Posted on 03/17/2023 6:32:12 AM PDT by Red Badger
The infrastructure just isn't there yet.
Key points:
* Electric vehicles can be expensive to buy and own.
* My reason for not wanting to own an EV just yet has more to do with convenience than price.
* Charging stations for EVs are not yet widespread, meaning they might not be a good option for you if you take long road trips to remote areas.
These days, it's not so uncommon to see your fair share of electric vehicles on the road. And if your car has seen better days, you may be thinking of buying an electric vehicle, or EV, when the time comes to replace it.
Now, one thing you should know is that EVs aren't cheap. The average price of the top 10 electric vehicles in the U.S. is about $68,817, according to EV marketplace Find My Electric.
Within that, there's a notable range of prices. And there are also tax credits available that can help offset the cost of an EV purchase. But since auto loan rates are up right now, financing an EV purchase could still end up being a more expensive prospect than you've bargained for.
Remember, too, that more expensive cars tend to be costlier to maintain. They can also be more expensive to buy auto insurance for. So if you'd rather steer clear of those hidden costs, you may want to forgo an EV for now.
Meanwhile, in my two-car household, one of our vehicles is starting to reach its end point. We've had it since 2007, so we've clearly gotten our money's worth, but we plan to replace it as soon as car prices start to come down.
However, I can say with certainty that my next vehicle purchase will not be an EV. Here's why.
An EV won't suit my needs
When it comes to driving, I tend to go to extremes -- meaning, I find that I'm usually either driving just a few miles around town, or I'm driving hundreds or thousands of miles on a road trip. It's the latter habit that makes an EV a less-than-desirable choice.
Over the past 10 years, my family has taken countless road trips, some of which have had us clocking in 5,000 miles or more. Now, it's one thing to charge your EV at night in your own driveway when you don't need to use it until the next morning. But it's another thing to have to stop numerous times on a lengthy road trip to charge your vehicle so you can keep chugging along. And that inconvenience alone makes an EV a poor choice for my family based on our driving habits.
Also, even if we were willing to stop and sit there every several hundred miles while our vehicle charged, the infrastructure isn't there yet. My family likes to visit remote parts of the country to get off the beaten path. I've been in many parts of the U.S. where there's only one gas station every 200 miles or so. I doubt we're close to the point of seeing charging stations readily available in those areas.
Think carefully before buying an EV
The idea of an electric vehicle might appeal to you. But before you buy one, make sure one of these cars actually suits your lifestyle.
It may be nice to not have to fill up your car every week. But if you tend to take a lot of long road trips, and you tend to travel to relatively remote areas, then an EV could end up being more of a hassle.
In a sane world EVs should die under the weight of their own problems.
EVs are not allowed to park in raised parking garages in Europe because of fire hazard. Too many have already caused uncontrollable conflagrations.
I would never park one in the garage at home and leave it charging. They seem to tend to catch on fire and the risk isn’t worth it. When do insurance rates go up because of that?
Parking a vehicle in a garage is the key to longevity. Some are amazed that my 17 and 20 year-old vehicles systems are all still working. I attribute that to them always living in a dry garage when not in use. Imagine a vehicle that is ALL electric and electronics out in the elements ALL the time. I’d say not likely to be reliable or survive long at all.
When are EVs banned from tunnels? Ages ago, back in the 60s, we were not allowed to transit the Holland Tunnel because of the propane tank on our tiny travel trailer. EVs appear to have more risk that that propane tank to me.
Writers write and talkers talk and when nobody reads or listens they are out of a job. While right the article is shallow and repetitive, adds nothing that has not already been said. Maybe it needs to be shouted from the roof tops for equal time though.
The truth is screaming at us. EVs are not the solution but then again, what is the problem? We seem to have a lot of that going around, solutions in search of problems and resulting change for the sake of change. How about we just cool it with change and shallow spurious innovation at least for awhile? Do we really need another app or video game for starters?
But if you tend to take a lot of long road trips in a EV car.
1.Take extension cord
2.Park at a closed gas station at night for a charge
3.Have alarm clock to get up before it opens
Where’s TexasEquivocator?
Who dat?................
That is the absolute crux of it. It ALL stems from the global warming hoax and the naive belief we can change the climate.
Our small town newspaper printed this letter to the editor this week from a greeniac idiot. It is emblematic of the small intellects pushing this crap and actually believing that something done at the town level can make an iota's worth of difference.
I was excited to read that the city of XYZ recently received four Institute for Local Government Beacon Program Spotlight awards for its “significant and voluntary reductions in greenhouse gas output” during the period of 2015-2018 (“City of XYZ recognized for greenhouse gas reductions,” March 1). And the really great news is that the city not only met its 2013 Climate Action Plan target of 15% reduction in carbon emissions by 2020, it far exceeded that target by reaching a 40% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2018.But 80% of the people around here on the San Francisco Peninsula are true believers and zealots. There is no amount of our money they would not spend for their cause.Additionally, in March 2022 the XYZ City Council approved a succeeding Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP 2022) that will build on this success and will enable the city to reach carbon neutrality by 2035.
Bravo, [City of] XYZ and community! And thank you, XYZ City Council, for your ongoing dedication to addressing climate change by promoting a sustainable community here in XYZ.
Wouldn’t it be great if all cities were equally motivated and ambitious in taking action on climate change – not only here in the Bay Area, but throughout the United States? Imagine how much better off we would all be.
We need to keep making our voices heard on this critical issue.
Paula Danz
Volunteer, Citizens’ Climate Lobby
TeslaGator?
“Here’s Why My Next Car Will Definitely NOT Be an EV”
1- I’m not gay.
2- I’m not stupid.
3- I’m not trendy.
NEVER FORGET:
THAT EV CHARGING CABLE IS A LEASH.....................
I can neither afford a car payment or the insurance, and barely can afford the fuel. I am not even purchasing new tabs for my car. It is a good thing I live in WA state, the police can’t pull you over for expired tabs and you have to consent to be pulled over unless it is commission of a felony that the police witnessed.
Someone tell me why Driver A who purchases insurance, cares that others must do so also? If you are insured, you should be made whole in the event of an accident. If an uninsured driver has his car destroyed, he should get nothing. No skin off of the insured drivers teeth. Except the laws are written so that your insurance covers the other fellow instead of yourself. That makes sense only in that it installs control over you.
Mexicans do not have insurance laws, traffic laws, or even DUI laws enforced on them. I want the same freedom they have.
They don't have any law enforcement, it's basically anarchy.
Consider the cost of battery replacement along with initial cost differential, plus upgrades to your home's power to account for recharging.
And Triple A service for when your planned charging stop on a long trip is disrupted.
Carbon, of course...the basic building block of life that has been repurposed as leftist fear porn.
EV’s are solution looking for a problem.
EV’s are a problem with no solution.
The Laws of Thermodynamics will not be broken.
The Three Laws in Vegas Terms:
1. You cannot win the Game.
2. You cannot Break Even.
3. You cannot Quit the Game.
Red Badger’s 4th Law:
4. You cannot Change the Rules of the Game................
Don’t forget nitrogen as yet another killer element.
I wonder just how many tons of nitrogen in the form of nitrate are stripped from the air and dropped into the soil in just one frontal passage? That alone should keep the fear mongers busy for ages working on just that one “problem”.
I seem to recall something about the natural nitrogen cycle that was taught to us back in grade screwl science.
...hope the car is still there when you wake up.
You sleep in it it’s why you park at a closed station for the night.
Save money when you have to pay for a charge.
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