EV thread

I'm convinced new cars are more dangerous. So many things beep at you it's hard to know wtf is going on or what to look for. I've never been let down turning to check my blind spot...
Its a technological "solution" to a non-existent problem and/or a crutch because people can't be bothered to learn to drive correctly. They're too busy talking on the fucking phone, or even worse, texting. Same goes for backup cameras - Americans apparently don't know how to back up, and the modern fad of high beltline vehicles doesn't help that any. So create a new problem with a stupid stylistic choice, then charge more money for technology to solve the problem thus induced.
 
You know the US EV market isn't serious about climate or renewable crap when you look at EV Rivian and F150 trucks. They are virtue signaling. Jeeps 4xe for example.

EVs should be small cars like a Smart Car or Mini Cooper up to a Toyota Corolla size. Light weight and stripped down for minimal electricity consumption.

And like @Zorba said, simple and easy control systems.

But the Biden administration snuck in a remote kill switch requirement for all new cars in some large .gov bill so they need computers and GPS built in. To shut your car off if needed.

If I ever need another vehicle, it will have a carburetor or a stupid simple throttle body injection system.
https://www.musclecarsandtrucks.com/biden-infrastructure-bill-vehicle-kill-switch-2026/
 
Last edited:
At some point - and not too far away I think - the issue of EVs not paying any highway taxes when they fuel up will have to be addressed. Every time we fill up our gasoline powered Jeeps we are paying somewhere (depending on which state) like 40 cents or more of taxes per gallon. Put 15 gallons in, you just paid $6 or more in taxes. Just think of how much a gas station generates in taxes in just a single day. So, for EVs to pay highway taxes will this mean the government wants to track mileage? I think it will. And I am betting that will be a mess.
 
You know the US EV market isn't serious about climate or renewable crap when you look at EV Rivian and F150 trucks. They are virtue signaling. Jeeps 4xe for example.

EVs should be small cars like a Smart Car or Mini Cooper up to a Toyota Corolla size. Light weight and stripped down for minimal electricity consumption.

And like @Zorba said, simple and easy control systems.

But the Biden administration snuck in a remote kill switch requirement for all new cars in some large .gov bill so they need computers and GPS built in. To shut your car off if needed.

If I ever need another vehicle, it will have a carburetor or a stupid simple throttle body injection system.
https://www.musclecarsandtrucks.com/biden-infrastructure-bill-vehicle-kill-switch-2026/

There is a Mini EV. I think it could be had for close to $20k after your gov't subsidy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: InOmaha
At some point - and not too far away I think - the issue of EVs not paying any highway taxes when they fuel up will have to be addressed. Every time we fill up our gasoline powered Jeeps we are paying somewhere (depending on which state) like 40 cents or more of taxes per gallon. Put 15 gallons in, you just paid $6 or more in taxes. Just think of how much a gas station generates in taxes in just a single day. So, for EVs to pay highway taxes will this mean the government wants to track mileage? I think it will. And I am betting that will be a mess.

Or they tax by the kilowatt hour consumed at the charger.
 
Yep, they have a performance based EV with a 110 mile range. Instead of a distance based EV. If it had a 400 mile range, I could use it for day trips to the parents and in-laws. It's 170 miles there.

I'm not going to visit my relatives and ask for a charge at their house. I haven't asked them for gas money in almost 40 years either. I don't care if it's cheap.

We will likely get a Kia, Hyundai, or Toyota hybrid as my wife's next car. But even at $4/gallon the old minivan chugs along just fine and taxes are low on it due to age.

Most EV prices would drop us in the $450-900/year property tax range for the first year, dropping down to $100-200/year in 10. There is also a $75/year alternative fuel fee on vehicles that don't use gas.

So we have taken these into consideration when evaluating the yearly costs of operation of new versus our used cars. Since my wife works from home, longer trips are most of our miles. And lower property taxes offset our fuel costs.

They are going to get their money one way or another.
 
There is a Mini EV. I think it could be had for close to $20k after your gov't subsidy.

I’m the owner of a 1988 classic Austin Mini as well as new generation 2002 MINI Cooper S (so I love Minis) but I wouldn’t consider an electric MINI. It’s range is horrible at just 114 miles. Instead I think the cheap electric car to get is a new Chevrolet Bolt with a 259 mile range and a $26K price.
 
Yep, they have a performance based EV with a 110 mile range. Instead of a distance based EV. If it had a 400 mile range, I could use it for day trips to the parents and in-laws. It's 170 miles there.

I'm not going to visit my relatives and ask for a charge at their house. I haven't asked them for gas money in almost 40 years either. I don't care if it's cheap.

We will likely get a Kia, Hyundai, or Toyota hybrid as my wife's next car. But even at $4/gallon the old minivan chugs along just fine and our taxes are low on it due to age.

