Why does the right hate electric cars so much?

[hauckeye]

I’ve seen stories about them blocking charging stations on purpose. One of my right-wing cousins posted a meme on Facebook “I don’t always downshift, but when I do it’s next to a Prius so they know I’m hurting the environment “. Seriously, why do they care that someone chooses to drive an electric car? How in the world does it hurt them? I just don’t understand...

[Kablooie]

1. Liberals like them so the right must hate them.

They also help global warming which liberals like so the right will do anything they can to increase global warming.

Hating liberals is more important to them than the safety and future of our country or families.

That's what Fox News and the right wing machine teaches them.

[Aristus]

4. This is it in its entirety.

Right-wing hate radio has pushed hatred of liberals so poisonously and relentlessly for thirty years that it has conditioned a Pavlovian response in all those people whose brain-power never rose above that of the average dog.

I knew a guy once so in thrall to hate radio that all one had to do was mention Bill Clinton, and he would turn red in the face and literally foam at the mouth. It was a little unsettling to witness.

[CharleyDog]

58. When the Chevy Vox was hailed as a great improvement in EV, Rush

Limpaw spent the next year ranting and railing against the American-made car as the most horrible
thing to ever happen in the world worse than WWII and 911.

[denverbill]

10. This is exactly correct.

There are pickup owners who spend thousands of dollars to cause their trucks to spew out clouds of smoke. They only do it to piss off other people. It doesn't benefit them at all, but they're willing to pay thousands of dollars for the fun of pissing off liberals/environmentalists.

It says something about them psychologically that they would choose waste money and breathe in more toxins just to irritate someone they probably don't even know.

[Girard442]

27. Probably screwing their warranty too.

[janterry]

2. As the driver of a Prius

all I can say is, IDK. People are VERY mean to me - and more than a few times, folks have stuck out their middle finger for *nothing* - I have not made a driving mistake, I'm not in front of them (to go slow). One guy pulled out a MAGA sign, honked repeatedly - the irony is I wouldn't even have seen it.....but my daughter did

[DBoon]

11. I once had a guy driving in the shoulder to get ahead of us

Somehow that BMW owner was upset that we were ahead of him

[kskiska]

3. They hate solar energy, too.

Go figure.

[Celerity]

24. they are quite literally a death cult

[Bengus81]

60. And wind generation because of the poooor birds..........

As their out several weekends a year blowing away as many as they can get a bead on.

[Initech]

5. They're just being assholes for the sake of being assholes.

It's almost like they wake up in the morning thinking "how much more of a dick can I be?". Blocking electric vehicle charging stations with their gargantuan gas guzzling trucks is a colossal dick move. If I drive a Model 3 and I see that, I'm calling the cops.

[Botany]

28. I had to stop speaking to a long time friend after Trump's being put into the White House

He grew up and was bathed in right wing crap and he took pleasure in my pain
of seeing Trump in the White House. Even though he is a doctor he used phrases
like lib-tards, how sweet are liberal tears, transgender bathrooms, and that black
people voting are obviously cheating.

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Because the oligarchs are heavily invested in gas and oil

We've spent over a 100 years creating wealth from oil/gas/gasoline, including transportation routes, on a global basis.
Counties have been invaded over and over because of oil/pipeline routes/seaports.
Part of the reason Japan started a war with us had to do with access to oil.

Ironically, we have used up hundreds of years worth of oil carrying out wars to grab oil resources.

Oil-garchs, indeed, have fought nuclear power alternatives, electric power alternatives, etc. to maintain oil superiority.

they have not yet figured out that on a dying planet, money has no value.

[hurple]

7. And wind power

I live in a blue state, but in a county that went 86% trump. We have a wind energy company wanting to build a wind farm in the county, with a promise of 30 million tax dollars for the county per year.

And the local yokels are fighting against it tooth and nail, even though it get continually pointed out that this would lower their property taxes. They say they don't want the birds falling out of the skies, or the blinking safety lights, for planes, are "blinding," or that it's a well-known fact that those towers cast darker shadows than other structures (what the?), or whatever insanely stupid thing they can one up with to oppose them...

And the oddest part is all the counties around this one have approved the farms, and they've gone in without any of the "horrors" these idiots are protesting, and those counties are experiencing windfall revenue increases... but still they fight and scream and make fools of themselves, and this county.

[hauckeye]

16. Plus- when the wind stops blowing

You won’t have electricity <eye roll>

[Merlot]

23. If they think wind turbines kill birds...

wait till they see what climate change does to the bird population, as well as other animals, and humans.

I'm also guessing all those people who are concerned about birds are vegitarians who never go hunting.

[Norbert]

48. There are a number of birds that die from flying to close over the cooling towers

of a power plant. If we are so concerned about birds then not only should we stop wind power, we should shut down the power plants as well.

A couple years back I wa at a family reunion and the subject came up about wind power with a group of us. We weren't even 10 seconds into the conversation when one of the young cousins spouted, "You're gonna kill a lot of birds." The right did do their homework and that is repeat a talking point and it will take root wherever you go, whether it is true or not.

[Merlot]

52. Yes, and my cat kills birds too.

More birds are killed by factory farming every day than wind turbines and cats combined would be my guess.

The "birds are gonna die" thing just won't fly with me. ; )

[Bengus81]

61. Yeah and read up on how many birds fly into those invisible (in the dark) guy wires...

On all those Corporate owned TV and Radio antenna. Those hypocrites will NEVER bring up those numbers. I live in Kansas,we have wind farms out the wazoo. If there was some huge,weird number of birds killed on a daily or weekly basis by those generators it would be on the local news.

I have NEVER seen one story in all the years wind generation has been building up in this State. Those MAGOTS can bitch all they want,wind generation and wind farms is HOT in Kansas. Farmers make a LOAD of cash off of leasing the land and hope to be next on the list.

[hurple]

50. Y'know it's funny...

They don't give a shit about the environment or animals, until something they don't like gets falsely accused of hurting a few, then they're sudden "tree huggers"

Odd, that.

And here's a fun story: Got into a "debate" with a MAGAt on FB about wind power, and he pulled out the "fact," the "well-known fact," that each tower kills thousands of birds monthly. In fact, he continued, all those towers have piles of birds laying at their base. I responded by informing him that I live in a windfarm, and have a few towers less than 5 miles from me and that I would be happy to go photograph the area around the base of a few towers so he could see there are no "piles of birds" there. Funny, that was the end of that discussion.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

44. I do not understand, and I don't believe

the claims that wind turbines kill thousands of birds. If that were true, surely I'd see piles of dead birds at the base of the towers that I drive by fairly often of some of my trips.

[hurple]

54. they don't

They don't kill any more birds than planes, tall glass buildings, or anything else they might fly into by accident. But, I don't see MAGAts protesting any of those

[Yavin4]

8. Anything that does not comport to their world view is seen as an enemy to their world view.

Even if it's something that protects the planet, saves them money, etc., they will not only be in opposition to it, they will see it as an enemy that needs to be defeated.

[loyalsister]

9. Car culture and nostalgia

Car worship. I have known people who love cars the way gun enthusiasts love their guns. They like the smell of gasoline and the noise. They also like to work on them and to be able to salvage parts from junkyards.
Heavy metal thunder, Thunder Road, and Born to Run...... and before that Chuck Berry's You Can't Catch Me among many others.
Electric cars are un-romantically practical.

[MichMan]

41. I think you nailed it

Plus the $7500 subsidy. I know quite a few that on principle are fine with electric cars, but don't believe someone buying a $75K Tesla needs the taxpayers providing a subsidy

[Volaris]

49. True, but the subsidy will cover the cost of a replacement battery for a used Prius.

It's smart if you're not rich.
Again, this is about their enjoyment of willing ignorance as a way to take a dig at us.

[Volaris]

45. None of those people have ever test driven a Tesla.

Those things are the muscle-car equalivant of a jet fighter...sexy as fuck if you like power.

[Brawndo]

12. They respond in this way to any effort, great or small, to improve life.

Driving an electric car implies caring about the environment, to them, caring = weakness. Examine the motivations behind a high school bully, the right shares those exact same motives. They are beings unburdened by complexity or intellect.

[DBoon]

13. It offends their masculinity

Hybrids and electrics are quiet and frugal and protect common natural resources. They are an affront to the macho individualist "values" of the MAGA drivers.

"Manly" cars are big and loud. They consume more fuel to display their dominance over other cars (see Veblen, Theory of the Leisure Class). "Rolling coal" is the equivalent of a dominant dog dry humping another much smaller dog.

Being aggressive to hybrid/electric drivers is a display of dominance to reassure themselves that they truly rule the road

[California_Republic]

14. I compost: it make my Trump loving relatives ANGRY

This stuff does. I think they feel it’s based on hippie liberal Hollywood Democrat .....

Hate!

[Sherman A1]

15. I am reasonably certain that the Right

hates most everything.

[gratuitous]

17. Beginning with themselves

But their identification with their tribe of choice deflects their self-loathing outward to anything their overlords tell them to hate. Because that's what rugged individualists do!

[Sherman A1]

18. Yup

that sums it up rather well.

[Separation]

19. Some people

Just want to see the world burn.

[moondust]

20. Fossil fuels - profits.

The economies of some states like TX and OK are heavily invested in fossil fuels, creating a lot of jobs and making a few guys super rich.

[louis-t]

21. Cuz when the wind stops blowing, they stop....

errrr

[Raine]

22. Simple, they have money invested in fossil fuel

that's what it all comes down to.

[ck4829]

25. Kick

[stonecutter357]

26. Why does the right hate electric cars so much? ig·no·rance !

[Hoyt]

29. There is a genetic defect that causes IWW (Ignorant White Wingerism).

[walkingman]

32. I often wonder is there might be some sort of genetic difference that prohibits any sort of empathy

by some on the right. I like your acronym. I've used WPP(White Peoples Party) for years when referring to the GOP.

[Hoyt]

40. That's a good one too. In truth, growing up in a white wing environment probably contributes more

than genetics. But, hatred and lack of compassion definitely runs in families.

[Volaris]

51. Test results have indicated larger amygdalyas. It's not definitive,

That if you have one, you'll be a republican, but most Republicans have them.

Their natural, BIOLOGICAL response, is to Be Afraid Of New Shit.

The result is their opinion that any and all progress can kick rocks.

[walkingman]

30. It's because of what it represents.....sustainability over greed at any cost. Even the most rabid

Republican actually knows that we cannot continue on this path of utter destruction of our environment. But because of the political labeling of both parties would rather profess loyalty to the cult over their own self-interest.

[JHB]

31. Because "tree hugging environmentalists" like electric cars

Sure, there are rich people with investment portfolios full of fossil fuel stocks, but that doesn't account for the numbers and the gusto with which so many rank & file conservatives engage in the hate.

The key to understanding it is recognizing the addiction to bile and axe-grinding. Combine them into a foamy mix, hook the tank up to a foam-cannon, and have fun all day long pointing it liberals and blasting away.

When you get down to the brass tacks, it really is that simple.

[Amishman]

33. They know that once internal combustion engines are not the norm, they will be banned

They fight electric car adoption in an attempt to protect their ownership of the gas guzzlers they love

Same reason gun nuts fight against all types of gun reform

[ansible]

34. I have a serious concern about battery technology on electric cars

While lithium batteries have advanced it considerably, there is now the danger of the increasing demand for it causing just as much pollution as oil drilling does. Compound this with its rarity and cost of refinement and you have a potentially dangerous situation. And the fact is batteries simply do not last forever, eventually you will have to dispose and replace it, generating massive waste.

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/lithium-batteries-environment-impact

[Mariana]

65. Do you think that's why the right hates electric cars so much?

Because they have serious concerns about battery technology on electric cars?

[Squinch]

35. Republicans love pollution. Not kidding.

[Turbineguy]

36. Not enough smoke.

They don't make enough smoke. And when they do smoke, they stop running.



Somebody could build a smoke generator and put it in the trunk of the car. With a big tall chrome smoke pipe. Maybe even have flames shooting out. Yeah. That would work.

[Hotler]

37. It's not the cars...........

it's the drivers. Most of the Prius I encounter on the road dawdle, and do it in the wrong lane. Then again some drivers in non-electric vehicles dawdle also, and in the wrong lane. And for the record I don't hate any of them. I wait for a safe spot and pass them.

I have also followed Prius drivers that were not afraid to put the peddle down. Those time were fun. Both of us should have had tickets.

[WA-03 Democrat]

38. Bought a used 2015 Leaf

We love the car! I used to have a big Mercedes 400 hp 5.5l before it. I love cars. We live in a conservative area outside of Portland. We have had it for 4 months and other then a couple cars cutting me off-nothing.

Here’s my list of love for my Leaf:
1) no money goes to Tru$$ia or the House of Saud
2) $10k for a 3 year old car that needs no maintenance other then tires and wiper blades
3) doubles as a backup power source
4) quiet to drive you hear the road
5) blast to drive and I can drive as aggressive as i want

If they realized the intrinsic economic advantages then it would be a clear choice. No better deal on the car market then a used leaf. We spend $15 extra on electricity a month and drive it everywhere and everyday.

I’d argue it helps further by not support our enemies, it removes support from the exploitive mineral extraction business, no releases no CO2 and it’s a better driving experience.

[corbettkroehler]

39. 50% Psychosis/50% Capitalism

Because of its utter futility, I seldom engage climate deniers. However, from my few attempts, I have gleaned 2 key fundamental principles of this issue:

1) Politicians and their fossilized enablers, especially campaign donors, have embraced a philosophy for treehuggers which is quite similar to the way in which young students sometimes mock their classmates who excel in school for being too smart, as if scholastic achievement were a bad thing.

The best example I can cite came from Glenn Beck's original CNN HLN TV show, before he had to jump to lesser-known networks. When Obama began his first big push for conservation, Beck shared with his audience that, when he commuted to the studio, he deliberately left his car running in the parking lot all day to do his part to disprove the "theory" of global warming.

I continue fuming about that statement a decade later.

2) The discovery and global embrace of petroleum has done far more good for humanity than any theoretical threat from an unproven "idea" of global warming. From their perspective, without oil, humanity would remain in the dark ages and any belief to the contrary is treasonous and anti-competitive.

Sitting behind both of these philosophies is a firm embrace of capitalism: unless someone makes money off everything everyone does, the system is threatened. I am living proof. I drive a 2013 Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid and my home is solar-powered (shout-out to MomentumSolar.com). Although the Volt has a fraction of the range of a Tesla (±45 miles between charges), I don't drive too much. Thus, I can coordinate with weather conditions. Living in Florida, I am able to limit my charging time to sunny days between 10AM and 5PM.

In short, better than 90% of my driving consistently has zero-emissions. As you can sense, I am proud of this but who profits from it? No one and that's the point.

[MichMan]

42. Perhaps the $7500 subsidy ?

I know quite a few that on principle are fine with electric cars, but don't believe someone buying a $75K Tesla needs the taxpayers providing a subsidy

[Iggo]

47. People on the right complaining about rich people getting a tax break?

I tend to think, and just off the top of my head, that that's not all that prevalent.

EDIT: Wait a second. Now that I think about it, I'm thinking about the people who the street-level righty thinks drives a Prius. Now it makes more sense.

[Volaris]

43. We like the math of electric vehicles, because we understand that math

To them, that means we think they're stupid (under other circumstances, this would be wrong).

But since they think we're proud of our intelligence (and rightly so), they conclude that we look down on them for not being like us.

Their response is to be PROUD of their ignorance, as a misconcieved response to our 'elite-ism'.

Which is actually the thing I look down on.

No Hate for the uneducated. Much, MUCH hate for the WILLINGLY STUPID.

[Iggo]

46. Because the left likes them.

It's really that simple.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

53. Because liberals approve of them.

Secondarily, because they don't make enough noise.

[The Genealogist]

55. Different Reasons

The rich leaders hate electric cars because so many of them are rich because of petroleum. Their willfully ignorant minions have a lot of reasons, like:

"them goldurned libruls wanna tell me whut car I can and can't drive. Ain't no goldurned librul gonna tell me whut ta do!"

"Them thur cars is for_____ (insert sexist/hompphobic term)"

And of course the rich are around the willfully ignorant like sheep on this.

[Power 2 the People]

56. The OIL lobby. Like the NRA, they are domestic terrorists who profit off of killing people.

[customerserviceguy]

57. I drive a Sonata Hybrid

and I often don't get any respect on the highway. Maybe I should put an NRA bumper sticker on the back...

[Takket]

59. hard qustion to answer because i don't even think they know

the response is more Pavlovian than rational.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

62. because astroturfing

They swallow what the oil and auto industries puke out, then regurgitate it everywhere they go. It's too much work to think for themselves.

[llmart]

63. Because they always have to have something to hate.

That's the bottom line. It's their reason for getting up every day. They rarely smile - I mean a genuine smile, not that tight lipped, stick up their butts, sneer they think is a smile. What they consider humor is making fun of someone else. Everything bad that happens in their lives is someone else's fault. They just need to wallow in negativity and hate.

Personally I hope it eats them up and shortens their lives.

[Codeine]

64. They don't. They just hate liberals.

Accordingly they act out against anything championed by liberals. It’s just mindless lashing out against a world that no longer caters exclusively to them and which they are increasingly unable to understand.

[Fla_Democrat]

66. I have it on good authority.....

I have it on good authority that they love the Black Rifle Coffee company's Prius. Just sayin'.

[jalan48]

67. Because there are no electric pick-up trucks?