Short on juice?

"In any event, the future is now. As much as I hate all the pork which will reside in this infrastructure bill, without adequate charging stations, we will be in deep kimchee by 2030."

One of the things which will be in the new infrastructure bill, will be EV (electric vehicle) charging stations. Before you throw your hands up in disgust, please read on for a bit. I have addressed this before in previous articles. First off, I do not own an electric, nor a hybrid vehicle. No plans to do so in the near future. That being said, I am also a realist. The train (EVs and hybrids) is leaving the station - soon. Not because of any hammer handed government mandates - the car manufacturers are making the switch this decade.

I have known this for a while now. It is not just one or two car companies - it is just about all of them. My concern in doing so is the nexus. The nexus to make this switch successful. And that nexus consists of four important things coming together at the same time.

Cars - This is a slam dunk. The commitment has been made, the investments are in place, and the tooling has started. By 2030, we will not have 100% EV and hybrid vehicles on the road, but they will be more common than uncommon. Go on any of the auto manufacturers web sites. They are not shy in disclosing their plans.

Batteries - Much progress has been made as of late in batteries. That being said, we are not there as yet. These monster batteries are very heavy, dirty to make, hard to make, and most of the supplies to make them are offshore. The Golden Ticket will be the company which comes up with a EV battery which will last 1,000 miles between charges, be lighter, cheaper, cleaner to make, and stout enough to handle Minnesota winters or Florida summers.

Juice (Electricity) - This could be the biggest bug-a-boo to success. Since Slo Joe has decided to kill off our coal industry, energy will become a much bigger problem in the future. And with the advent of electric cars, our demand for energy (and lots of it), will keep going up. Hint = windmills and solar farms will be of little help.

Charging Stations - In the year 2021, we see very few charging stations dotting the landscape. Very few homes have one in their garage (average cost right now is about $1,200). When your depleted car comes up to a charging station, how long will a full charge take? How much will it cost? Will there be lines? It will be interesting to see how this mammoth infrastructure bill addresses these issues (if at all).

In any event, the future is now. As much as I hate all the pork which will reside in this infrastructure bill, without adequate charging stations, we will be in deep kimchee by 2030. I have said many times that my V-8 truck might be my last internal combustion vehicle. I may want another new one in the future, but that choice may no longer be mine.