Most EV prices would drop us in the $450-900/year property tax range for the first year, dropping down to $100-200/year in 10. There is also a $75/year alternative fuel fee on vehicles that don't use gas.

So we have taken these into consideration when evaluating the yearly costs of operation of new versus our used cars. Since my wife works from home, longer trips are most of our miles. And taxes offset our fuel costs.

They are going to get their money one way or another.

I considered a model 3 when they came out and with the mileage they got if everything went perfect I could drive from my house to work and then to my parents for the weekend on a single charge. But I wouldn't be able to use the car all weekend charging on 110v so that I could make the trip home.
 
I’m the owner of a 1988 classic Austin Mini as well as new generation 2002 MINI Cooper S (so I love Minis) but I wouldn’t consider an electric MINI. It’s range is horrible at just 114 miles. Instead I think the cheap electric car to get is a new Chevrolet Bolt with a 259 mile range and a $26K price.

I know nothing about them except what I saw on the TFL video when they bought one. I thought it'd be handy for driving the 1.7 miles to work but I wouldn't get rid of any of my other vehicles for one.
 
My wife's cousin drives a Bolt. It makes sense for him because he drives 25 miles to work for a 50 mile daily commute. And since the power company needed something renewable for the ESG, they charge him up for free. All of his and his wife's relatives live within 30 miles of their house.

It works sort of like giving him a company car.

I drive 6 miles to work with a tax depreciated Jeep. So our cost per mile is probably close.

I have zero problem with different technologies. I just wish the government wasn't going what they are doing. Which is using this stuff to screw us while gaining power and money.
 
A close friend has a tesla 3 and said he averages 270 miles on a single charge. Though all he does is typically a short drive to the office and the occasional trip to the next state over to see family. Also works from home half the time, in which I could easily see the appeal of an EV. Plug it in to a standard 120V and he can get 6 miles/hr which, if working from home, is enough for his commute in a couple days. 220V and hes up to 40 miles/hr. He also has solar, so his footprint is genuinely low as he is not relying on a fossil fueled power plant nearby. If that fits your lifestyle, then EV would be the way to go in my opinion.

I use my vehicle for work and average close to 2100 miles a month with the more-often-than-not 300+ mile day traveling job site to job site. Often carrying equipment. The wait-to-charge times and no bed would be a deal breaker to me.
 
The wait-to-charge times and no bed would be a deal breaker to me.

The Lightning has a bed and a frunk for storage and can get 300 mile range, charges in it's sweet spot of like 15-80 percent in something like 45 minutes at a fast charger and something like 10 hours at home on 220V.
 
  • Like
Reactions: pc1p
Are they viable? Discuss pros and cons.

https://thebluestateconservative.co...s-will-save-the-planet-is-quickly-unraveling/

The ‘Electric Vehicles Will Save The Planet’ Farce Is Unraveling Quickly
by Steve MacDonaldAugust 21, 2022

An auto club in Germany that claims 21 million members ran some controlled charging test electric vehicles to see how efficient that process was. The results put another nail in the value coffin. Not only are they expensive to buy and own, but the average charge also wastes up to 13% of the electricity.

Put another way, the consumer is charged for all the electricity required to fully charge the battery, which is as much as 13% more than the battery can hold.

So, imagine pouring two gallons of gasoline on the ground every time you filled a 20-gallon tank. People would lose their collective minds. But that will be standard for every charge of every vehicle in the utopian electric fleet of the future.

ADAC’s Ecotest calculated the kWh needed to fully charge a range of electric vehicle batteries.

The result of the test under the same conditions for all electric car models: E-car drivers have to plan for a particularly large amount of power loss for some models – but everyone has to pay extra. According to the ADAC Ecotest, a 100 kWh battery in a Tesla Model X100D actually needs 108.3 kWh. The Kia e-Niro Spirit has 72.3 kWh for a 64 kWh battery. The Jaguar I-PACE EV400 also needs at least 10 kWh more for a 90 kWh battery.

With electricity prices scheduled to double in New Hampshire (as an example) and with the cost of EVs still out of the range of most middle and lower-income families, throwing money out the window with every charge might just as well be another tax.

Line loss or transformer loss is baked into the infrastructure. There is no way to transmit electricity without waste (primarily) in the form of heat. Anywhere from 8-15% or more of the electricity generated by power stations is lost before it gets to you. A carbon footprint problem we’re supposed to ignore.

But not in the ADAC tests. The consumer pays immediately for the loss of every kWh that exceeded the actual electricity needed to charge the battery.

Dark Future
At present, the infrastructure to charge the existing fleet is inadequate. Rolling brownouts and blackouts are predicted everywhere. There is no plan that puts enough wind or solar into operation, maybe ever, to address the growing demand without EVs. There isn’t enough land for the equipment needed to create that much electricity unless the plan is to need less.

