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Those EV Shortcomings Aren’t Shortcomings at All
American Thinker ^ | 17 Aug, 2023 | John F. Di Leo

Posted on 08/17/2023 5:01:20 AM PDT by MtnClimber

In the final analysis, the EV pushers don’t see any gaps or contradictions.

Wherever we drive nowadays, we see electric vehicles (EVs) amid the normal internal combustion cars and hybrids.

Maybe one in ten, maybe one in twenty, maybe one in a hundred. It all depends on where we live and where we go.

They are no longer the noticeable rarity they were just a few years ago; you no longer turn your head in surprise when you see that Tesla logo beside you.

The modern Left has a dream – that soon, very soon, every vehicle in the world will be electric, running on a heavy, cobalt-laden, lithium battery that needs to be charged up somewhere with electricity derived from an out-of-sight coal plant.

Every few trips, we old-fashioned ICE-drivers stop at a gas station for a quick fill-up. It takes two or three minutes, maybe five or six if we need to go into the store for a soda or a coffee; then we’re back on the road.

We rarely see the EVs charging up while we fill our normal cars with fuel. It takes too long, so they don’t usually do it at the gas station.

The EV’s current average, we are told, is eight hours to a “full charge,” whatever that means. It might be a couple hundred miles, maybe less, maybe more. Some chargers charge faster, some vehicles take longer. If it’s like any other kind of rechargeable battery (and they’re too new to be sure, but it makes sense), then as each battery ages, it will take longer and longer to charge up, and the mileage per charge will slowly decrease. That’s just how batteries work.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Science; Society
KEYWORDS: automotive; electric; greenenergy
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1 posted on 08/17/2023 5:01:20 AM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

Most of the leftist ideas would never survive in a free market environment. The left seems to love the inconvenience that their court-ruled mandates cause.


2 posted on 08/17/2023 5:01:29 AM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

The whole goal of EV’s (Internet controlled cars) is for higher authority to determine when and where you can go.


3 posted on 08/17/2023 5:09:24 AM PDT by ImJustAnotherOkie
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To: MtnClimber
as each battery ages, it will take longer and longer to charge up

And as the battery ages, it will discharge faster and faster, meaning it's losing efficiency. Then, the owner gets hit with the $20,000 price tag for a new battery.

Not to mention, the (sanctimonious, virtue signaling, eco nazi) owner has to reconcile his saving the planet with his used battery being buried somewhere on "mother erf."

4 posted on 08/17/2023 5:12:27 AM PDT by LouAvul (Daniel 4:17: "..the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will.." )
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To: MtnClimber

Unless charging times on EV’s are on par with filling up your tank, or ranges are over 500+ miles, they will never be mainstream.

There’s a reason why the Government has rebates and incentives. Without them, no one would buy an EV.


5 posted on 08/17/2023 5:12:49 AM PDT by Hoboto (I blame Hippies.)
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To: MtnClimber

The EPA’s regulatory central planning push for all EVs is going to be an unmitigated disaster if allowed to continue. As is the push to end all combustion (coal and natural gas) fired powerplants.


6 posted on 08/17/2023 5:13:06 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: MtnClimber

The left seems to love the inconvenience that their court-ruled mandates cause.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yep, it’s their way of making society wear the hair shirt.


7 posted on 08/17/2023 5:14:16 AM PDT by Yardstick
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To: MtnClimber

Small point but I don’t think we should refer to normal cars and trucks as “ICE”. It is a bit like calling non-crazy people “cisgender”. No adjective is needed - a gas car is just a car. The all-electric vanity cars should be described as such but an ICE-powered vehicle is just a “car”. Nitpicking for sure but language is a large part of the battle.


8 posted on 08/17/2023 5:18:15 AM PDT by Stingray51 ( )
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To: LouAvul
A whole new "green" industry opening up that the current auto salvage yard businesses can't even begin to fathom: Removing and processing in a responsible manner the batteries from EVs at the end of their life cycles. ("You want us to what?")

Zero resale or salvage value so why would any business operating for profit even take interest in it?

9 posted on 08/17/2023 5:23:12 AM PDT by OKSooner (Maybe Quix was right about some stuff. Pronouns=(XY, XYim, XY's))
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To: MtnClimber
then as each battery ages, it will take longer and longer to charge up, and the mileage per charge will slowly decrease. That’s just how batteries work.

