Electric vehicles are still too expensive for many American households — and the stuttering supply chain means they’re also hard to find, with some automakers warning of possibly yearslong waits to buy their most popular models. Meanwhile, proposals in Washington to help ease the supply crunch or make electric cars more affordable are languishing on the Hill. And polls show that voters largely blame inflation on Biden’s policies, part of a sour political atmosphere that could put Congress back in Republicans’ hands after November.

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) said some Americans can afford a new electric vehicle, “but a lot of people are in a position where they absolutely can’t, and they are just at the mercy of the price at the pump right now.”…

Global shortages of the computer chips and rare minerals that go into automaking have triggered a huge supply crunch for new cars and trucks — and have hit the electric variety especially hard, given their added dependence on electronics. (An electric vehicle needs about twice as many chips as a gas-powered car.)

Automakers including Ford and Volkswagen have said they’re essentially sold out of their popular electric cars and trucks for at least this year, Insider reported last week, while anyone wanting to order the most affordable Tesla models will need to wait until as late as December.