With rates skyrocketing, charging will become unaffordable to all but the most well-off, and we’ve postulated repeatedly that this was always the goal. A point they admit, including after the release of the original Green New Deal, whose author (we can’t ever let you forget this) said, “Do you guys think of it as a climate thing?” Chakrabarti continued. “Because we really think of it as a how-do-you-change-the-entire-economy thing.”

No air travel for you and the end of private transportation.

The goal is to force your mobility profile back into the 19th century. Trains, horses, walking. The only other reasonable explanation is that they are all idiots, and while the rank-and-file prog parrots might be considered that stupid, the people at the top are not.

They’re evil.

Wow, it's like they just discovered the 2nd law of thermodynamics :rolleyes:
Advocacy pieces like this are just as believable as "the sky is falling" climate "crisis" ones.

No, EVs won't "save the planet." But my commuter has saved me a lot of money. Last got gas in the middle of June. >1200 miles on <1 gallon is fine by me.

1661278907067.png


I plug it in at home just like my cell phone. Easier than going to a station. I did the math and gas would have to be around $1/gal to compete.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BugoutJeep
Wow, it's like they just discovered the 2nd law of thermodynamics :rolleyes:
Advocacy pieces like this are just as believable as "the sky is falling" climate "crisis" ones.

No, EVs won't "save the planet." But my commuter has saved me a lot of money. Last got gas in the middle of June. >1200 miles on <1 gallon is fine by me.

View attachment 353393

I plug it in at home just like my cell phone. Easier than going to a station. I did the math and gas would have to be around $1/gal to compete.

What vehicle is this? I really like the idea of plug in hybrids - the math definitely pays off if you need to buy a car anyway, just not for those that would sell one to buy something else.
 
We own a VW ID.4 that my wife drives to work most of the time. If I have a short trip around town I'll try to take it for the savings more than the enjoyment of driving my jeep or truck. So far it works just fine and we charge it up at home using a 220 outlet. I'm looking at solar right now but I don't know if I can justify it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BugoutJeep
I think everyone knows I've worked in the power generation/electricity world for close to 30 years. I know a lot of what goes on behind the scenses of the government entities, energy markets, project development and financing, and politics on multiple levels.

As a geek, I would love to have my own solar field, wind generator, batteries, and EV/diesel electric hybrid. I'd put in a micro gas turbine if I could.

At no point in the 10 years I've designed, priced out, and gone over the financials has any system or combination of systems ever paid me back in a 30 year time frame. So by the time I could afford it, I always looked at it as if I'd be dead or close to it before I gained from it.

The government is thumbing the scales and relying on a cult of climate change to force everyone to do something uneconomical. It helps that most people can't even do basic math let alone the types of studies I can do.

The reason I would finally implement my plan is I'm wealthier than a normal household, the government requires it by destroying the technology I currently use, and I like things like lights and AC.

I may start the transition as an expensive version of a Jeep hobby because more renewables coming online are destabilizing the nations grids. A friend of mine put $75,000+ in solar and batteries in his house to charge his new $80,000+ Rivian 4 door truck and carbon neutral his house. He's not really there because he didn't understand solar dropoff due to cloud cover and haze. Being green is easy if you have extra money laying around.

I could probably do it for $75,000 by piecing stuff together myself. That's if I could put a small wind turbine above the trees in my neighborhood.
 
Wow, it's like they just discovered the 2nd law of thermodynamics :rolleyes:
Advocacy pieces like this are just as believable as "the sky is falling" climate "crisis" ones.

No, EVs won't "save the planet." But my commuter has saved me a lot of money. Last got gas in the middle of June. >1200 miles on <1 gallon is fine by me.

View attachment 353393

I plug it in at home just like my cell phone. Easier than going to a station. I did the math and gas would have to be around $1/gal to compete.

Guess that's the problem with the government taxing at the chargers, they'll have to tax by the mile when people charge at home.

What voltage charger do you use and how long to recharge?

Only 32 mile electric range?
 
They will start like they did here. A "fee" of $75/year. If they tax electricity, then people's toasters, stoves and AC would be paying road taxes.

I think they'll either ramp up tolls, charge by year or charge by weight and miles. Likely all of it.

The biggest issue is that as gasoline, natural gas, coal, and diesel transfer over to new electricity generation they directly compete with home and industrial uses. Making all your electricity more expense and potentially unstable. When it was hot in SoCal and Texas this summer, CAISO and ERCOT asked people not to charge their cars so they could use the electricity for AC.

What happens when all houses need electric water heater and electric heating while also requiring all transportation to be electric too?

Our diversity of fuels is what has given the US cheap prices and unheard of reliability compared to the rest of the world. Now we'll pay more and learn to do with less, for no real reason. They are conditioning a generation to not only put up with it but feel righteous for doing so.

The new "church leaders" will continue to use the energy sources they want driving, flying, living in mansions; because they are special.

Like Biden is going to sell a house or two and Obama is going to stop flying to Hawaii.