Government screwups are a fact of life, but a glorified photo op for U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm backfired in such a spectacular way that police were reportedly called.
According to NPR, Granholm took part in a four-day road trip designed to promote electric vehicles and the Biden Administration’s efforts to support them. As part of this escapade, officials traveled in a convoy that apparently consisted of a Cadillac Lyriq, Ford F-150 Lightning, and a Chevrolet Bolt or Bolt EUV.
While that’s pretty much your ‘America First EV Starter Pack,’ it didn’t take long for things to go wrong. According to the publication, the convoy was slated to charge in Grovetown, Georgia but an advance team discovered their pre-selected charging site had a broken charger, while the three working ones were occupied.
More: Lamborghini And McLaren Supercars Caught ICEing Tesla Supercharger Station
Since running out of juice would bring the convoy to an embarrassing end, a Department of Energy (DOE) staffer reportedly “tried parking a non-electric vehicle by one of those working chargers to reserve a spot.” The publication then suggests the gas-powered vehicle was used to block a charger and save it for Granholm.
While the specifics are a little hazy, the publication says a family looking to charge was “boxed out on a sweltering day with a baby in the vehicle.” They were reportedly so upset that they called police and a sheriff’s deputy responded. However, they allegedly couldn’t do anything as ICEing is apparently legal in Georgia. Members of the DOE then “scrambled to smooth over the situation” and both vehicles were eventually able to recharge.
That’s a lot to unpack, but the DOE managed to make themselves look bad while also highlighting problems with America’s charging infrastructure – namely the lack of chargers and their lackluster reliability. If that wasn’t bad enough, the government went for the trifecta and reminded a family that politicians are more important than the people they’re supposed to serve.
That being said, you can also look at it from another perspective and be thankful the DOE didn’t block off all the chargers and only inconvenienced one unlucky family. Regardless, we’ve reached out to the DOE and will update this post if we hear back.
Update: The Department of Energy declined to answer our questions about the incident, but a spokesperson told us “For over a decade, while our global competitors geared up for the clean energy transition, America lagged behind. Now, with President Biden’s historic Investing in America agenda we have over $7 billion to build out convenient and reliable EV charging infrastructure, a portion of which is already awarded to every state, D.C. and Puerto Rico. The private sector is following suit with equally ambitious investments – growing our workforce and keeping money in the pockets of hardworking Americans.”
H/T to The Autopian
