Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

What's behind the push for electric vehicles?
American Thinker ^ | 27 Feb, 2023 | Jeffrey Wright

Posted on 02/27/2023 5:32:09 AM PST by MtnClimber

The modern internal combustion engine is an engineering marvel. These powerplants run incredibly clean. According to the EPA, overall gasoline car tailpipe emissions are now about 98% - 99% less than for cars in the 1960s. Many current gas-powered cars get well over 35 miles per gallon and have highway ranges of over 500 miles. Refueling takes five minutes and there are 115,000 gasoline stations in the U.S.

So why the huge push by the U.S. government to convert to electric vehicles? It is curious given that EVs are actually inferior to gas vehicles for most uses. (Perhaps a case could be made for hybrid vehicles in short-range, high-density urban settings). Also, beyond vehicle performance, there are other serious negative side effects of this EV conversion. To recap, here are some of the problems with widespread conversion to EVs:

Environmental Damage -- Several studies have shown that when factoring in the production process and electricity generation needed to charge the batteries, EV conversion can be more damaging to the environment than gas vehicles.

SNIP

This coerced conversion plan is clearly a disaster if the goal is to provide the American people a better way to travel. But what if the goal is something other than converting to a “better mousetrap?” Could it be that a coalition of globalists, environmental fundamentalists, and totalitarian-leaning politicians are conspiring to limit the freedom of Americans and control their ability to move about? After all, it is a lot easier to shut down, curtail, or monitor a centrally managed electric grid than it is to close 115,000 gas stations. Americans might want to wake up and think about the risks of buying into the virtue-signaling conversion to EVs.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Science; Society
KEYWORDS: greenenergy; wlectricvehihicles
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-95 next last
To: Tell It Right

Yep, got one contractor that’s going to handle the whole job and hopefully it’ll be well integrated.


61 posted on 02/27/2023 10:25:05 AM PST by aquila48 (Do not let them make you "care" ! Guilting you is how thery control you. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: dfwgator

See post #53.


62 posted on 02/27/2023 10:28:21 AM PST by aquila48 (Do not let them make you "care" ! Guilting you is how thery control you. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]

To: aquila48

That’s because of your elected officials.


63 posted on 02/27/2023 10:30:53 AM PST by ImJustAnotherOkie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 60 | View Replies]

To: aquila48
And they work! And nobody now complains about toilets that use only 1.6 gpf. (Now they’re going for FLUSHLESS urinals)

Because now you have to flush a lot more. You have to flush once, before you go, just to make sure it's not already clogged up. Then you can only put in so much toilet paper without it clogging, you've got to flush two or three times to get everything.

64 posted on 02/27/2023 10:31:45 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: ImJustAnotherOkie

Actually it’s because of the people who elected the elected officials.

At the end of the day, people get the government they deserve.


65 posted on 02/27/2023 10:34:21 AM PST by aquila48 (Do not let them make you "care" ! Guilting you is how thery control you. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 63 | View Replies]

To: dfwgator

I don’t find that to be the case at all. Only on rare occasions do I have to flush more than once. Some of the newer models use pressurized water to flush and they work great.


66 posted on 02/27/2023 10:37:24 AM PST by aquila48 (Do not let them make you "care" ! Guilting you is how thery control you. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: aquila48
At the end of the day, people get the government they deserve.

Good and hard.

67 posted on 02/27/2023 10:38:18 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

You will own nothing and be happy, unless you are one of the chosen, then you will be happy owning everything and everyone.


68 posted on 02/27/2023 10:42:05 AM PST by shoff (Vote Democrat it beats thinking!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: aquila48

Well, I wasn’t going to put it quite that way.


69 posted on 02/27/2023 10:52:54 AM PST by ImJustAnotherOkie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber
This system totalitarian 'elites' want would restrict the ability for citizens to move large distances without much warning... fore instance to evacuate natural and man made disasters.

People in Florida are often stuck hours in Hurricane evacuation traffic jams. Getting ready to evacuate also includes long lines at gas stations as people fill up for trips to safe zones. And that's with the fact 'filling up the tank' takes five minutes...NOT several hours....

After the last major storm it turned out battery powered cars would catch on fire when their battery was exposed to salt water. On fire with the driver in the car or if the car is parked and hit with storm surge.Battery powered school buses erupted in fire when hit with storm surge.

Fire departments were spending hours putting out the fire of ONE battery operated car. These batteries can burn for hours. And there were many to put out. Big environmental problem. All glossed over by the liberal (sold out) press.

