Richard M. Briggs
- Richard M. Briggs, M.D., is a Republican state senator representing the seventh District, which encompasses a part of Knox County. He can also be a retired U.S. Military colonel.
Let’s be clear eyed on how vehicles and vehicles are altering — they’re all going electrical. More than 20 countries will permit solely electrical vehicles and vehicles to be offered inside a decade, and auto companies are lining up to succeed in an all-electric future. Ford, for instance, will spend $5.6 billion on a Stanton, Tennessee, campus to make the all-electric model of the F-150, whereas Basic Motors, Audi and Hyundai are spending billions to impress each new automobile they promote by 2035 or sooner.
“EVs” reached an all-time U.S. sales high prior to now quarter, and gross sales increased 160% globally in 2021 as plunging battery prices and low electrical energy prices have made them cheaper to drive than gasoline autos. The worth of EV batteries declined 89% between 2010 and 2020, and driving on electrical energy in Tennessee costs the equivalent of 95 cents per gallon of gasoline.
This generational shift is making a historic alternative for job development and financial growth proper right here in Tennessee, however provided that we now have federal management. Federal lawmakers should give our state and nation the possibility to guide the shift to electrical transportation by investing in battery manufacturing and analysis, encouraging automakers to supply extra electrical vehicles and vehicles, and making it simpler for everybody to personal one.
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Fueling our vehicles, buses and vehicles with electrical energy is vital to financial growth in Tennessee and the Southeast. We spend about $94 billion on gasoline and diesel yearly within the Southeast, and most of that cash — about two-thirds — leaks out of the area, going out of the state and overseas to multinational oil firms. If, nonetheless, all the automobile miles traveled within the area have been electrical, Southeast customers would save $42 billion on transportation gasoline as a result of electrical energy is cheaper and electrical autos extra environment friendly. And, of the cash spent on electrical energy, an additional $5 billion would keep in-state, going to native and regional utilities as a substitute of oil conglomerates, and recirculating extra in native economies. Total, electrifying transportation within the Southeast would add $47 billion to the region’s economies each year.
Past cash and jobs, electrical vehicles and vehicles are vital for our well being and the well being of our kids. Automobile tailpipes emit a bunch of nasty stuff you may’t see, scent or style. Particulate matter is among the worst offenders. It’s 30 instances smaller than a single hair in your head and might discover its manner into each organ within the human physique. This air pollution particularly impacts youngsters, rising the chance of asthma and mental disorders, and causes at the least 100,000 premature deaths per year in the U.S. All-electric autos can subsequently save lives — as many as 6,300 when powered by rising ranges of unpolluted vitality — and keep away from $1.2 billion in well being prices within the Southeast alone.
Ought to federal lawmakers do nothing to encourage U.S. management on electrical vehicles and vehicles, it can take longer to appreciate these financial savings and the American auto sector will see employment and job high quality proceed a downward march. If, nonetheless, the shift to electrical vehicles and vehicles is accompanied by strategic funding in manufacturing, the quantity and high quality of jobs will rise along with electrical automotive and truck manufacturing. Employment within the U.S. auto sector may rise by over 150,000 jobs in 2030 if 1 out of each 2 new autos offered is all-electric and coverage encourages extra autos and their components to be assembled within the U.S. I need to see this occur, and Congress ought to too.
Now could be the time for Congress to speed up electrical automotive and truck manufacturing within the Southeast and the U.S., as a result of the tipping level at which electrical vehicles and vehicles will ceaselessly overtake their gas-powered ancestors is right here.
Be a part of me in telling Congress that we’d like extra, not much less, electrical automobile coverage and funding. You’ll be able to ship a message to your member of Congress at pluginamerica.org/policy/tell-congress-to-take-action-for-evs-now/.
Richard M. Briggs, M.D., is a Republican state senator representing the seventh District, which encompasses a part of Knox County. He can also be a retired U.S. Military colonel.