Stock up on this stuff:
Posted on 04/28/2021 7:42:21 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
The Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) has informed a Senate Commerce subcommittee on transportation that the Biden Administration’s penchant for electric vehicles is starting to get under its skin. The union is recommending that the United States avoid setting any timeline for the proposed banning of internal combustion vehicles because it might cost a staggering number of jobs.
Ann Wilson, MEMA’s senior vice president of government affairs, said vehicle restrictions were unrealistic before 2040 and would obliterate entire segments of the auto industry without providing concrete assurances that the environment would be improved. While the latter claim can be argued endlessly, the former is pretty difficult to refute.
This is something anyone paying attention to the automotive sector could have seen coming from miles away. As manufacturers began praising EVs for their simplicity and noting how they used far fewer moving parts than their gasoline or diesel equivalents, suppliers should have been asking themselves if the fuel injectors they produce will have a place in an electrically driven society.
But the answer is obviously no. Electric cars generally require fewer components and less labor to manufacture and will undoubtedly result in major changes for the workforce. MEMA estimated losing 30 percent of the supplier industry’s traditional workforce if the United States transitioned over to EVs. That’s hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of good-paying jobs. In 2020, a study by the National Platform for the Future of Mobility (NPM) informed the German government that 410,000 jobs connected with the automotive industry could be lost by the end of this decade under the nation’s current trajectory. American losses would be substantially worse.
MEMA is recommending a mixed approach where manufacturers can continue making ICE’s more efficient while developing hybrid and battery-electric models to a point where they will naturally overtake fuel-burning automobiles as the dominant mode of transportation. It’s still targeting a zero-emissions future, just one that doesn’t require placing massive restrictions on the industry.
Automakers, who stand to benefit from having to pay fewer assembly workers and equipment manufacturers, are more willing to embrace electrification and many have already set targets for ditching products requiring fuel tanks. But it’s not clear how much of that is for show. While digitizing cars plays into the industry’s obsession with monetizing driver data, electrification doesn’t seem profitable in the short term without government help and it seems to shift an incredible amount of the auto sector’s power over to battery companies and energy concerns. We’ve been under the impression that some of the largest manufacturers put on a pro-EV face and frequently support government initiatives just to avoid ruffling feathers and getting slapped with regulations.
While completely ridiculous, appeasement is a fairly common practice with plenty of recent examples. Pipefitting unions backed Joe Biden for president, despite his vow to stop production on the Keystone XL pipeline and put members out of work. So did the United Mine Workers of America, with its leadership embracing a federal energy plan that prohibits coal mining last week. Union boss Cecil Roberts even admitted that it would probably cost the industry jobs but that it was important to be part of the “conversation” and ensure the environmental wellbeing of the planet.
Meanwhile, China is on pace to build several hundred new coalfired energy facilities over the next ten years and shares our air.
UAW leadership, which traditionally endorses Democrat candidates, also backed the Biden administration. But members have been hypercritical of the push toward electrification for years and it’s been a common talking point whenever they go on strike. We’ve only seen this swell with worker’s unions around the world gradually starting to rally around the issue — though it always seems to be the highest-ranking members that are the last to join the cause.
States have also been taking sides, with roughly a dozen governors promising to adopt the Californian proposal to end the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035. However they are not just attempting to prohibit sales within their own borders, they would ideally like to see the federal laws put into place that would create national restrictions.
“The U.S. is in danger of losing our competitive edge due to a lack of clear national policies” said Wilson. “For the U.S to be a leader in automotive innovation and transportation, we must work collaboratively to develop a comprehensive national vision and strategy.”
MEMA’s testimony is available here.
OK, so how long does a battery hold it’s charge when sitting in the drive for a long period?
Stock up on this stuff:
I was joking with him. Lighten up. Did you think he was that old????
“As we previously stated, these miles are not all on the original motor and battery. In fact, by November 2019, Gemmingen had gone through four motors and three battery packs.”
The auto plants assemble, it's the small non union manufacturing companies who supply the parts.....
When the recession hit under the Carter years, here in metro Detroit tons of tool and die shops and small parts manufacturers went out of business. A friend of mine lost his and the father of a gal I knew lost his tool and die shop too....
FWIW, these shops were great for entry level kids getting into the skilled trades and ultimately gaining enough work experience to qualify for journeymen's cards that would get them into the Big Three companies....
Too late, boys, you did your jobs and got this regime in power. You are NO LONGER NEEDED.
Huge difference between setting a solar panel on my lawn vs distilling trees.
Quite. So many of the arguments are downright obsolete, and remainder are tracking there fast.
Like the GOPe, the leadership of the UAW is complexity out of touch with their “base”.
> Huge difference between setting a solar panel on my lawn vs distilling trees.
Granted. I’m just pointing out that it is not impossible to produce your own fuel for a gasoline or diesel engine.
Of course it’s easier to recharge an electric vehicle from solar panels than it is to produce synfuel or biodiesel. However, assuming you have a normal-sized rooftop solar installation, you can expect several days of clear weather to fully charge an EV’s battery from almost empty.
Personally, I like the idea of fuel-cell electric cars that refuel by loading a zinc chain onto a spool, while dumping a load of zinc oxide/zinc hydroxide into recovery tanks at the service station for ‘recharging’
One million kilometers, not one million miles.
But people who worship at the Tesla Temple don’t worry about minor discrepancies like that.
“I was just thinking that, what happens in a hurricane when the power is out?”
Not arguing the big point, but when the power is out you ain’t getting no gas.
Still working on the laws of thermodynamics problem, are we?
Union leadership supports Democrat
Democrat attacks and weakens industry
Union membership realizes it got screwed
Union leadership blames Republicans
Lather-rinse-repeat
Electric vehicles will be as main stream.
Not so sure about that hydrogen fuels and fuel cells are on the up tick many oil companies are investing in the product.
Hydrogen doesn’t produce any smog emissions only water.
Thanks for responding! From the article itself a person says they are in the “goldilocks” zone. Not too hot, not too cold.
Fairbanks regularly gets in the -20F to -30F range in winter. And quite often down to -50 to -60 during a cold snap.
There is absolutely no way EV could survive in that weather. Not yet.
As far as Anchorage, they are also a lot more temperate than the interior of AK. It’s just not feasible. Maybe someday, but I just can’t see it happening. Another important part is the vast distances between places up here. Juneau is an island, and the heart of the leftist cabal in Alaska as well.
I haven’t. And certainly not in CA. And when everyone is killing the grid with electric cars it will be a common occurance.
Yes you do have gas. Gas can be stored in gas cans. People fill in and put gas cans in the trunk or back of the pickup. Where to you put your emergency electricity?
You could use a generator if fossil fuel wasn’t outlawed. 😂
It is not just the physical pump that needs electricity. It is the payment system which also needs the Internet.
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