70 posted on 02/27/2023 11:22:52 AM PST by GOPJ ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muw22wTePqQ Gumballs: Immigrants by the numbers.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Taxman

Ping


71 posted on 02/27/2023 11:22:59 AM PST by Taxman (SAVE AMERICA! VOTE REPUBLICAN IN 2023 AND 2024!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: aquila48
I'm talking about things like this:

1. I have a variable speed heat pump mainly so that it usually runs on very little power. Even if it has to run all day, the bottom line is it's rare it has to run on medium or high. Therefore, it's rare that it will make my overall load of my house top 18kW (the most my inverters can produce from solar and/or batteries without having to pull from the grid).

2. I have a hybrid water heater. It also draws little power (300W), though it runs for 2 to 4 hours (2 hours in the summer, 4 in the winter). That probably is more total power used than an inline/tankless water heater, but an inline water heater would pull 12kW at that moment (thus increasing the odds that my total load exceeds 18kW and I'd pull some power from the grid).

3. My hybrid water heater takes in air from the attic. Most of the year it's pretty warm: a free heat source used to heat the water tank. We're talking about a simple air duct coming in from the attic to the water heater's air intake.

4. My hybrid water heater ducts output air to a wye lever duct. During the warm 8 or so months we have to cool the house, I have the duct lever flipped to put the cold air from the water heater into an air intake of my HVAC system. So that's free cold air to help keep the house cool. During the cold months (when I'm trying to warm the house) I have the duct lever directed to push the cold air from the water heater into the attic (so it's not making my home HVAC work harder to keep the house warm). If you do something like this, then maybe when converting your gas water heater to electric you not only consider getting a hybrid water heater, but you also consider an ideal location for it so that the ducting can reach optimum temperature points (ducting in warm air from a location like the attic or the bottom of a refrigerator that has free warm air, and ducting out cold air to a place you could use free cold air).

5. I have inverters with an option called "smart load" that'll power a separate electrical panel intermittently. I have two 240V outlets to charge my EV. One is powered constantly and the other intermittently. When my home solar batteries are charged at least 70% (configurable) the intermittent outlet is powered. Thus, when we come home with the EV and we have more than enough charge in the EV for the next day's driving, we plug it into the intermittent outlet. We may or may not get a charge, depending on if power is free at any point until we drive it the next day. Thus our solar power on good days charges the EV for many days' worth of driving. But if we come home needing charge for the EV regardless if the power is free, we plug it into the constantly powered outlet. On those days we might charge it to 50%, plenty enough for the next day's driving. We'll set it to charge up to 80% when we plug it into the intermittent outlet. (Unless of course we have a lot of driving planned the next day, then we top off the EV from the constantly powered outlet.) Think of what your gas fill-up habits would be like with an ICE car if your local gas station every now and then put out a sign at random saying "free gas today". On those days you'd stop to fill up even if you had an almost full tank. On the days you'd pay for gas you might stop and get some gas, but probably not a fill-up. You'll get enough to make sure you get by the next day and hold off on filling-up if you can wait for a free gas day. That's exactly how we charge our EV at home.

6. I usually set my EV to charge slowly for Level II charging (5.6kW). Again, to reduce the odds of my overall home load exceeding my inverters' 18kW continuous output capacity. That means it takes longer to charge through the night and is a little less efficient in its conversion from AC power to DC power than if it was charging at 9kW or 11kW. You won't find that tip on any of the EV forums -- they're all about charging fast (fast for Level II charging) to reduce the conversion loss going from AC to DC.

All of those things working together makes the entire system work better than the sum of their parts. The HVAC guy didn't see that on his own. Neither did the plumber who installed the water heater. Nor did the electrician who installed the EV charging outlets. The solar guy saw some of that, but not all of it. The onus was on me to think about how all of those components would work together to complement each other and ask each one what they could do on their portion to keep the overall project goals in mind.

The only part I had to do with my own hands was the duct work for the water heater. I couldn't find a HVAC guy to do it because they couldn't certify that kind of work. So what I'm suggesting isn't really about depending on you having skill with tools. It's more about you having to think like a project engineer because for the most part the professionals you hire for each jobs each specializes in only his component, not the overall project you're doing.

72 posted on 02/27/2023 11:44:37 AM PST by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 61 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

Not sure I agree that the internal combustion engine is a engineering marvel.


73 posted on 02/27/2023 12:00:22 PM PST by Sam Gamgee
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sam Gamgee

The modern ICE engine developments are Variable valve timing, Cylinder deactivation, driver mileage feedback. For EV vehicles, how do the drivers know if oil, coal, (less likely) nuclear, wind/solar was used to charge the batteries of their vehicle that may weigh 1,000 lbs more than the equivalent gasoline car? Most Tesla drivers would be surprised to learn that they are driving on coal power, granted that it is cheap.


74 posted on 02/27/2023 12:27:59 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 73 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

75 posted on 02/27/2023 1:03:48 PM PST by CodeJockey ("The duty of a true Patriot is to protect his country from its government.” –Thomas Paine)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tell It Right

You went in full hog. I think we “talked” before.

