Posted on 09/02/2024 9:18:11 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Every time I write about electric cars, there is an explosion of hostile comments online in which readers angrily denounce electric vehicles and the people who drive them. Much of this animus rests on a plausible yet mistaken assumption — that EV owners are all passionate environmentalists, sanctimoniously swanning around in their zero–emission vehicles while disdaining the ghastly, planet-killing masses burning dinosaur juice.
Let me disabuse you of this. That stereotype was perhaps partly fair when applied to the Toyota Prius — although even then I suspect it concerned only a minority of owners. In the case of fully electric cars, however, I would be willing to bet there is no correlation between tree-hugging beliefs and EV ownership — if anything, the correlation runs in reverse. The modal electric car buyer does not give a damn about the planet: they are buying electric cars because they like technology, or because they like cars, or both. You may imagine they are eyeing your tailpipe with disapproval — in truth the typical electric car driver doesn’t care what car you drive: they are too busy enjoying their own car, and for entirely selfish reasons. This is as it should be.
There is an Aesop fable called “The Farmer and His Sons” in which a dying landowner tells his sons not to divide the family land, since a treasure lies hidden somewhere beneath it. After his death, they dig over every inch of the land in search of the promised riches, but come up empty–handed. Only when the resulting crops grow abundantly do they realize they have been tricked into doing the right thing for the wrong reason. All the while they had been greedily searching for treasure, they were inadvertently plowing the land.
A certain section of the environmental movement is obsessed with obtaining environmental ends by signaling self-sacrifice and general hair-shirtedness. That may be necessary at times, but (as Aesop’s farmer knew) it’s best not to appeal to sacrifice and self-denial until you have exhausted the possibilities of self-interest first. It is the consequences of a behavior that matter, not the motivation.
And nearly all technological change is driven in its earliest stages not by high-minded purpose but by the selfish pursuit of novelty. (If you sell products on their environmental credentials, it may backfire, since people assume there are trade-offs, and infer that any detergent that is “kind to the planet” is correspondingly worse at cleaning your clothes.)
So if you want to sell electric cars, don’t try to appeal to George Monbiot — try to appeal to the inner child, to the simple fact that they are fun.
Recently I was lent a Microlino to drive — a tiny Swiss two-seater electric car modeled completely on the Isetta bubble-car of the 1950s, with the same potty single door opening at the front. It has a range of seventy miles and a top speed of 56mph. My verdict? Well, first of all, as a city car it is quite superb. It is also spectacularly fun — not only for the driver but for spectators. In fact, so much happiness did it bring to people on the street that I felt compelled to drive it around gratuitously out of a sense of pure altruism. It is insanely cute. You would attract less attention in a Lamborghini.
I had always grudgingly accepted my friend Stephen Bayley’s argument against electric cars — that there was an aesthetic quality to gasoline cars which EVs could never match. Having driven the Microlino, I’m not so sure. In its miniaturized form, an electric car can be truly delightful. Indeed, Stirling Moss’s last ever car was a Renault Twizy.
Besides, if there is one old technology worthy of preserving for aesthetic reasons, it is not the internal combustion engine. It is the steam locomotive.
Let the EV industry evolve on its own without subsidies or mandates. If they can provide a product that people ( AKA The Market) believe is value for money, the industry will profit. If they can't, then they deserve to die.
No bureaucrat in Washington DC should determine that for us.
If around now, what type of vehicle would Jesus drive, EV or ICE?
looking for a new car. My hybrid Volvo suffered a catestrphic failure of the battery. I told the dealer “NO ELECTRIC OF HYBRID CARS!!”
Right. If you want to buy an EV, go buy an EV. But don’t expect me to subsidize your purchase with my tax dollars.
Ah, but there’s one more thing. I’ve read that EVs do damage to roadways due to their increased weight. If that damage is more than minimal, don’t expect me to subsidize that, either. Pay an annual surcharge for road use and road damage.
EVs have Air Conditioning to cool the battery and if goes out you burst into flames
AI tops that list.
I owned EV from 2000-2012. It was excellent. It was less noisy that gasoline powered alternatives, no fumes while running the vehicle, never needed engine tine up, or changing filters. Yes, it was my EZ-GO golf card powered by batteries. When my 18 holes round was over, I drove into the cart barn, hooked up to the charger. Next morning my EV was ready for another round of 18 holes.
IF you like cars you’re not buying a battery on wheels.
EV the disposable razor of transportation
He rides a Ducati996.
I remember when we all switched from stone tools to bronze. We were just being selfish. But, boy, did they attract the girls.
You highlight the problem - they’re great WHERE THE APPLICATION FITS. It’s the same reason I went with all battery powered lawn equipment. With 4 batteries and 2 chargers I can work all day without running out of charge.
Snow blower, lawn mower, chainsaw, hedge trimmer, edge trimmer, leaf blower, ...no hassles, just drop in a battery and go - any battery (varying capacities) to any device. No oil changes, carb-rebuilds, replacing old gas, no pull-starting an engine that refuses to start - just as you’re looking to get something done.
We usually have a ‘his car and her car’ plus a (Michigan) beater vehicle to do all the crappy around town miles, suck up the salt and pot holes...keeping the other two nice. I can see myself getting an EV for this role - because the APPLICATION MEETS THE NEED.
The battery technology will continue to improve, so they’ll align with more and more people. It’s inevitable - but isn’t for everyone yet, maybe they’ll never completely replace ICE engines.
He’d drive whatever vehicle his friends loaned him.
It's true.
Especially when they have license plates that say *NO CO 2* or some such virtue signaling nonsense.
They are clearly bragging and showing off their (so they think) moral superiority.
Preach it.
The concept I don’t have a problem with. And maybe some day they will be feasible.
But technology isn’t there yet and they should not be forced on anyone no matter what the case.
$25k for a Microlino
Every time I see a tesla, I think; “another Johnny cab!”
I am using Ryobi lithium battery mower, weed whacker, and will never go back to gas powered mower or long electrical corded weed whackers. The mower is so quiet, can’t hear it inside house. It is also lighter and I don’t breathe in discharge fumes. Like yourself, I keep 2 sets of batteries.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.