September 9th was World EV Day and we missed it. I just can’t believe that when the entire world was focused on this monumental day – which ranks in significance with June 6th, 9/11, and Columbus Indigenous People’s Day – Breakthrough Ideas failed to mention it.
But Governor Pritzker didn’t miss it. He was at Rivian HQ, in Normal, Illinois, apparently, celebrating the moment, surrounded by a bunch of employees who look like their job was in jeopardy if they didn’t show up for the dog and pony show. The group sat dutifully in place listening to their benefactor and savior, which he is after promising them $827 million of YOUR TAX MONEY in the form of subsidies ,including cash of $75 million which has not yet been disbursed.
Pritzker mentioned in his social media post about the event that he hopes to have 1 million EVs registered in Illinois by 2030. There is ZERO chance of that happening. The Illinois Secretary of State’s office tracks EV registration and as of August 2024 there are a total of 111,107 registered EVs.
On another note, it was China Week in Congress. I am not sure if they did this to coincide with World EV Day, but that would be hilarious trolling if so. Quite a few votes were taken up to protect the U.S. from Chinese manufacturers taking advantage of tax credits, from the use of Chinese products for security reasons, and to combat against Chinese malign influence around the world. Those bills were highlighted in an email put out from Congressman Moolenaar and among the bills that passed were:
- PRC Malign Influence Fund Authorization Act HERE.
- Decoupling From Foreign Adversarial Battery Dependence Act HERE.
- Countering CCP Drones Act HERE
- Science and Technology Agreement Enhanced Congressional Notification Act HERE.
The Decoupling From Foreign Adversarial Battery Dependence Act presented by Rep. Gimenez from Florida specifically prevents Homeland Security from purchasing batteries from Gotion. His statement on why we should not be using Chinese batteries should be read in the chambers of the state legislature in Illinois. It gives you every reason why we should not be spending a half a billion dollars for Gotion in Illinois. From Center Square:
“Our government should not be spending tax dollars to procure batteries from companies that profit from slave labor or provide another avenue for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) to expand their surveillance apparatus here in the United States homeland,” Gimenez said.
To add to that bill, the End Chinese Dominance of Electric Vehicles in America Act of 2024, passed on Thursday. This bill limits federal tax credits from flowing to electric vehicles with parts produced in China. The bill is not as expansive and impactful as the No Gotion Bill which was not considered, as it only affects the $7500 tax credit. But, it sets up the pushback against giving China – our number one adversary – and quite frankly, our enemy – our tax money to compete against us in the EV battery space.
Will Pritzker and the Democrats take note of these votes? The answer is no. No Illinois Democrat voted for the bill. Quigely went not voting, the rest voted No. They are 100% supportive of China subverting American industry and using US and IL tax dollars to compete against us and send that profit back to the homeland to build out their military.
Further proof that Gotion, Inc is a Chinese company comes from their Foreign Trade Zone filing paperwork which I got this week. On page 1, under Notification Requesting FTZ Production Authority is this statement, ‘Gotion, Inc. (“Gotion”) is a US subsidiary of China-based Gotion High-tech Co., Ltd.”
This relationship was known before, but the company has wanted to say they are not controlled by China when clearly they are. This is just one more example of Gotion’s ties to China. They are not an American or German company as they have previously insinuated. And any China expert will tell you that Chinese companies do not operate independent of the Chinese state and the CCP.
