Pete Buttigieg schools GOP congressman on the cost of electric vehicles

19 July 2022

United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg dismantled Congressman Scott Perry's (R-Pennsylvania) complaints about the price of electric cars during a House of Representatives hearing on transportation infrastructure on Tuesday morning.

Perry, who was among the gaggle of right-wing lawmakers who sought pardons from former President Donald Trump, told Buttigieg, "You have implied that (Americans) should buy an electric vehicle." Perry tried to paint Buttigieg and other Democrats as out of touch because some electric vehicles cost upwards of $55,000.

But President Joe Biden's transportation secretary was quick to push back, saying, "Nobody I know, certainly not me, thinks that all or even most Americans can easily afford electric vehicles. That said, I'm struck by this $55 thousand number that keeps going around. I knew this might come up; so I pulled a few of the latest prices."

Buttigieg continued, "A Chevy Volt, an American-made 2022 EV, is $26,595. If you want a pickup truck, like a Chevy Silverado EV or a Ford F1 50 Lightning, the starting prices of those are $39,900 and $39,974 respectively."

Perry asked if that was "pre-subsidy or post-subsidy," to which Buttigieg responded, "I think it depends." Buttigieg noted that he purchased a C-MAX combo vehicle for around $14,000, and it "had about 15,000 miles on it."

Various C-MAX models are indeed for sale for under $20,000.

Watch the video of the hearing below or at this link.

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