Posted on 12/07/2022 11:56:43 AM PST by Red Badger
142 Comments
For those who think that electric vehicles make a difference … think again.
The Department of Energy’s Argonne National Lab has just released a study showing that in 2021, US privately-owned plugin hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs) “saved about 690 million gallons of gasoline.”
But that is a huge exaggeration because fossil fuels provide 61% of the electricity in the US, and we have to include:
* the inefficiency of burning coal or natural gas to make electricity (around 45% or so)
* transmission losses (~ 5%),
* losses in the inverter to charge the battery (another ~5%).
… so less than a third of that apparent savings is a real reduction in fossil fuel use, the equivalent of maybe 230 million gallons.
The Argonne report also says that from 2010 to 2021, EVs have saved 2.5 billion gallons of gas. So let’s be generous and say that in 11 years, EVs have saved less than a third of that, the equivalent of about 750 million gallons of gas.
Now that sure sounds like a lot of gasoline, three-quarters of a billion gallons.
However, as always, a sense of perspective is required. The US uses about 370 million gallons of gas per day … so that’s only about two days’ worth of gas.
I say again. Over the last eleven years, electric vehicles in the US have saved Two. Days. Worth. Of. Gasoline.
Hmmm …
And how much has that cost?
Direct taxpayer subsidies for EVs have cost you and me $10 billion dollars to date, and we’re on the hook for more. The government just extended the EV subsidy until 2032 and removed the cap on the number of vehicles eligible for the subsidy.
It gets worse. The US government also just approved spending an additional $7.5 billion of taxpayer money on EV charging stations.
So to date, we’re spending TWENTY-THREE DOLLARS for each gallon of gasoline saved … economic suicide.
Who is benefitting from this lunatic waste of taxpayer money? The richest 20% of the US population, of course. Surely you don’t think the actions of the climate activists would benefit the poor?
According to research from the University of California at Berkeley, 90% of the tax credits accrue to America’s top income quintile. A May 2019 Congressional Research Service report found that 78% of the tax credit’s recipients had an adjusted gross income of $100,000 per year or more.
On top of that, we have to consider the fact that the $7,500 per electric vehicle subsidy is a tax credit, not a direct payment … so unless you’re paying more than $7,500 in Federal taxes, you don’t get the full credit. For lower-income people, this means they may only get a kilobuck or so. How upside-down is that? The richer you are, the larger the subsidy you get for buying a mostly fossil-powered sparky car! Say what?
It’s nothing but a money-transfer scam to benefit the wealthy. Lower and middle-class people are paying for the vanity-signaling EVs of doctors, CEOs, lawyers, and politicians.
And how well are the electric vehicles selling? Here’s how people think they are selling, compared to how they are actually selling.
Note that the electric car data in the graphic above (yellow/black line) is the same in both panels …
There’s a much larger problem with EVs, however—we’re rapidly running out of both the generation capacity and the grid capacity to recharge them. California can’t even keep the lights on, and our insane Governor’s response is to forbid selling gasoline-powered cars after 2035 …
… and meanwhile, Switzerland is already having to bite the EV bullet. If current European energy shortages continue, they plan to ban EVs from anything but “essential” journeys this winter …
Not only that, but going to a “net-zero” all-electric economy by 2050, as many people advocate, is economically, physically, and politically impossible. I discuss this in my post “Bright Green Impossibilities“.
The problem with electric vehicles is that they are a hugely expensive imaginary solution to an imaginary problem. There is no “climate crisis”, that’s just a lie to keep people scared and compliant. I go over the facts in my post “Where Is The Climate Emergency“. I’ve posted it all over the web, and no one has found a single flaw in it.
Unless we can stop the insane war on fossil fuels, it is going to bankrupt us all, driving energy costs through the roof, leaving low-income people shivering in the winter, and denying poor countries the energy they need to escape grinding poverty. For details about how this plays out down at the bottom of the economic ladder, see my post “We Have Met The 1%, And He Is Us“.
Grrrr …
w.
As Always: I ask that when you comment, you quote the exact words you’re discussing. This avoids endless misunderstandings as to what and who is being discussed.
so they’ll make everyone buy an EV then ban them because they’re too dangerous ,LOL
As Algore might say, these facts about EVs are Inconvenient Truths.
“just a lie to keep people scared and compliant”
It’s a ploy to get countries filled with dark-skinned people to sell oil cheaper to countries filled with light-skinned people.
They are battery cars. They run on batteries. And the lithium reserves can only create batteries for about 10B leaf cars. Total easy lithium is 4B. via the water evaporation salt flats technique.
This is silly. It’s like saying in 2006 that smart phones are a failure because only 1% of people own one.
US electric vehicles:
2010: 1,000
2015: 200,000
2020: 1,000,000
The number of EVs on the road has been increasing exponentially over the last decade.
They are at 1% now, but there is no scenario where they EVs don’t hit 20% of all cars on the road.
The ICE vehicle beat steam and electric vehicles over 100 years ago. Same reason why EVs today are not making it without govt coercion.
There is a lot of available of-peak electricity generating capacity - not enough to go 100% electric, maybe around 80%.
The federal government tracks electric output:
https://www.eia.gov/electricity/gridmonitor/dashboard/electric_overview/US48/US48
Article also didn’t mention the concept of “Energy Return On (Energy) Investment”. EROI
Making an electric car NEEDS a lot of energy - far more than a regular ICE car.
The battery minerals must be mined and processed. EVs use a lot more copper, cobalt, silver, etc... than regular cars. Energy is spent to produce these extra materials.
various sources say the “break-even” on that energy investment for an EV is about 9 years. You’ll be lucky if your EV battery hasn’t failed by then.
the idea is to stop using crude oil as fuel
not to stop using coal or natural-gas
“And the lithium reserves can only create batteries for about 10B leaf cars.”
Lithium is one of the most common elements in the Earth’s crust.
It is expensive now because we need to build new capacity, but long run it won’t be any more expensive than table salt.
Batteries are the biggest problem with the EV concept.
Electric vehicles need to be pioneered and “domesticated” imo.
Otherwise, any excuse for “follow the money” unconstitutional, unaccountable federal subsidies that help desperate Democrats to get reelected.
“Article also didn’t mention the concept of “Energy Return On (Energy) Investment”. EROI”
This implies all energy is equal. Oil is scarce and tends to be controlled by our enemies.
Coal is cheap and controlled by us. EVs can be built and powered by cheap coal.
Even if the same amount of energy goes in saving oil is good.
The 3 (4) Laws of Thermodynamics in Vegas terminology:
1. You cannot win the Game.
2. You cannot Break Even.
3. You cannot quit the Game.
Red Badger’s #4:
4. You cannot change the rules...................
“there is no scenario where they EVs don’t hit 20% of all cars on the road.”
Let me fix that...
“there is no scenario where they EVs don’t hit 20% AS all cars on the road.”
That is a pretty good estimate. Because 80% of folks will not even be able to own a car anymore let alone afford to charge one.
Not too dangerous! The problem wit EV is that we do not have the E. Hard to get EV without E!
Most people don’t know that the EV was tried over a 100 years ago and was found to be inferior to the internal combustion engine.
Electric vehicles are best suited for the golf course.
Removing government coercion and forcing electric cars to compete on their merits might do the trick but given the direction we are moving I agree with your assessment.
Yep, total scam, and one that actually does more damage to the environment it claims to be saving.
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