Electric Cars -- anyone own one?

[SGK]

And it's working. And, ironically, the biggest beneficiaries of the massive inward investment, by a huge margin, are the so-called "red" states. The Dems are funding a disproportionate share of costs versus benefits received and yet simply because it is a Dem President in office the Reps crap all over the strategy. People here have bemoaned, for example, the long loss of manufacturing to China and now, when the country finally has an industrial policy worthy of conversation, bemoan that. You couldn't make that up! (As a non-voting but fully taxed and very well vested interest I can only shake my head in dismay.)

 

[Mudeat]

Tesla was dethroned by BYD as the world’s best-selling electric-vehicle maker last quarter after recording fewer deliveries than its Chinese rival for the first time. The US company, run by Elon Musk, handed over 484,000 cars in the fourth quarter, Tesla said on Tuesday, more than the 473,000 anticipated by analysts polled by LSEG.

BYD on Monday reported record sales of battery-only vehicles of 526,000 for the same period, helped by a strong end to the year for the Chinese electric vehicle market. This is the first time the Chinese group has exceeded Tesla’s quarterly sales of fully electric cars.

Chinese EVs pile up in graveyards; “Those vehicles were mostly bought by ride-hailing companies that leased them to drivers. “At the beginning of China’s EV market, delivery numbers were driven by car-sharing fleets,” said Young Huang, a senior analyst with JSC Automotive, a consultancy with offices in Shanghai and Stuttgart. “Only a few private customers chose to buy them.”

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

TESLAs are still on the road.

 

[Brians356]

Most car manufacturers have had hybrids for the past 10 - 15 years. For people in outside sales it’s not uncommon to drive 30k to 40k a year. The choice of what people in these jobs drive comes down to $ per mile and they love hybrids.

These are some cars a guy copied off of auto trader.
The yellow car below is a retired New York taxi.

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Excellent data, thanks. I've said here and elsewhere that hybrids make a lot of sense. BEVs? Not for the foreseeable future for most folks.
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[dellet]

And it's working. And, ironically, the biggest beneficiaries of the massive inward investment, by a huge margin, are the so-called "red" states. The Dems are funding a disproportionate share of costs versus benefits received and yet simply because it is a Dem President in office the Reps crap all over the strategy. People here have bemoaned, for example, the long loss of manufacturing to China and now, when the country finally has an industrial policy worthy of conversation, bemoan that. You couldn't make that up! (As a non-voting but fully taxed and very well vested interest I can only shake my head in dismay.)

The problem is that the “industrial policy worthy of conversation” is being manipulated. The product that is supposed to save the world, is an environmental disaster. The water required to refine the raw materials will be well over 1 trillion gallons per year, based on current numbers and technology. The Thackeray pass mine is probably the best known example in the United States, projects a use over 107 billion gallons annually, and will be able to deliver less than 10% of raw
Materials needed. Thackers Pass is a Chinese owned mine in Northern Nevada.

When you include the resources needed to extract the dirt to process the raw materials, it even makes less sense.

Then you have the combustion engine fuel problems. Vehicle manufacturers are tasked with developing ever more efficient vehicles, that run on decreasing efficiency fuel. Each year the amount of grain based mixture increases roughly 1/2%, so currently your E10 fuel is closer to E11.5. And the gallons required to be sold increases each year as well. Iowa is a good state to look at for the politics involved for that debacle.

None of this is consumer driven and has been going on actively for more than 30 years having its roots during the Bush 1 administration. The ground work was actually laid in the ‘70s.

This is not a naturally occurring industry, it is being forced by the government, and financed largely by redirected tax dollars that you are paying. This can not be and is not being accomplished by a single political party. It is being allowed by a voting populace to lazy to research beyond the latest headline.

Bottom line, long before a “worthy conversation” can happen, people will need to actually have facts to discuss. So far many of those needed fact are not being written about in a way the general public will comprehend.

 

[NorCalMikie]

So far many of those needed fact are not being written about in a way the general public will comprehend.

or, even being considered by most. Easier to bitch about the EVs than study up on them.
Don't like them or want one? Someone else will.
If they fit YOUR LIFESTYLE,

 

[Brians356]

Don't like them or want one? Someone else will.
If they fit YOUR LIFESTYLE,

Suppose EVs fit only 20% of drivers' lifestyles? Should Central Planning force EVs on everyone else?
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[rwj]

Suppose EVs fit only 20% of drivers' lifestyles? Should Central Planning force EVs on everyone else?
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Build a better mouse trap and the consumers will convert willingly!

 

[NorCalMikie]

So, I fill my Camry with GAS, drive 125 miles down to the city, turn around and come home, and tomorrow, I do the same trip without filling up again and still have GAS left over??

But if I drive an EV down without a problem but if I run into and get STUCK in traffic there's a good chance I might not make it home??
No charging stations in the middle of STUCK IN TRAFFIC on the freeway. Thanks but NO THANKS.

AGAIN, if an EV fits YOUR lifestyle, . You've had that figured out ahead of time.
If not, don't be pushing it off on someone else that it WOULDN'T fit.
And SKIP the fast charger, Your battery will last longer.

 

[Knotwild]

Quoted from an article on Zero Hedge.

