Sen. Rick Scott Calls for Govt Probe Into EV Payoffs
Republican senators led by Rick Scott, R-Fla., want an investigation into whether the Biden administration is cooking the books to boost electric vehicle ratings to pay off automakers with exorbitant subsidies “incorrectly, and likely intentionally.”
Scott, along with Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah; Roger Marshall, R-Kan.; Dan Sullivan, R-Ark.; and Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., called on Government Accountability Office Comptroller General Gene Dodaro to open an investigation.
“These federal standards and the improper application of the FCF [fuel content factor] to EVs is resulting in an improper transfer of billions of dollars every year from gasoline vehicle manufacturers and consumers to electric vehicle manufacturers and consumers,” the letter dated Friday read. “Despite this massive unlawful and hidden wealth transfer, gasoline and diesel car and truck consumers do not know that they have unwittingly been subsidizing the purchase of EVs and what the true cost of the subsidy is.
“The American people have a right to know what they are paying for.”
The Biden administration, under pressure from Green New Deal progressives, have been pushing to move U.S. vehicle market to electric, putting its hand on the scale against fossil fuels and gas-powered vehicles without even denying that, the lawmakers warn.
“We write with concerns that the Department of Energy (DOE) is incorrectly, and potentially illegally, setting the petroleum equivalency factor (PEF) for electric vehicles (EVs), which is used by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to set the agency’s directive for automakers’ corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards,” the letter began.
“While the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fuel economy rating of EVs averages around 100 miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe), the PEF uses a fuel content factor (FCF) that rates one gallon-equivalent of electricity as 0.15 gallons of gasoline, creating a 6.67 multiplier under the CAFE taxonomy.
“This multiplier enables automakers to earn nearly seven times more credits per EV than their rated fuel economy would normally allow and generates a hidden subsidy that likely exceeds $10,000 per EV.”
Scott, who has been a key GOP figure in pressing the U.S. for an economic decoupling from China is also alleging the Biden EV moves are related to being compromised by the top U.S. economic superpower rival in the Chinese Communist Party.
“As you know, the CCP’s ongoing authoritarian control over China’s economy and companies raises significant risks for U.S. investors, which is why this listing is deeply concerning, both to the integrity and strength of U.S. capital markets as well as the protection of American investors,” Scott wrote in another letter to Security and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler.
“Along with these issues come the concerns regarding supply chain and human rights abuses. Recently, a report from the U.S. Senate Finance Committee revealed that a number of auto companies have alarming ties to forced labor and human rights violations.”
The listing of Chinese-controlled companies with ties to the EV market “undermines not only our national security, but the integrity of U.S. capital markets as a whole,” Scott warned.