They're easily disposable. Cheap to replace. And good for the environment.


10 posted on 08/17/2023 5:26:04 AM PDT by Sirius Lee (They intend to murder us. Prep if you want to live and live like you are prepping for eternal life)
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To: MtnClimber

EV is a nitch vehicle being sold as a general solution..

They suck as a general solution, but for 70-80% solution they will work.

So if you need a commuter vehicle and just a commuter vehicle, they will fill your needs.

If you need a vehicle that needs to do more than that, EV’s are just a lousy general solution. If you don’t mind a 2 hour “fill up” every 100ish miles and having to plan your non commuter trips in intimate detail around your ability and location of charging stations, then EVs will do for you.

If however you want a vehicle that can get you from point a to point b regardless of how far the distance is, or need to go more than a couple of hundred miles in your daily local driving, EVs just flat out are not a solution you can accept.

Drivers at the end of the day, honestly most could care less how their car is powered as long as they can use it as they need. I see use cases where the EV offers a reasonable fit. However pushing them as general purpose vehicles is a scam at this point and don’t see that changing in the short to medium term.


11 posted on 08/17/2023 5:30:04 AM PDT by HamiltonJay
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To: OKSooner
We had that problem back in the 80s with toxic waste. Enterprising mafiosis were stealing tractor trailer rigs and hauling off 55 gal drums for $50K a load. Then they were abandoning them in parking lots.

This EV debacle is going to be a nightmare.

12 posted on 08/17/2023 5:47:46 AM PDT by LouAvul (Daniel 4:17: "..the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will.." )
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To: HamiltonJay
No, not 70 to 80%. Maybe 20 to 30%. It's only going to be practical for a person if they have a separate garage well away from the house with it's own 220v charger. Then, if the EV owner confines his driving to short hops around town.

Strictly a novelty.

13 posted on 08/17/2023 5:50:40 AM PDT by LouAvul (Daniel 4:17: "..the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will.." )
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To: MtnClimber
From the perspective of anyone over 1.5 hours away from your destination, the days of the “day trip” are over.

And this is exactly what they want: to make it all but impossible to be free and independent from them and their control.

14 posted on 08/17/2023 5:53:32 AM PDT by Sicon ("All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." - G. Orwell>)
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To: HamiltonJay

“EV is a nitch vehicle”

That is why IMHO the type of vehicle that makes the most sense for 90+ % of the automobile owners is the plug in Hybrid. A vehicle that has a small ICE that charges the batteries but also has a battery pack that you can run those short mileage trips. Then also recharge that battery pack over night at your house from a 220/110 outlet.

An example of this is the Toyota Rav4 Prime. It has a 2 liter 4 cylinder engine. It is a hybrid design that charges the battery when braking. It also has a small battery pack that allows to travel about 40 miles on a charge. This allows most people to run their errands. Go to the grocery store. Maybe even commute back and forth to work. Without the fear of running out of charge 4 miles from home or work.

There is a Freeper who purchased one of these. One of the main reason is that they can charge it for FREE in their town in MA. They also may have a FREE charging station at their employer. Which is only about ten miles away from their house.

Lastly, these hybrid/EVs are fun to drive. The torque and acceleration of the Toyota Rav4 Prime is comparable to sports cars. In fact it is faster than many older V8 sports cars of the 80s & 90s.


15 posted on 08/17/2023 6:46:44 AM PDT by woodbutcher1963
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To: HamiltonJay; MtnClimber
They suck as a general solution, but for 70-80% solution they will work.

True that on them sucking as a general solution. Everything sucks as a general solution, particularly with "solution" being the government picking it. And "general solution" suggests one-size-fits-all, also a problem. We're all better off if each of us chooses what's best for us in a free market (which I wish the Dims would let us have with car choices and energy choices).

