Before Electric Vehicles Became Political, There Was the Toyota Prius. The political polarization of EVs may have started when Toyota released its first hybrid 25 years ago.“The problem with conservatives is getting them to accept that an electric car is not a left-wing environmental plot.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/27/business/electric-vehicles-poilitics-republicans-conservatives.html?unlocked_article_code=1.AFA.Kx_R.Jub5nXFuD-HC&smid=url-share
Posted by mafco
25 Comments
I think that it’s a fool’s errand to try to anticipate what reactionaries will react to. Do what’s right, talk about why it’s right, and let the future take care of itself.
Let me correct that for you: “The problem with conservatives is getting them to accept SCIENCE!”
Can’t they just bribe the current administration like everyone else!!
As a conservative, and someone who has driven nothing but EVs since 2017. The issue is political when it starts to be mandated. Like what happened in California. Also the fact that the EVs have for many years been expensive. Overall they are better tech. Just to let you know that Hybrid are not EVs. They still have an ICE engine and all the crap it brings. I did it first to learn about them. Then it was because the overall cost was far less. And they are by far more reliable.
We need the small inexpensive ones. Soon the new Bolt should be out and many more will come. We also need to promote more solar panels for homes. For business roofs. They are now at an affordable price. I love to Plug my cars in when the sun is out. It really feels like free charging from the Sun.
When you try to push us to require to do something we push back on it. Don’t push climate change on us. Give us the right facts 80% less moving parts. Brakes that last 100k plus. No waste on oil changes or transmission fluid change. Quiet ride and very responsive power.
We finally have some real private companies putting in real charging nationwide.
I never tell someone on the right why I actually bought an electric vehicle. I always talk about how powerful it is and how much I save by not paying for gasoline. I have 2 electric cars in the household and my electric bill is usually less than they pay for gas and my weekly commute is longer.
Power and money are important to them so I meet them where they are at.
ripping solar panels off the white house was a apt description of their whole thoughts on the environment.. it hasn’t changed since then.
I read yesterday that it’s considered “effeminate” for a man to be concerned about the environment. This puzzles me. Don’t men care about the health of their farms? The upkeep of their homes and cars? Why is caring about the health and quality of the natural world “unmanly”?
It’s a plot to reduce pollution. God save us from these liberals!
Against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain.
Separating the industry interests from the political parties is difficult, maybe impossible to do in the USA for a while.
Lots of conservatives own EVs. The question is how much they should be subsidized if at all and with datacenter growth will electricity demand exceed supply driving up costs for lower earning people (who don’t buy evs but are getting screwed).
Honestly, I just want cheaper fuel and fewer oil changes. If that’s a political plot, count me in and hand me a Prius key at the dealership-debate settled right there.
That Volt charging picture has to be AI generated. It shows the person holding the cord instead of the handle, what appears to be a Chademo connector which the Volt can’t accept (it takes J1772 which is much smaller) and there’s a weird black bar by the tire which I’m guessing would be the trigger for a gas pump handle? So weird and lazy.
People dont really think that rhe vehicle itself is the environmental plot. Its the tax policy that punishes gas powered cars and subsidizes otherwise unaffordable and inefficient electric vehicles that is the environmental plot.
I bought 2 used Prius’ 8 years ago for $3300 and $3200. Drove them for 8 years.
Driving one of them versus driving my compact truck saved me $10,000 of gasoline over that time. I work construction and I can assure you almost nobody in construction cares about efficiency or the environment in almost any regard.
We now purchased two EV’s used for $8400 and $9300.
Conservatives are defective human beings. As such, you can’t convince them that the sun will rise the following day.
From a Southern Rural Moderate point of view. I don’t get the never owning one for political reasons. I want to own one but there just isn’t an EV truck that is better than an ICE truck yet (cost/towing range) Once there is, I will convert. Also a good EV SUV would be nice. The cars seem to absolutely make sense at this point, IMO.
Conservatives, especially Fox News viewers are typically deep, critical thinkers… Said no one.
There was a time way before the Toyota Prius, when GM made an EV, aptly called the EV-1.
It was a huge success, albeit within a very small target group.
In fact, it was so successful, that Big Oil forced GM to repossess all of them, and to destroy them.
Link to the entire documentary on YT: https://youtu.be/uep5zOrsAEA?si=tro3f8q1tjftQXK_
My observation is that because EVs are linked to climate action, it is not enough that they reduce emissions and help the atmosphere. They must also be cheaper than ICE vehicles and be better products. For many people, if they are not significantly better in every way, they have no value at all. While part of that is fair enough, it is chilling to think about a scenario where this technology (and other renewable technology) wasn’t so cheap and effective. The world would simply not decarbonise and we would be headed for a far worse future than we are now. Not that our current future is ideal.
Conservatives are easily propagandized as they generally refuse to stray from their selected news sources. It’s really just that simple. If you only consume 2-3 news sources then those news sources will be able to convince you of anything.
My daughter’s travel sports team is full of right wing MAGAs. We had a tournament about 600 miles away which most of us drove. I took my Model 3. I had to stop and charge twice, for about 10-15 mins. One time it was a good leg stretch and stock up at the quickie mart, second time was to get lunch. Stops I would have made anyway.
When I met the team at the location we were going to they, no shit, asked me how many days it took me to make the trip. I was literally confused and had no idea what they were talking about.. I thought they meant that I stopped at relatives or did sightseeing or whatever. No… they thought it took 10-12 hours to charge to go 50 miles at a shot.
I looked at them and said ‘You think that’s correct? You REALLY think that makes sense?’. They simply didn’t believe me on charge times or range. They have been propagandized to the point of not being able to think rationally.
From the conservative point of view, what is the nefarious goal of the left-wing environmental plot?
We’ve owned 3 Prius. Traded first one for 2nd at 150k miles, gave second to Son at 150k miles- wrecked at 300k. Our 3rd 2017 is still perfect after 8 years. Heavy commuter. At least 60 mi a day.. that’s about a gallon per day in fuel. And Yet to have a serious repair on any of them. Knock on wood 🪵
Who can remember the Prius ad campaign where they showed the billions of gallons of fuel saved thus far? That registered with the public. And now with billion in campaign contributions the fossil fuel industry is attempting AGAIN to kill its competitor. Unfortunately the genii is out of the bottle. People have driven in hybrids and EV’s and accept them as viable alternatives with lower cost of ownership and maintenance. And with the battery tech about to leap forward it is more attractive than ever. Mind you dealing with “stealerships” has really created an underlying desire to change the paradigm to be less predatory.
Reality has a leftist bias.