U.S., Like China, May End Up With Massive 'EV Graveyards'

 

An electric vehicle graveyard in China

AMERICAN CULTURE WARS MONEY POLITICS SCANDALS U.S. WND NEWS CENTER WORLDWND EXCLUSIVE

Thousands of late-model electric vehicles abandoned and 'gathering dust'

By Richard Blakley
Published March 17, 2024 at 1:13pm

Startling images captured by a videographer on the outskirts of the Chinese city of Hangzhou document what's being called a "graveyard of sorts."

Photographer Wu Guoyong "filmed aerial footage of thousands of electric cars in empty lots around Hanzhou and Nanjing, the capital of China's eastern Jiangsu province," Bloomberg reported. 

In fact, similar clusters of abandoned EVs have "sprouted up in at least half a dozen cities across China."

Visiting Hangzhou, the report noted "several sites filled with abandoned EVs." 

One field had more than 200 cars. 

Another site near a river along a deserted tram track had "around 1,000 EVs gathering dust." 

These fields, now called “EV graveyards," are full of "unwanted" cars made in 2017 or newer.

An electric vehicle graveyard in China

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How did all this happen? 

Although China is officially termed a developing nation – receiving preferential treatment "under the World Trade Organization, the U.N. Climate framework and other international arrangements" – it is, in reality, far from being a "developing nation," as a Defense Department report noted that "China has the biggest maritime force on the globe." 

And President Xi Jinping “has pledged to build a 'fully modern' force rivaling the U.S. military by 2027." 

That's far beyond a mere "developing country.":

In 2022, China was the world leader in "clean cars," “producing around 6 million EVs and plug-in hybrids" and accounting for "60% of the world’s current electric fleet and has the most extensive EV charging infrastructure on Earth – also built with government support."

In comparison, a December 2023 report stated that there are only about "3 million electric cars on the road in the U.S." March 2023 USA Facts reports that there were about 56,000 EV charging stations across the U.S., and President Joe Biden allocated $7.5 billion for EV chargers in his 2021 "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act." 

However, while his administration planned to build 500,000 EV chargers, not a single charger has actually been built.

Will the U.S. eventually have EV graveyards like China?

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After doing nothing for three years, in January 2024 Biden vetoed a bipartisan bill designed to protect American EV industries from China, including a provision ensuring that the electric vehicle chargers have "Buy American Requirements." 

Some speculate that Biden may eventually spend the $7.5 billion to help "developing nations" – like China.

A decade ago, hundreds of automakers across China were encouraged to begin making electric cars because the government subsidized the venture. 

The Chinese government also subsidized the purchase of these EVs through rebates, and "restricted the ownership of gasoline cars in several major cities." 

Yet the EVs are termed "unwanted." Now, due to lack of demand, "there are only around 100 Chinese electric-car makers, down from roughly 500 in 2019." 

One report stated, "Getting rid of EVs so quickly reduces their climate benefit, considering they're more emission-intensive to build and only produce an advantage over combustion cars after a few years."

EVs are more emission-intensive to build, because to make the battery for an EV, rare earth elements, or REEs, are used. 

At the REE mine in Bayan Obo, China, the diesel dirt-movers work in three holes the size of 307, 267 and 900 football fields respectively. 

They use toxic chemicals. Bayan Obo's sludge lake containing 70,000 tons of radioactive thorium is moving at a pace of 20-30 meters per year, heading for a major source of drinking water, China's Yellow River. 

Mining REEs generates sludge ponds with a waste-to-yield ratio of 2,000:1, which is 13 times more than mining copper. 

For one EV auto battery, 500,000 pounds of the earth's crust are mined for REEs, concentrating radioactive thorium as well..

The Chinese REE mine in Africa employs 40,000 children – for one dollar per day – who suffer from chemical-induced health issues.

On top of all that, according to a Manhattan Institute report, while it is propagandized that EVs will reduce CO2, this is "not supported by the facts." 

Indeed, the amounts of emissions from EVs over their lifetime, says the report, will produce 67 tons of "EV CO2," 15% more CO2 than the 59-ton baseline for a gasoline-fueled SUV.

Why are EVs unwanted? 

Maybe it's because they need recharging every 3.5 hours with charging taking a minimum of 45 minutes. 

Maybe it’s because runtime is decreased in cold weather. 

Maybe it's because they're prone to experiencing "Thermal runaway," bursting into 5,0000F flames that firefighters cannot extinguish. 

Perhaps it's because they also burst into flames if they hit something, or are in wet environments, like heavy rain. 

Or perhaps it’s because they're typically 30% heavier than gasoline vehicles, meaning more road wear, faster tire wear, higher road noise. 

And they might well collapse parking garages, according to Government Tech and Global National articles.

Maybe they are not a good idea, and nobody wants them.

"A subsidy-fueled boom helped build China into an electric-car giant," reported Bloomberg, “but left weed-infested lots across the nation brimming with unwanted battery-powered vehicles."

"Shenzhen-based photographer, Wu Guoyong, was one of the first people in China to document the waste that results from frenetic development. 

The shared bikes and EV graveyards are a result of unconstrained capitalism," he stated, according to the report. 

"The waste of resources, the damage to the environment, the vanishing wealth, it’s a natural consequence."

Wu is correct that this EV push is a waste of resources, damages the environment, and steals wealth, but his conclusion is obviously wrong: 

This did not happen in China because of "unconstrained capitalism." 

It happened because climate fanatics became coupled with massive wasteful government infusion of taxpayer’s money and regulations into a free market economy. 

The problem is too much government control and mandates over a capitalistic system. 

A true capitalistic system will correct itself with supply and demand, if left alone.

China's government infusion of money and mandates to force the populace in a direction that they do not want to go sounds more like a dictatorship. 

Even Biden recently called Chairman Xi a dictator – twice.

If Americans are paying attention, maybe they will learn from a "developing nation." 

Some will of course ask: Do Biden’s mandates and forced infusion of tax dollars make him, like Xi, a dictator?

WND