"An old saying from the west was, 'Don't shoot your horse unless you make sure you have another one waiting.' By starting to phase out our internal combustion technology to chase the EV mystic, might be something we will regret in the future."
Peanut butter and jelly. Salt and pepper. Birds and the bees. Oil and water. Wait - oil and water? They don't go together, like the other items do. Guess what else does not go together? Batteries and cold. All kinds of batteries, including the ones which will power our next type of vehicles. The EVs. And they are coming. Right now, experts say, sales for EVs will go up by a factor of 6 by 2025, from where they are now. They might be excellent, for those south of the Mason Dixon Line. Or not. But up north here, there are problems on our very frigid horizon.
One of my old compadres from the old days, pokes me from now and again, about how much I talk about the weather. If he had lived here longer, he would realize that talking about the weather is part of our DNA in the north country. Most all of us do it. In any event, on with the story.
Those of us who have been born and raised in the far north, know all about cold and batteries. We have all heard that sick sound of a tired battery trying to start a car when the temps are 10 above or colder. Now picture a battery which does everything for your car, instead of just starting it. With today's technology, how will the new EVs make out in the sometimes very cold northland? Turns out - not well.
Here is what Consumer Reports is reporting about buying an EV if you live in a colder climate. Take the manufacturer's projected range per charge, and cut it in two (if the temps are very cold). So, if you buy a car with an estimated range of 300 miles, and want to go up to Duluth from Minneapolis (to maybe visit Bentleyville), and if the temps are 10 above or colder, plan on stopping midway up for charge. Not only halfway up for a charge, but charging again once you are in Duluth, and then charging once again, halfway home. That is, if you can find an available charging station.
I was exposed to battery technology when I was in the workaday world. I know a bit about the puts and takes of current (at that time) battery technology. For many in the high tech industry, finding a more robust type of battery will be the Golden Fleece of the future. If that technology is discovered, EVs might then, be the vehicle of the future. Or not. The EV might just be a passing fancy, similar to what the "pig tailed" florescent bulb were to lighting. Way too many problems with "pigtails", so they were phased out, to be replaced by led blubs.
An old saying from the west was, "Don't shoot your horse unless you make sure you have another one waiting." By starting to phase out our internal combustion technology to chase the EV mystic, might be something we will regret in the future. I am not saying the EV will not work out for us - it might in the future. But for right now, buying an EV while living in Minnesota, is a huge gamble.
By the way, how to power the charging stations is also going to be a bit daunting. If we are getting rid of coal, and eschew building new nukes, and if the sun is not shining, and the wind is not blowing - then what? But that is a subject for another day. As for today, we will just assume we will be using fairy dust and lollypops to power our growing fleet of EVs.
Talk to Jack Doherty about EVs. He's been in the car business all his life. His view is that the major auto manufacturers are going all-in on EVs and our kids and grands will have them forced upon them. Eventually, as gas cars are phased out, parts for existing gas cars will be phased out and hard to come by until there will be no choice but to buy EV. And, as you said, what's gonna power all the charging stations? All this will happen after you and I are gone. It's gonna be a mess.
ReplyDeleteI known Jack for years. He is a truth teller. And this is going to be a mess. Thanks Brandon, for another fine mess you are getting us into.
Delete"All this will happen after you and I are gone."
ReplyDeletePreferably the J. Marionette Blowden gang, including Energy Ignoramus Pete Gigglebutt, will be gone long before this mistake is accomplished. Seems it's only one of many they plan to perpetrate.