Battery Derangement: Electric vehicles won’t save the planet and won’t survive without subsidies.

City Journal ^ | October 10, 2019 | Mark P. Mills

[Reynoldo]

”Otherwise, electric cars are actually fueled by coal.,,,”

and the electricity-generatng fossil-fueled systems in the electricity utilities are much more efficient than internal combustion engines

[fproy2222]

“heard of a breakthrough obviating the need for rare-earth resources for EVs.”

Fantastic

[dhs12345]

So that our overlords can control us that much better.

[upchuck]

It’s easier to manufacture, uses less labor, and will—eventually—cost less.

Think I'll wait.

[Vaquero]

Free country

[Vaquero]

I appreciate you guys going electric. Save all the gas for me and my Hemi Ram

[PapaBear3625]

How can they pump gas?

A small generator can run the pumps, well enough to fuel lots of cars per gallon of gas used by the generator.

[Moonman62]

Strange how so many gas stations in Florida shut down after hurricanes, if hooking up a small generator was so easy.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Until someone invents a John Galt motor powered by static electricity in the atmosphere, electric cars will remain luxury golf carts for the wealthy.

[Go Gordon]

I'm far from a green weenie, but hybrids are awesome. I have a Ford Fusion hybrid and over a third of my miles are not on the combustion engine. The difference between the regular Fusion and the hybrid, back in 2013 was only $2,000. I've saved way more than that in fuel costs, and obviously, I've burned way less gasoline than a regular car.

Electric cars - no thanks.

[bert]

The electric car revolution will not come from the USA. The innovative electric car technology will come from China or perhaps Japan or perhaps a joint venture.

Both have had great engineering minds applied to the problem for a long time hands on. We know very little to nothing about their research and current joint efforts.

[ConservativeMind]

We love our Ego Power+ self-propelled mower. We have two batteries, one 7.5 AH and another 2.5 AH and virtually all the attachments.

We can get the entire lawn, a couple thousand square feet, done with those two batteries. They recharge quickly when switched out and the mower is at least as powerful as my engine experience.with non-riding mowers. Additionally, it is quite a bit more quiet.

I can’t say enough how impressed I am.

[palmer]

Mower
Edger
Blower
Chainsaw

Same here, plus the hedge trimmer. Because of the free battery by mail offer a couple of years ago, I now have ten of those 80 volt batteries. I keep them fully charged and rotated. There is very little loss in runtime so far.

What I recommend: keep the batteries fully charged. Don't run them to zero (even though they shut off before zero). Keep them cool as possible. At least let them cool off before recharging on a hot day.

[ConservativeMind]

Absurdity: “We’re not talking about the 1990’s Chevy Volts.”

Reality: No one has ever talked about 1990’s Chevy Volts.

You mean “2010s Chevy Volts”:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Volt

[palmer]

I don’t see how an electric truck is going to pull my RV or boat cross country.

But an electric truck has unsmashable windows. Wait no, scratch that. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/oh-my-fcking-god-elon-musks-bizarre-cybertruck-unveiling-goes-horribly-wrong

[palmer]

FWIW, the electric truck will require far less maintenance, including brakes (regenerative braking turns deceleration into recharging, instead of just wearing down pads).

Not worth much out on the highway. If you drive a truck in the city or traffic, then regenerative braking is useful. Otherwise it's more stuff to break.

[dangus]

The 2010s Chevy Volt was a plug-in hybrid, not an electric car.

[palmer]

and batteries were proving only 3-5% degradation after 100,000 miles/

Meaningless. The only thing that matters for battery life is how deeply you discharge the battery before you recharge it.

[GOPJ]

Then there’s the array of primary minerals—lithium, cobalt, manganese, carbon, nickel, copper, aluminum—needed to produce a 1,000-pound automotive battery. Accessing the necessary minerals for that one battery entails mining, moving, and processing some 500,000 pounds of raw materials. Embracing batteries at automotive scales would lead to an unprecedented global expansion in mining, with all the accompanying negative environmental effects that tend not to be palliated in developing countries.

OMG - someone is starting to 'get it'... way to go Mark P. Mills!!!!

[ConservativeMind]

We have two of those (non-plug in), but you aren’t likely reading the numbers correctly.

Miles driven that are not “Regen” miles are all miles driven off the battery that the engine ran to charge up. We all have much fewer Regen miles than EV miles.

The benefit of the EV miles is that the engine is usually running at optimal engine efficiency (or adding a bit of extra load to a normal engine use occasion) when it charges the batteries and it’s not therefore running during EV-only use.

For everyone else: Regen miles are recaptured energy miles from braking causing the generator to create electricity “for free.” When utilized by the Ford, it tells us those separately.