 higher on an annual basis than premiums for comparable internal combustion engine models, since EV components tend to be more expensive and comparatively more challenging to source, the advertisement states. Tires will also contribute to added expense, according to the advertisement, since more durable and expensive tires will need to be replaced more frequently due to the higher average weight of EVs relative to gas-powered equivalents.
The campaign also draws attention to the hidden, but expensive, additional costs borne from installing insulation in garages that do not sufficiently maintain heat when it is cold outside. A recent analysis by Consumer Reports, cited by AFC, found that EVs parked in garages lose battery charge when the ambient temperature dips below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
Insulating garages with high-grade foam can cost consumers between $3,500 and $8,000, according to the advertisement.
The Biden administration is shooting for EVs to comprise 50% of all new car sales in the country by 2030 as part of its massive climate agenda. The administration has created a tax credit, promulgated aggressive regulations and allocated billions to facilitate its EV dreams, but the market is not taking shape as some proponents of these policies may have anticipated.
Consumer demand is not growing as quickly as projected, manufacturers are losing billions on their EV product lines and executives are starting to back away from near-term production targets.
A Biden administration official told the DCNF that the assertions underlying the AFC campaign are not supported by the data.
“JD Power’s EV affordability index currently sits at 104/100, where 100/100 represents national parity between EVs and internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), and anything greater than 100/100 represents that the overall affordability of EVs has surpassed ICEVs,” the official told the DCNF. “Declining price trends also hold for used EVs – an iSeeCars study found that the average used EV price dropped by about 20% from October 2022 to September 2023. Finally, a typical U.S. driver can expect to save $6,000-$12,000 over the lifetime of an EV, compared to owning a similar gas-powered vehicle. That includes spending 60% less to power the EV and half as much to repair and maintain it.”
Nick Pope on February 29, 2024