VIRGINIA TRAFFIC JAM PROVIDES REMINDER OF LIMITATIONS OF ELECTRIC CARS

Powerline ^ | JANUARY 5, 2022 | BY PAUL MIRENGOFF

[Hojczyk]

Scott has already mentioned the 48-mile traffic backup that occurred in Northern Virginia yesterday. Reportedly, cars were stopped on I-95 for more than 24 hours in freezing temperatures.

It must have been awful, but it could have been worse. And, as Charles Lane explains, it would have been much worse if there had been many more electric vehicles (EVs) in the traffic jam.

Sometime after 3 a.m. Tuesday. . .a long-haul trucker from Canada heard a knock at the door of his cab. It was one of the hundreds of other motorists stuck in subfreezing temperatures with no food or water.

The supplicant was “driving a Tesla,” recounted the trucker, who told the story on Twitter under the handle My World Through A Windshield, “and he’s worried about running out of power in the cold. [It’s] 19°F or -7°C. He’s a nice guy who was worried about his kids. I gave him some water, a spare blanket and [a] thermal/mylar blanket.”

It’s a hassle in ordinary winter situations but potentially much worse than that on a night like Monday.

Any EV driver stuck on I-95 was right to be anxious — not only about a rapidly dying battery but also about recharging it. Cold would make that process much more time-consuming, assuming there was a charging station nearby, and that the electric power system hadn’t gone out (as it did in parts of Virginia on Monday).

The point is that when people invest their money in a vehicle, they expect to be able to count on it even in extraordinary conditions.

Mass adoption of EVs, and the hoped-for cut in greenhouse gas emissions, thus hinges on the availability of EVs that can do everything existing ICE models can, all the time,

[SunkenCiv]

Waaaaah.

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[Lurker]

Under certain very specific circumstances EVs can make sense. But there is no way on God’s green Earth that they will be in widespread use without huge gains in battery and charging technology.

Not to mention the incredible upgrades to the grid infrastructure that would be required to support them.

L

[FreedomPoster]

I’ll say they make some sense as a second car in a suburban setting. With that said, our 2nd car is a nice ICE convertible sports car!

[dfwgator]

Right now EVs are toys. Fun for the Early Adopters, but they’ll never be ready for prime time.

[dfwgator]

So when the subsidies no longer work, they’ll just tax the hell out of gasoline and ICE vehicles.

[SunkenCiv]

The buildout will take fewer years than most (probably all) of us expect, so long as the gubmint doesn’t try to mandate a single charging system. Tesla’s system of chargers is already widespread (even here in the boonies), and all the manufacturers make chargers that work off ordinary outlets and others that plug into 220 outlets. They’re ideal commuter vehicles. And ironically, during the chip shortage, Tesla’s been the one US auto manufacturer that has adapted while expanding production.

The only real impediment is vehicle cost. Until that comes down, most people won’t be able to buy one. The cheapest of any kind appears to be the Ford Maverick electric hybrid pickup, but the list on it is probably a good 10 grand lower than actual.

[Lurker]

“The buildout will take fewer years than most (probably all) of us expect, so long as the gubmint doesn’t try to mandate a single charging system.”

I’m no electrical engineer so I’ll defer to others more knowledgeable on the subject. All engineering challenges can be overcome. Cost is the issue.

Best,

L

[Owen]

All engineering challenges can indeed usually be overcome.

Physics challenges are a different matter.

[Svartalfiar]

The (non-electric) rigs can run forever as diesels SIP fuel when idling.

Well, that and they have 100s of gallons in the tank..