Here’s the headline I read today on Allsides.
Here’s more.
Energy Department
In a couple of posts I’ve referred to the infamous Department of Energy road trip of 2023. Here’s a kind assessment from NPR and a less-kind one from the New York Post.
Whichever version you prefer, the facts are that secretary Granholm set off on a much-publicized roadtrip to showcase the potential of electric vehicles.
In order to ensure success, Granholm appears to have had an advance team that would charge (pun intended) ahead and, if necessary, park their non-electric vehicles in working electric vehicle charging stations to enable Granholm to charge up quickly in front of the press.
Seriously.
“Let’s Fool The Public”
That’s exactly what Granholm and her team must have been thinking, right? What other explanation is there?
Even the complimentary NPR article reports
Babies be damned. The energy secretary needs this charger for a PR spot to help fool the American people.
At this point, many understand that charging an EV is more challenging than pulling up to the pump and putting in $20 of unleaded.
So much so that the term “range anxiety” is pretty common. We’re concerned that we’ll be unable to get where we’re going because of limited working charging facilities.
I briefly considered an EV for my last vehicle purchase, but the cars and the facilities that support them don’t seem to be there yet.
Apparently the best way to get the public to buy EVs is to fool them into thinking the road trip works. Just be sure to have a non-EV assistant to drive ahead.
But, That’s Not Even Today’s Point
As bad as that was, it’s not even today’s topic. Apparently the same energy department that brought us the road-trip, also spend $89 million of tax-payer dollars to build electric motorcycles.
Michael Hammer
I saw management consultant Michael Hammer back in the 80’s. I love him!!!
Her’s very dynamic. He tells a great story to make every point.
I remember his talk on marketing. He asked the audience “What does Harley-Davidson sell?“
We all shouted out “Motorcycles“.
Hammer yelled back “NO!!! Harley-Davidson sells the ability for a 42 year old accountant to drive down the street and scare people.“
EVs tend to be quiet. My buddy Rich is always sneaking up on me in his Tesla. A quiet electric motorcycle ain’t scarin’ no one.
Perhaps Ms. Granholm should have consulted Mr. Hammer before going all-in on electric motorcycles.
Oops
Hammer was right. No one’s buying the quiet bike.
$89 Million is Nothing
In her defense, an expense of $89 million against the backdrop of a $37 trillion deficit is nothing. Just add it to the debt. It’s a rounding error.
No, It’s Not
There are other things we could do with that $89 million.
Is an investment in electric motorcycles the best use of that money?
There’s nothing else we can think of that would improve the lives of Americans? OK, then go ahead, but we need some more creative people in charge who can come up with more effective use of taxpayer dollars.
Wrap Up
There’s no shortage of bad government spending decisions. Both democrat and republican governments have worked hard over the last 20 years to increase our national debt to jaw-dropping levels.
Just go to debtclock.org and watch it go up in real-time.
That said, $89 million to help a company grow to sell 55 motorcycles in a quarter doesn’t sound wise. And the whole road-trip debacle really irritates me.
Wouldn’t it be great to have a government that worked for us? Dare to dream.