Transportation Secretary, and early media presidential favorite Pete Buttigieg is all-in on the administration’s electric vehicle push. That’s not a secret. But the tyro cabinet official runs into a host of problems when he touts EVs as a way to avoid pain at the pump:

…Buttigieg noted that Democrats’ proposed social spending package includes incentives to make it more affordable to buy an electric vehicle.

Buttigieg said that families would essentially have a “$12,500 discount” in transportation costs, adding that “families who own that vehicle will never have to worry about gas prices again.”

“The people who stand to benefit most from owning an EV are often rural residents who have the most distances to drive, who burn the most gas, and underserved urban residents in areas where there are higher gas prices and lower income,” Buttigieg said.

There’s a lot to unpack here, not the least of which is the bold assumption that people will have a place to plug those sleek new EVs in when their batteries run dry.

But the idea that getting an EV is equal to a $12,500 discount on transportation costs is downright ridiculous. That’s the maximum proposed amount of a government subsidy to buy an EV. Subsidies aren’t free – someone puts up the money. Who?

Taxpayers. Or, when tax revenue isn’t enough (and it rarely is) future taxpayers, who will have to pay the interest on the debt government took out to cover the subsidy. After all, there’s no such thing as a free lunch…or a cost-free government subsidy.

And let’s not forget that the Biden plan is to offer top subsides only for union-made EVs. Everyone else? Sorry.