Biden even envisions electric tanks, which Kyle Mizokami, writing in Popular Mechanics, says makes a lot of sense. In his view, EV tanks reduce the vulnerability of fuel-laden convoys; are more easily upgraded than tanks with internal combustion engines and transmissions; and are cheaper to run and “easier on the planet.”

After all, the chief goal, says Mizokami, is “to get away from fossil fuels,” not to win wars.

 

[bsekf]

The Model T was a success because it was cheaper than anything else. Until the EV industry understands that they will be a hard sell. The hybrid makes the most sense but you will have to drive 200K miles to break even.

 

[TaperPin]

What has surprised me more than electric cars is how all in the bike, scooter, and motor cycle makers are. I think Honda has something like 17 models in the pipeline. Everyone I know that’s tried one likes it - it’s not my cup of tea, but I’m curious to see how the product matures.

For a few years I’ve had a gas mower, trimmer and blower next to the same cordless Makita contractor versions to see which gets used. What I find is the cordless tools require less of my time to accomplish the job. Grab them, pull the trigger and go - no poor quality gas issues, no priming, no cords to pull, no fuel filters to change, carburetors to clean, no oil to change. At first I worried about the lifespan of these electric tools, but unlike a gas tool that is always running, they stop completely in between cuts and ramp up quickly. For a normal residential lawn, I see the eventual end of the gas motors.

Having said that, the Makita mower doesn’t have as much suction and leaves more crap in the lawn - I still grab the electric mower for ease of use, but every time I wish it had more suction. I already use Makita batteries for cordless carpentry tools, so the battery cost doesn’t effect me as much as someone starting from scratch - on sale, the package deals are like buying batteries and getting the tool for free, but sales aren’t on all year.

I don’t see a good 8 hp leaf vacuum being electric, but as battery and motor prices fall that day may be a few years off, or a decade.

 

[Brians356]

I don’t see a good 8 hp leaf vacuum being electric, but as battery and motor prices fall that day may be a few years off, or a decade.

Leaf vacuum or blower? Never seen the former; the latter are a menace and have rightly been outlawed in places. With all the cheap "imported" labor, hand 'em lawn rakes, trash bags, and make them haul away the leaves, rather than chase them onto the street while covering neighbors' cars with grit, and waking me up from my precious slumber. A leaf vacuum would still be noisy and no more efficient than raking IMO.
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[Brians356]

Build a better mouse trap and the consumers will convert willingly!

If they had the better mousetrap today, they'd be flying off dealer lots, and used ICE vehicles wouldn't be selling for twice value. The low-hanging fruit has been picked, the EV market has a growing supply glut. They couldn't give them to a lot of people, not a good "fit for their lifestyle" as someone here put it.
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[TaperPin]

Leaf vacuum or blower? Never seen the former; the latter are a menace and have rightly been outlawed in places. With all the cheap "imported" labor, hand 'em lawn rakes, trash bags, and make them haul away the leaves, rather than chase them onto the street while covering neighbors' cars with grit, and waking me up from my precious slumber. A leaf vacuum would still be noisy and no more efficient than raking IMO.
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A vacuum. It breaks leaves up into much smaller pieces, so even if leaves are blown into a pile, I run them through to save trash space. This isn’t my model, but shows the design.

 

[Geronimo Jim]

All of this shows how far out of touch most politicians are. Most of these people
in politics and elite college graduates have no idea how the real world works.
Ivy school graduates come from wealthy families and have never worked for a
living. Without a real world hard work life, they are easy prey for this feel good
environment crap. I firmly believe that China is behind so much of this stuff.
How come our intelligence agencies can't investigate this? Oh yeah, they are
busy going after Mega terrorists.

 

[Larry Koch]

Electric vehicles should be cheaper than any gas vehicle. The biggest expense is the battery.
Until the battery is improved by at least 300 percent or they invent the flux capacitor. The world will run a petroleum .

 

[Brians356]

Electric vehicles should be cheaper than any gas vehicle. The biggest expense is the battery.
Until the battery is improved by at least 300 percent or they invent the flux capacitor. The world will run a petroleum .

Some industry EV booster crowed recently that battery efficiency is improving 5% per year, as if that would reassure us the government edicts are justified.
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[Brians356]

A vacuum. It breaks leaves up into much smaller pieces, so even if leaves are blown into a pile, I run them through to save trash space. This isn’t my model, but shows the design.

Wow, truly never seen one. The handheld or backpack type leaf blowers by the hundreds, but nothing like this. Thanks.
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[RegionRat]

In my younger days the NRA promoted “hunting, conservation, and marksmanship”. Now I’m tired of the NRA standing up for mass shooters - it’s ridiculous and in the long run it does nothing but grow resentment against the organization.

They should spin off a new organization that promotes the old priorities, that everyone can support and that ordinary families and shooting sports benefit from.

The assholes that want to stand behind the mentally ill or suicidal mass shooters can do their own thing.

Wrong thread?

 

[Kalitrazescapee]

Been out of the Automotive repair trades for close to 10 + years now.
I see where most of the "air tools" have been replaced with rechargeable battery powered tools. So far, they seem to be working pretty well and the batteries are even getting better.

Yes and no....I have snapon and DeWalt and if you have the new batteries you can't get them rebuilt ie new cells ... battery and electric is fine if WE ARE the MANUFACTURER..not zing pings slaves. China batteries are junk.... Now,even Japan has been outsourcing to china....small engines to Thailand and generators in china then assembled.