From InsideEVs.
Republican strategist Mike Murphy talks to the Plug-In Podcast about how electric cars became so "tribalized"—and how to fix it. Read more below:
Detroit is the heart of American automaking, and the great state of Michigan is seeing almost $9 billion in private investments and 14,000 jobs to craft the new era of electrified vehicles. Yet last fall, Michigan’s Elissa Slotkin—a Democrat and a supporter of Joe Biden and later Kamala Harris—had to run ads with an "I don’t know about this whole EV thing" vibe in her run for the U.S. Senate.
Ultimately, for Slotkin, that approach worked. Or at least, it didn’t hurt her successful election bid. But anyone who watches the car industry or is just a fan of EVs must be wondering how the hell we all got here. How did EVs become so politicized over the years, and as the entire global auto industry trends toward electrification, what can be done about it?
That’s one of the big topics of today’s Plugged-In Podcast. In this episode, co-host Tim Levin and Editor-In-Chief Patrick George interview Mike Murphy. He’s a longtime GOP strategist who’s worked with the likes of Mitt Romney and John McCain (he was actually the latter senator’s lead strategist on his 2000 presidential run) and, believe it or not, a big EV guy. That’s why he runs the EV Politics Project and the American EV Jobs Alliance, two related groups trying to de-politicize EVs across America.
Besides just liking the electric experience better than gas cars these days, Murphy, himself a Detroit native, is clear about what’s at stake here. "It will not be the end of the world if we’re all driving Chinese EVs that cost $27,000, but it will break my heart," he told us.
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00:00 Introduction/Banter
00:00 The Current State of EVs
02:50 Breakthroughs in Battery Technology
07:38 The Future of Solid State Batteries
10:37 The Evolution of Gas Engine Technology
14:41 Exploring E-REVs: Ram and Scout
23:35 Political Hurdles in EV Adoption
25:24 Introduction to Mike Murphy and His Journey
28:26 The Shift to Electric Vehicles
31:19 The Political Landscape of EVs
34:25 The Impact of Subsidies on EV Manufacturing
37:14 Trump, Tariffs, and American Manufacturing
40:26 The Partisan Divide on Electric Vehicles
42:55 Elon Musk’s Influence on EV Perception
47:56 Elon Musk’s Impact on the EV Market
50:13 Political Influences on EV Subsidies
51:30 Challenges in EV Infrastructure Development
52:59 State-Level Responses to EV Investments
54:44 Republican Voter Sentiment Towards EVs
56:49 Marketing Challenges for EV Adoption
01:01:02 The Importance of Word-of-Mouth in EV Sales
01:04:45 Political Opportunities for EV Charging Solutions
01:05:33 The Future of EVs and Market Dynamics
01:06:31 Plus Minus: Industry Updates
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