High gas prices are fueling the demand for electric vehicles in some traditionally conservative areas where environmentalism doesn’t typically drive purchasing decisions.
In at least two deep red Texas counties, EV purchases have eclipsed the national average, The Washington Post reports, citing a study conducted by S&P Global Mobility.
The EV market share for new vehicles has hit 8.7 percent in Collin County and 7.3 percent in neighboring Denton County, both significantly higher than the 6.2 percent national average.
Some buyers EVs – traditionally consider "woke" vehicles driven by liberals concerned about the impact of gas guzzlers – cited environmental concerns, but for most the decision was driven by reducing fuel costs along with the attraction of improved performance, style and high-tech features.
Tony Federico, an ex-Marine who votes Republican and leads a local Tesla owners' club, told The Post “I think selfishly it was, you know, how is this going to help my pocketbook,” noting concerns about the environment were not a serious consideration in his purchasing decision.
For Kate Allen, also a Republican, the decision to purchase a Tesla was driven by rising fuel costs.
“I used to drive a Mercedes-Benz SUV and I went to go fill up my gas tank and it was over $4 for premium gas. So I went the very next day, and I traded it in for an electric vehicle,” she said, describing the environmental benefits of EVs as a “bonus.”
The Post’s Jeanne Whalen writes, “For the Biden administration, it doesn’t really matter why drivers choose EVs, so long as they choose them,” noting that the administration is providing tax credits among other incentives to help meet its goal of making EV’s account for half of all new cars sold by 2030.
The report notes that although generally EV car sales typically account for a higher percentage in bluer, more affluent communities, the two above-mentioned Texas counties aren’t outliers.
Florida’s St. Johns County, Indiana’s Hamilton County, North Carolina’s Union County, New Jersey’s Monmouth County; and California’s Kern County are among other communities that backed Trump in 2020 that have seen EV market-share growth eclipse the national average last year, S&P data shows, according to the report.
Whalen writes that “Conservative support for green energy isn’t a totally new phenomenon, says Neal Farris, a left-leaning photographer and EV enthusiast in Dallas who promotes the vehicles at auto shows and Earth Day events. ‘One of the people I quote a lot is T. Boone Pickens,’ he said, referring to the oil billionaire and longtime Republican donor who embraced renewable energy late in life. ‘He said, ‘Yeah, let’s do solar, let’s do wind, because if we do, then the oil will last longer.’”