For us an EV works fine and better than a "novelty". It's a real and practical part of our driving habits. Here's what I mean in our real world. 26K miles in it per year saves me lots on gas and 5 oil changes per year (I change my oil every 5K miles). Charging at home means no stopping to fill up once or twice per week for local driving like we did in our ICE cars. On trips the roadside chargers take 10-15 minutes when stopping every 200 miles, which is how often my wife wants to stop anyway to walk around for 10-15 minutes even in an ICE car. So even if an ICE car would take someone else 300 or 400 miles before stopping for a 5 minute pee break and gas fill up, I was stopping every 200 miles for 10-15 minutes anyway in our ICE car. LOL Sometimes, not all the time, you stop at a hotel with a complementary Level 2 charger. That charger takes hours to fill up the car, but it's while we're sleeping anyway and we wake up to a full "tank" saving me from having to fill up to get started on the road like I did in the ICE car. Sometimes my wife and I like to stay overnight at a state park and sleep in hammocks. The RV power hookup charges the car overnight and we wake up to a full "tank".

With all of that, there are limitations. I wouldn't get an EV if I needed just one car: there are times only an ICE car will do. But being married and needing 2 cars anyway, we have one of each. And I wouldn't get an EV truck, at least with the kind of chores I sometimes need my truck for. And I wouldn't get an EV unless I could charge at home. And I probably wouldn't get an EV if I lived up north where the cold weather limits the EV's range and charging speed. Nor would I get an EV if I didn't drive enough miles in the year for the gas savings and oil change savings to warrant the extra costs of an EV. And even if you're in a situation like me that's good for an EV, I still wouldn't get one until one of your existing ICE cars is about worn out and needs replacing anyway.

So there are very practical reasons to get an EV that IMHO works for millions of Americans, and there are very practical reasons for millions of Americans to not get one. EV's are yet another example where those of us on the right shouldn't "pick sides" but instead tell the government to quit picking sides and let us each as individuals choose what's best for us in the free market.

16 posted on 08/17/2023 6:50:07 AM PDT by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: OKSooner
I saw a recent presentation from a state agency dealing with EV-related issues. Its work is in a left-leaning area of expertise in a Democratic state, but the presentation was surprisingly skeptical about EVs.

One point they raised related to the end-of-life scenario for a typical EV. Unlike a conventional car that can get passed from one owner to another and remain on the road for 15+ years, an EV has a life cycle that is more like a computer than a motor vehicle. This means that a 3-5 year-old EV may be in good physical condition when the original owner wants to replace it, but the technology in the EV industry is advancing so rapidly that it is functionally obsolete.

This is where we are with computers and other desktop/office hardware. When you get to the point where you want to replace it, you can’t even give your old one away.

17 posted on 08/17/2023 6:50:38 AM PDT by Alberta's Child (“Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.”)
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To: Stingray51

I’m a mechanical engineer from the power industry. “ICE” has been around for 120 years. “Internal combustion” refers to the combustion inside the cylinder walls between the top of the piston and the cylinder head. That is the “Otto Cycle.”

That is contrasted with “External Combustion” where the combustion process is separated from the part of the engine that makes the power. This is most commonly a gas turbine that operates on the “Brayton Cycle.” You have external burners (“combustors”) that send hot combustion products to the turbine blades.

So we are not playing on their field. We are using a long-time term borrowed from engineering.


18 posted on 08/17/2023 6:54:17 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (We are proles, they are nobility.)
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To: LouAvul

The whole Catalytic converter theft issue is becoming a major problem in many cities. Especially for the bigger trucks and SUVs that are easier to slide under with a battery operated sawzsall.

FYI, I recently visited a scrap/salvage company near Boise that recycles those catalytic converters. They had a machine with four vacuums attached. It cut apart the CCs. Separated the various components and vacuumed up the dust. It then put the valuable ceramic elements(palladium, iridium, etc) into mesh bags inside of 55 gallon drums. I inquired as to the value of a full drum. He stated $12-14K. He also pointed out that the warehouse we were standing in had 24/7 monitored security.

They also had a machine in another warehouse that stripped the plastic casing off of copper Romex wire. It then cut the copper int 1/8” long pieces and blew them into a bin. They switched bins when it got to 4000#s. They would put 16 of these bins on a maxi flatbed twice a month and hual them to a copper smelting plant somewhere. Current price of bare bright coppe scrap is $2.50/pound. Do the math what a truck load is worth. :)


19 posted on 08/17/2023 6:58:14 AM PDT by woodbutcher1963
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To: FreedomPoster

We are now down to the last 240 coal fired plants now. That is minuscule and no wonder we are lined up for shortages.


20 posted on 08/17/2023 7:08:22 AM PDT by Sequoyah101 (Procrastination is just a form of defiance.)
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