"One of the crown jewels of the new EV era was going to be the F-150 Lightning, made by Ford. So many gizmos, one Ford designer said it was 'like driving your cell phone'. Guess what? Ford just pulled the plug on building those things."
Much has been written or reported as of late, concerning Joe Biden's pet rock. His pet rock? The electric vehicle. Seemed like a good idea at a time - to some folks. But for those who knew that 2 +2 = 4, something was missing in the equation. For those who liked to think that 2 + 2 = 5, this was going to change everything. And so it seemed...
There was so much wrong with this crazy idea, it is hard to know where to start. So, I will start with the batteries. They are very heavy. They are very expensive. And most of the material needed to make them, exists outside our country. Like China. And the manufacture of these batteries causes a ton of pollution. But who cares? Plus - if your battery wears out and needs to be replaced, get ready to take out a second mortgage on your house. Yes, they are that costly.
Infrastructure. Where do you charge these puppies? How about at home? Just run an extension cord out to the garage, right? WRONG! You need to have an electrician install a 50-amp service in your garage. That costs over a grand. And then there is the electricity needed to charge them. Not cheap.
On the news the other day, a man was reporting from Tennessee. Seems after the tornados, some areas of the state were without electricity for days. And some of those folks had EVs. They were stuck. No plan "B" available. Plus, the batteries don't work well in very cold climates (like MN). And to find convenient charging stations, is an adventure, and not a good one. Bottom line? The infrastructure is far from being ready for the EV.
One of the crown jewels of the new EV era was going to be the F-150 Lightning, made by Ford. So many gizmos, one Ford designer said it was "like driving your cell phone". Guess what? Ford just "pulled the plug" on building those things. Why? Very few folks are buying them. Many are not ready to take that expensive risk as of yet. What is Ford going to build instead of the Lightning? Good old gas guzzlers.
Here is the epilogue for the EV. The UAW does not want to build them, the consumer does not want to buy them, and the country does not have the infrastructure, nor energy to power them. This entire idea was a poorly hatched idea by the government. Image that - a government program which did not work.
What is the legacy for the EV going to be? Something like the "pig-tailed" electric bulbs. We all know how those things ended up.
ps - Did I mention the EV batteries can also catch on fire?
You wrote: “There was so much wrong with this crazy idea, it is hard to know where to start. So, I will start with the batteries. They are very heavy. They are very expensive. And most of the material needed to make them, exists outside our country. Like China. “
ReplyDeleteLet me correct you:
>> Cobalt: The 6 largest Cobalt reserves in the world are all in countries other than China.
Source: https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/features/largest-cobalt-reserves-country/#
>> Lithium: The 5 largest Lithium reserves in the world are all in countries other than China. (China is #6)
Source: https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/features/six-largest-lithium-reserves-world/
>> Nickel: The 5 largest Nickel reserves in the world are all in countries other than China.
Source: https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/features/nickel-reserves-countries/
You wrote: “And the manufacture of these batteries causes a ton of pollution. But who cares?”
ReplyDelete>> Yes, EV cars have more emissions the day they leave the factory, but It only takes on average 1.5 - 2 years, (around 15,000 miles) before an EV is as "clean" as a gas car. From there on out it has trivial emissions compared to a gas car.
Sources:
https://www.motortrend.com/features/truth-about-electric-cars-ad-why-you-are-being-lied-to/
https://news.umich.edu/study-greater-greenhouse-gas-reductions-for-pickup-truck-electrification-than-for-other-light-duty-vehicles/
https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/evs-start-with-a-bigger-carbon-footprint-but-that-doesn-t-last-1156240.html
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/when-do-electric-vehicles-become-cleaner-than-gasoline-cars-2021-06-29/
https://www.cotes.com/blog/greenhouse-gas-emissions-from-ev-vs-ice-vehicles
https://gmauthority.com/blog/2021/07/electric-vehicles-cleaner-than-ice-vehicles-after-13500-miles/
You wrote: “Plus - if your battery wears out and needs to be replaced, get ready to take out a second mortgage on your house. Yes, they are that costly.”
>> EV Batteries are under warranty for a minimum of 8 years / 100,000 miles. MOST EVs made are still on their original battery even 13 years later. The truth is we really don't know how long they will last as they are lasting longer than we thought they would. Some have well over 300,000 miles on them. Batteries typically don’t just stop working, they slowly lose range. Even at 10-12 years, they will still have 80% or more of their original capacity. Tesla estimates their batteries will last 350-500K miles before they need replaced.
