The title of Tim Kirner’s Feb. 9 op-ed, “Any Mainer can buy an electric vehicle. No one should have to,” implies that the proposed Advanced Clean Cars II program would force us to buy an EV. That’s misleading, as are many of his objections to EVs. The program would actually require all new vehicles sold in Maine to be electric or plug-in hybrid by 2035. Buyers wanting the flexibility of gasoline can buy a hybrid. The used vehicle market, where two-thirds of Mainers buy their cars, would be unaffected.

Mr. Kirner asserts that “many Mainers simply cannot afford an EV.” An Oct. 8, 2020 story in Consumer Reports finds that the most popular electric vehicles under $50,000 cost less to own than the best-selling gas-powered vehicles in their class.

He cites Trump administration lawyer and communicator Mandy Gunasekara as an authority for the statement “the first 60,000 to 70,000 miles of an EV are more polluting … than gas-powered cars.” The actual figure is 15,000 to 21,000, according to the 2022 report Driving Cleaner by the Union of Concerned Scientists. The report states that the average EV in New England causes emissions equal to a gasoline car getting 111 miles per gallon.

Finally, Mr. Kirner states “there are forces … within … the general (uninformed) public, who feel EVs are the answer to climate change.” Not the answer, but an answer to an urgent problem. Thus, the Advanced Clean Cars II program.

Allen Armstrong
Portland

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