Florida Senator Rick Scott is leading the investigation request into what he calls an Energy Department EV scheme.
The Republican Senator wrote a letter to the Government Accountability Office Comptroller General Gene Dodaro with concerns the Department of Energy is incorrectly, and likely intentionally, setting an inflated petroleum equivalency factor (PEF) for electric vehicles (EVs).
Senator Scott requested the GAO conduct an investigation into the Department of Energy and their practices setting the agency’s directive for automakers’ corporate average fuel economy standards that may enable automakers to earn nearly seven times more credits per EV than rated fuel economy would allow—and possibly generating subsidies that exceed $10,000 per EV.
“With the EPA and NHTSA establishing stringent greenhouse gas emissions standards and CAFE standards with the explicit goal of increasing EV adoption, automakers are planning massive investments in EVs, with supply chains that are primarily outside the U.S., including in countries hostile to the U.S. These federal standards and the improper application of the FCF to EVs is resulting in an improper transfer of billions of dollars every year from gasoline vehicle manufacturers and consumers to electric vehicle manufacturers and consumers,” the letter stated.
Joining Senator Scott on the letter are Republican Senators Mike Lee, Roger Marshall, Dan Sullivan and Pete Ricketts.
“Despite this massive unlawful and hidden wealth transfer, gasoline and diesel car and truck consumers do not know that they have unwittingly been subsidizing the purchase of EVs and what the true cost of the subsidy is,” the letter continued. “The American people have a right to know what they are paying for.”
The Senators requested the Government Accountability Office conduct an investigation to answer several questions.
Read the full letter from Florida Senator Rick Scott and other Republicans to Government Accountability Office Comptroller General Gene Dodaro:
RickScott_EVschemeletter
