A family called the police on Biden Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and her team after an argument at a charging point during her electric car tour.
The White House is investing billions of dollars into green energy and clean automobiles, and this four-day excursion from North Carolina to Tennessee was meant to bring that to light.
Granholm’s employees fought with an angry family earlier this summer when the Energy Secretary’s entourage tried to hold a spot for Graholm by parking a combustible engine car in the charging bay.
NPR’s Camila Domonoske, who tagged along on the journey, noted that between destinations, Granholm’s retinue at times had to wrestle with the restrictions of EV’s current limitations.
To guarantee Granholm a spot in the charging bay in Augusta, Georgia, an Energy Department official attempted parking a nonelectric car alongside one of those functional chargers to secure a place for the approaching secretary of energy.
That did not go down well.
Domonoske said that one family was so outraged by being boxed out “on a hot day, with a baby in the car,” they called the police.
The group settled on having the family charge their vehicle simultaneously, as Granholm did.
Domonoske, who also drives an EV, recognized the problem that the incident highlighted for the future of EVs and the Biden administration.
She said after spending time in Granholm’s electric vehicle (EV), she could confidently say that the White House is aware of the urgency with which this problem must be addressed.
Most people who drive electric vehicles and have access to a home charging station will never have to deal with the challenges Granholm’s group faces during their everyday lives. While the NPR piece calls the new all-electric Chevy Bolt “cheap,” the base price on Chevrolet’s website is well over $27,000. The cost of many different types of fully electric vehicles is still out of reach for the average American family.
In an interview with NPR, Granholm said that they want to make it incredibly simple for people to go long distances.
NPR detailed how Granholm’s electric vehicle road trip fell short despite her best efforts at preparation.