My setup is going to be more modest. Solar panels, heat pump, and car charger. No battery for the time being. I’m going to use the utility as my unlimited “battery”.

And we’ll most likely get a plug in hybrid (for my wife). Given that she drives at most 40 miles a day, that means she won’t be buying much gas, if any. But it’s nice to not have to deal with range anxiety on longer road trips... and you’re also hedging your bets.

I would like to have the system set up so that if the utility goes out during the I could use solar for the house. But everybody I talked to said they don’t do that - and when I press them, they don’t know why - a simple transfer switch would do the job. Of course if you have a battery, that’s a different story.


76 posted on 02/27/2023 9:00:03 PM PST by aquila48 (Do not let them make you "care" ! Guilting you is how thery control you. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 72 | View Replies]

To: aquila48
You could do like I did and get an inverter (or inverters that work in parallel) with the option to do "zero output", sometimes called "zero report". That way you can choose to not put power onto the grid if you don't want to. I advise you make the decision now to buy an inverter with that option so that you're not stuck later either putting power onto the grid or using a transfer switch.

When the grid power goes down my inverter transitions smoothly without flickering the lights. Of course, with batteries in my case I have that experience at night too (assuming I had charge in my batteries).

Then there's the possibility that in the future your power utility will have a change of heart on their power buyback plan and make it cost prohibitive for you to participate. If that happens, you'll wish you had the option to turn off the grid output feature without buying a new inverter.

I actually recently applied to put power onto the grid. It turns out that Alabama doesn't have half the regulations that goes with selling power onto the grid that other states have. Plus, I found a loophole in the power purchase agreement where my monthly fee for sell buyback would be fairly small. And I had 811 total hours last year where my batteries were fully charged (in other words, 811 hours in which I could have put power onto the grid). That will obviously increase between now and the end of August when I reach the 1-year anniversary of upgrading the solar system, especially given that I haven't seen the results yet of upgraded solar during spring and summer. So far my data for spring and summer throughput is last year before the upgrade.

But back to making the overall system work well, as far as solar + converting natural gas appliances to electric + EV. Think about how choices like your heat pump impact your grid pull. Some single stage pumps and two-stage heat pumps are very efficient in cooling and heating your home. But a variable speed heat pump can do it with very little power draw (usually) so that at any point in time your overall power load is less liable to exceed your inverter capacity. In other words, don't be satisfied with just getting an efficient heat pump; get one that also integrates well with the power capacity of your inverter. The same with getting a charger for the plug-in hybrid. Get an EVSE (charger) with the option to charge at low speed so that when you charge the hybrid your kW draw from the charger + kW draw from the heat pump + kw draw from water heater, etc. are less liable to exceed the inverter capacity.

With all of these appliances I have the option to run them full speed. I could set my hybrid water heater to heat the water tank like a normal electric water heater and draw 4kW (i.e. if I have family staying for the holidays and need to heat the water faster than when it's just two of us). And I can set my EVSE to charge the EV at full speed if we ran a lot of errands in the morning and drained the EV, with plans to use it a lot later that evening. Likewise my variable speed heat pump will automatically kick into high gear if needed to combat really hot weather or really cold weather ("really cold" for Alabama LOL). So none of the things I'm suggesting about picking appliances with low power efficiencies mean you don't have the option to be practically gluttonous with power when needed. (i.e. I have a hot tup too LOL). I'm just saying if the normal usage from each of them requires little power at any given moment, then there are less times the sum of their power drain exceeded your inverter's capacity. Thus there will be less times you draw power from the grid even on good sunny days. Plus, it means in a grid down situation you're more liable to run your whole house on emergency power from solar.

77 posted on 02/28/2023 5:27:02 AM PST by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 76 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber
What's behind the push for electric vehicles?

A first step toward imposing the Green agenda, elimination of internal combustion engines, reduction in range of personal travel, imposition of control, loss of personal freedoms, feeding the psychotic agendas and deranged fantasies of the mentally ill sociopaths and psychopaths in positions of power, for starters.

78 posted on 02/28/2023 5:39:10 AM PST by Ahithophel (Communication is an art form susceptible to sudden technical failure)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

Also EVs are heavier..
Wear out tired and roads..also parking facilities were designed for weight of average ic car..a collection of evs in a parking facility could cause a collapse.

Not to mention a tendency to spontaneously combust.


79 posted on 02/28/2023 6:13:52 AM PST by SpokeshaveReturns (Proud Boys, Angry Dads and Grumpy Grandads.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber
115,000 gasoline stations in the U.S.

And most of them are owned by Chaldeans....

Anyway, I gotta believe there's a heck of a lot more than that.......

80 posted on 02/28/2023 6:16:47 AM PST by Hot Tabasco
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-95 next last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson