Pete Buttigieg accidentally admits EVs are not a short-term answer to the gas crisis

With gas now averaging $5 a gallon nationally, Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg wants you to know the administration is working hard to build a national charging network for EV vehicles:

To support the transition to electric vehicles, we must build a national charging network that makes finding a charge as easy as filling up at a gas station.

— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) June 9, 2022

But this is just the announcement of a new “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.” That’s it:

We're proposing new ground rules that will help create a network of EV chargers across the country that are convenient, affordable, reliable and accessible for all Americans. https://t.co/268JEvMhH3 #DriveElectric

— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) June 9, 2022

Help is on the way — if everything goes smoothly — by 2030? Well, that’s *one* way of admitting that EVs are not a short-term answer to the gas crisis:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In keeping with President Biden’s commitment to jumpstart the construction of a national network of 500,000 electric vehicle (EV) chargers by 2030, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration today announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on proposed minimum standards and requirements for projects funded under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program. These minimum standards will help ensure our national EV charging network is user-friendly, reliable, and accessible to all Americans, and interoperable between different charging companies, with similar payment systems, pricing information, charging speeds, and more. The proposed rule would establish the groundwork for states to build federally-funded charging station projects across a national EV charging network, an important step towards making electric vehicle charging accessible to all Americans. No matter what kind of EV a user drives, what state they charge in, or what charging company they plug into, the minimum standards will ensure a unified network of chargers with similar payment systems, pricing information, charging speeds, and more. The standards also establish strong workforce requirements for installation, maintenance, and operations to increase the safety and reliability of charging station function and use, and create and support good-paying, highly-skilled jobs in communities across the country.