Mar. 16, 2022—Conservative Democrat senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia isn’t ready to go bullish on electric vehicles just yet, Business Insider reports.
Citing current parts shortages and potential dependence on foreign-made parts and oil, the W.Va. senator stated that he’s holding his cards until the U.S. can provide better domestic solutions.
"I'm very reluctant to go down the path of electric vehicles," Manchin said at CERAWeek, a global energy conference hosted by S&P Global. "I'm old enough to remember standing in line in 1974 trying to buy gas—I remember those days. I don't want to have to be standing in line waiting for a battery for my vehicle because we're now dependent on a foreign supply chain — mostly China."
Fellow Democrats urged him to reconsider. Ashley Schapitl, a spokesperson for the Senate Finance Committee, tweeted, "There are a bunch of incentives in the package to produce chips and batteries domestically so we don't trade dependence on foreign oil for dependence on foreign batteries."
