Now that Uncle Sam isn't sitting beside potential buyers in the showroom sales office, the demand for all electric vehicles has dropped precipitously.
This comes as no surprise to us.
President Donald Trump campaigned on ending subsidies for the hamster-wheel autos and he has kept his word.
These electron burners were always a niche market at best propped up by Global Warming fanatics, gullible members of congress and subsidy farming manufacturers.
And prop it up they did!
There was the $7,500 federal tax credit on the purchase of an EV.
The Biden administrations emission standards requiring two-thirds of all cars and 25 percent of all heavy-duty trucks to be electric powered by 2032.
State level "Klimate Kultists" joined in as well.
California banned the sale of all gas-powered vehicles by 2035. And that isn't the complete list. Many toll roads and HOV lanes allowed single-passenger EVs to use those lanes just because they were so special and so eco-friendly.
That's "all over now, baby blue," and so is the demand for EVs.
The Washington Times has the story, "Sales of EVs plummeted by nearly one-third in October after President Trump and congressional Republicans killed the $7,500 federal tax credit.
"The end of EV subsidies followed a trio of regulatory changes that eliminated mandates on automakers to produce electric vehicles."
The numbers are grim.
"The latest numbers provided by Cox Automotive show dealers sold 74,835 electric vehicles last month, a 30.3% decrease from October 2024 and a drop of more than 48% since September, the final month the federal tax credit was available for EV purchases.
"According to J.D. Power, EV sales plummeted by 53% in October and now represent just 6.0% of total monthly new vehicle sales, down from 12.9% in September, when consumers rushed to take advantage of the tax credit."
Automobile manufacturers have also received the message, loudly and clearly.
"Many automobile manufacturers have made plans to scale back EV production. Ford, which has spent billions of dollars on the development and production of electric vehicles, may pull the plug on the all-electric truck, the F-150 Lightning, because of weak sales.
"Nissan, Kia, Acura, Mercedes, Stellantis and Porsche have scaled back electric vehicle production, primarily because of low consumer interest that is likely to worsen without the tax incentive."
Your columnists are not alone in viewing this as a positive development.
Brent Bennet at the Texas Public Policy Foundation observed, "The policy reversal on EVs that has occurred this year is a remarkable return to sanity after decades of government actions to force EV production.
"With these policy drivers gone, we expect automakers to build more hybrid vehicles and to ease price increases on gasoline–powered vehicles because they no longer have to offset so many EV losses.
"Consumers will win all the way around."
To give you an idea of the price differential between normal cars and exhibitionist cars we turn to Cox Automotive.
"Cox Automotive reported that the average transaction price for new electric vehicles increased to $59,125, up 1.6% from September and 2.3% from October 2024.
"The average transaction price for a gasoline-powered vehicle was roughly $10,000 lower, at $49,084."
A so-called market created by government subsidies and government rules was never really a market at all.
Instead, it was an exercise in government rent-seeking by well-connected special interests at the expense of the average taxpayer.
Now that the government has taken its thumb of the scales, greenie drivers can select hybrid vehicles, which always made more sense than EVs.
And all buyers may be able to enjoy lower prices since manufacturers won't be raising prices on the cars that sell to offset the losses on cars that don't.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Ronald Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Mr. Reagan is an in-demand speaker with Premiere Speaker's Bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with Added Humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.