Sources:
https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/how-long-do-ev-batteries-last
https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/advice/how-long-do-ev-batteries-last
https://www.motortrend.com/features/how-long-does-a-tesla-battery-last/
You wrote: “Infrastructure. Where do you charge these puppies? How about at home?”
ReplyDelete>> Yes, actually 80% of EV charging is done at home.
You wrote: “Just run an extension cord out to the garage, right? WRONG! You need to have an electrician install a 50-amp service in your garage. That costs over a grand. And then there is the electricity needed to charge them. Not cheap. “
>> Many EVs can charge via a standard 120V outlet. It all depends on how many miles per day you drive. Larger EVs do require a 240V outlet and charger. Chargers can be purchased for as little a $300.00, and typically your utility company offers up to $500.00 installation rebates. Besides that, you will save around 66% per mile, based on the average cost of electricity and the efficiency of most EV cars. Not to mention the convenience of being able “fill your car up” at home. So you will quickly recoup this cost. When was the last time you priced a gas pump at home?
You wrote: “On the news the other day, a man was reporting from Tennessee. Seems after the tornados, some areas of the state were without electricity for days. And some of those folks had EVs. They were stuck. No plan "B" available.”
>> In the event of a power outage, you can charge an EV from a backup generator. You can also charge it with wind and solar. Do you know what you cannot make with a backup generator, wind, or solar? Gasoline.
You wrote: “Plus, the batteries don't work well in very cold climates (like MN)”
>> Really? How did they just drive an EV from the north pole to the south pole?
Sources:
https://electrek.co/2023/12/17/the-first-ever-drive-from-north-to-south-pole-is-complete-and-it-was-all-electric/
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a38883045/electric-cars-snow-cold-fact-check/
You wrote: “And to find convenient charging stations, is an adventure, and not a good one. “
ReplyDelete>> Actually, all EVs made today have built in navigation systems that will automatically route you to the closest charger. Beyond that there are dozens of free apps that do the same. There are also over 166,000 charging outlets in the US, with that number growing daily.
Sources:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/416750/number-of-electric-vehicle-charging-stations-outlets-united-states/
https://plugshare.com
https://driveelectric.gov/stations
You wrote: “Bottom line? The infrastructure is far from being ready for the EV.”
>> The infrastructure is more than capable of handling the transition to EV. 80% of charging is done at home, at night, when the grid is at its lowest utilization. To complete the transition to all EV by 2050, we only have to increase our electrical production by 1% per year. That is already happening.
Sources:
https://advocacy.consumerreports.org/research/blog-can-the-grid-handle-evs-yes/
https://cleantechnica.com/2022/04/06/engineering-explained-yes-the-grid-can-handle-evs/
You wrote: “One of the crown jewels of the new EV era was going to be the F-150 Lightning, made by Ford. So many gizmos, one Ford designer said it was "like driving your cell phone". Guess what? Ford just "pulled the plug" on building those things.”
>> Ford is not pulling the plug. They are reducing the production to meet the demand. Unfortunately, due to high interest rates and soaring cost of living expenses, ALL auto sales are slowing.
Sources:
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a46107373/ford-f-150-lightning-production-reduced-report/
https://electrek.co/2023/12/05/us-ev-sales-pass-1-million-2023/
https://www.coxautoinc.com/market-insights/new-vehicle-inventory-november-2023/
You wrote: “Why? Very few folks are buying them.
ReplyDelete>> EVs are actually having a record year. Up over 50% Year over Year.
Source:
https://electrek.co/2023/12/05/us-ev-sales-pass-1-million-2023/
You wrote: “Did I mention the EV batteries can also catch on fire?”
>> Did you know that EVs have the lowest risk of fire? Gas cars have a much higher risk of fire.
Source:
https://www.motortrend.com/features/you-are-wrong-about-ev-fires/
https://electrek.co/2022/01/12/government-data-shows-gasoline-vehicles-are-significantly-more-prone-to-fires-than-evs/
At the end of the day, unfortunately 99% of what you wrote is simply not true.
It would have been much easier for you to write what is true:
You don’t like EVs. You don’t understand them. You are afraid of them.
It appears your entire knowledge of them has unfortunately come from social media memes and lies.
You can do better.
Let us grind our green-advocacy ax. Amen.
ReplyDelete