Electric cars will decide the outcome of the American election

My local Cadillac dealer has one or two charging stations by the showroom. There may be more out back. Nevertheless, they are not going to do the the Cadillac Elantra buyers much good when the dealership isn't open, and I doubt that they will keep charging your car for free.

 

I once drove my car from Florida to Grand Canyon and back to Florida. Not once when driving through the rural areas or the desert did I worry about finding a gas station. And when I would stop at a gas station, gas up my tank, check fluids, checked tires, and cleaned my windshield, it never took more than 10 minutes until I was back driving down the road. I would not even consider that trip today in an EV.

 

Back in the early 1900s, women drove EVs. They couldn't go over 15 miles per hour and didn't much range. There are pictures of them abandoned because they ran out of electricity.

If anyone was dumb enough to try to drive an EV through the desert, you might see more of them abandoned. Extreme heat and cold is not good for batteries.

 

There are about 2.5 million EVs registered in the US or about 1% of the light vehicle fleet. California has the largest percentages with 2.5% of the fleet being electric. Rural and cold states have less than 1%, but some of them have 0.5%.

At this point we have enough EVs out there for what one could consider a good "field trial" to find out whether they actually are going to work in practice. Unfortunately, too large a proportion are Teslas, and it will be hard to distinguish between fundamental problems and Tesla design goofs, such as flush door handles that freeze shut in winter.

In another 5 years or so we will know if they are going to be practical to replace a much larger percentage of the light vehicle fleet. We still have a lot to learn about battery life, safety, cold weather operation, trade-in values, long-term reliability, etc.

 

Currently, when the battery goes on an EV, you junk it. That means it has a life of maybe 5 years at most. It means that the used car market, which vital to many people, will be severely limited.

That is one of a long list of problems that is wrong with them.

 

They are not in hotels. They are out on public roads where everyone has access.

 

The true test for an EV will be if a current EV owner decides to trade up. Will he go back to the internal combustion engine or will he purchase another EV.

 

That's a lot of charging stations! I have more Republican friends and relatives with EVs than Democratic or Independent friends.

 

Most of those appear to be Level 2 chargers, i.e. 240 volt. It's going to take awhile to fill up if you have an empty battery.

Fast chargers appear to be rare in some areas.

 

One seldom needs to "fill up". As a matter of fact, hardly anybody charges above 80% when on the road.

 

Really? Not according to the Washington Post.
Biden’s $7.5 billion investment in EV charging has only produced 7 stations in two years
The network of fast chargers promised by the Biden administration has had a painfully slow rollout.March 28, 2024

 

Yeah, I saw that report. Typical government involvement, slow to act, and very expensive. Good thing the government wasn't responsible to install gasoline stations and truck stops in the USA.

 

Private sector did just fine responding to actual customer demand when ICE vehicles came on the scene.

 

People are beginning to invest in EV chargers, and apparently its not a bad source of income

 

They aren't on a road down which they can look. They are busy finding a charging station for their car.

 

And guess who's going to pay for the electricity for that 30 minute charge.

 

But you Trumpsters oppose that. No solution other than burning more fossil fuels.

 

Continued use of fossil fuels doesn't require massive government funding and the fuel source works for our needs both in commerce and in personal trave. Electric cars are barely out of the novelty stage.

 

Detroit was already turning out a million cars a year befor the first gas station opened.

 

Had you posted that twenty years ago, you would have had a point.

But that idea has been out of date for some time now.

 

Not really. There's no practical case to be made for the EV beyond a niche role as the second car (local runabout) in a multi-car household.

 

I drive a plug in hybrid. Which is an increasingly popular choice for people who want to enjoy clean, quiet and cheap energy for local errands about 90%) of actual use, and the availability of conventional ICE for long trips.

Hybrids usually nearly double the mileage of their gas only equivilants, and plug in are even better.

I do not feel as though I am making any sort of sacrifice to get 72 mpg.

 

Tell it to all the Ev drivers I see every day.

BTW, just repeating your claims is meaningless.

 

I see EV drivers around town. I don't see them much on the Interstate beyond beltways and commuter routes.
A valid point merits restating often.

 

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I had the batteries in my last Prius rebuilt for $600.00, and the man came to my house to do it.