Free Republic

The owner of a Rivian R1S electric SUV was overjoyed to have his dream electric vehicle after waiting for years. But after owning the car for just days, it got stuck in the snow and immobilized by a safety feature, leading to a $2,100 bill to transport it to a repair facility. Business Insider reports that a recent incident involving an owner of a Rivian R1S has forced the maker of the electric vehicles to examine its customer service more carefully and think about making changes to improve the user experience. The owner of an R1S truck, Chase Merrill, encountered...

A Chevrolet electric vehicle owned by Vermont state Rep. Timothy Briglin recently caught fire while charging in the politician’s driveway, according to Vermont State Police. The fire is the most recent to highlight an ongoing concern of automakers and vehicle safety watchdogs as companies release an influx of new EVs.

Former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said she and her family will start a new Fourth of July tradition on Friday — watching video of the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. McCaskill, an MSNBC contributor, told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” that her family would watch The New York Times’ 40-minute in-depth visual investigation of what led to the riots that led to five deaths. “We’re going to start a new family tradition in my family,” McCaskill said. “On the Fourth of July and every Fourth of July going forward, we’re going to watch that video The New York Times...

Actress and left-wing activist Mia Farrow tweeted responded to a revenge shooting in the Bronx by tweeting “humans are a species that should not have guns.” Farrow was reacting to a New York Daily News report of 18-year-old Luis Rivera driving up alongside 24-year-old Nelson Caban on the Bronx Expressway and shooting him dead. Caban had allegedly shot and wounded Rivera eight months earlier.

A fire at a bus depot in Hanover caused millions of euros in damage. According to fire fighters, the fire broke out on Saturday afternoon at the Üstra transport company where electric buses were parked, According to Üstra spokesman Udo Iwannek, the fire caused damage running in the millions. Five e-buses, two hybrids and two combustion engines were destroyed, as were also the building and the charging station. According to the European Institute for Climate and Energy (EIKE), Hanover’s administration wants to run only e-buses in the city center area by 2023 and is purchasing 50 new vehicles in a...

Yet another study finds that “whole of life” carbon footprint of electric cars is little different to conventional cars: April 14th 2021, Jefferies published a research note entitled “Are EVs as ‘Green’ as They Appear?” in which they conclude an electric vehicle must be driven 200,000 km (or 124,000 miles) before its “whole of life” carbon emissions equals that of an internal combustion engine. Their analysis is very similar to ours and details the tremendous amount of energy (and by extension CO2) needed to manufacture a lithium-ion battery. Moreover, they point out that a typical EV is on average 50%...

The idiotic and expensive plans to force electric vehicles down the throats of drivers has run into an obstacle created by an law that environmentalists demanded. You can’t have electric vehicles without lithium ion batteries, and you can’t build all those car batteries without a supply of lithium, which some warn will be inadequate soon.AP reports:An extremely rare wildflower that grows only in Nevada’s high desert where an Australian mining company wants to dig for lithium should be protected under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Thursday.The agency outlined its intention to propose listing Tiehm’s...

Why electric cars will take over sooner than you think I know, you probably haven't even driven one yet, let alone seriously contemplated buying one, so the prediction may sound a bit bold, but bear with me. We are in the middle of the biggest revolution in motoring since Henry Ford's first production line started turning back in 1913. And it is likely to happen much more quickly than you imagine. Many industry observers believe we have already passed the tipping point where sales of electric vehicles (EVs) will very rapidly overwhelm petrol and diesel cars. It is certainly what...

Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon is receiving social media blowback for a recent post in which she expressed bewilderment that her local CVS drug store is taking anti-shoplifting measures by locking up basic products like laundry detergent. Cynthia Nixon — who ran unsuccessfully for New York governor in 2018 — tweeted her comment along with her disbelief shoplifting can be prosecuted as a crime. “As so many families can’t make ends meet right now, I can’t imagine thinking that the way to solve the problem of people stealing basic necessities out of desperation is to prosecute them,” she...

So you’re thinking about trading in your gas-guzzling SUV for a futuristic, energy-efficient, quiet-as-a-nun-walking-through-the-Vatican fully electric vehicle? Mazel Tov! But you’re wondering how long it takes to charge an EV? Well, fine sir or madam, you’ve come to the right place.The electron pit-stop offers different charge rates based on capability, type of charger, weather, temperature, how many cars are connected to the station, time of day, and your car’s battery capacity. As such, EV chargers often require a quick tutorial by the manufacturer or dealer. But just like pumping gas, after a few fill-ups it becomes second nature.To make understanding...

The dissidents use pseudonyms and turn off their videos when they meet for clandestine Zoom calls. They are usually coordinating soccer practices and carpools, but now they come together to strategize. They say that they could face profound repercussions if anyone knew they were talking. But the situation of late has become too egregious for emails or complaining on conference calls. So one recent weekend, on a leafy street in West Los Angeles, they gathered in person and invited me to join. In a backyard behind a four-bedroom home, ten people sat in a circle of plastic Adirondack chairs, eating...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) on Monday criticized certain Democrats for failing to support progressive demands for a $15 minimum wage, contending they are living in a “dystopian capitalist nightmare” and adding that the minimum wage should actually be $24 an hour.

The activist leading the leftist “dark money” group behind the Iowa Democratic Caucus app fiasco is trying to funnel millions into her gambit to fight conservative media. ACRONYM CEO and Democratic strategist Tara McGowan has been planning a “new $65 million effort to push progressive local news around the United States as part of an attempt to match the dominance of right-wing media,” according to Vox Recode. McGowan’s ACRONYM was behind “fake news” network Courier Newsroom that operated to influence the 2020 election. Recode stated that McGowan has “attracted controversy from journalism groups concerned that her advocacy efforts masquerade as...

The story of how Texas was brought to its knees by crippling cold weather leaving millions without power is a complex one, yet entirely predictable and avoidable. The details matter, so it is important to know the long story, but let’s start with the short version: For years, Texas’ grid operator (ERCOT) has overestimated the ability to maintain a reliable grid without a sufficient supply buffer, known as a “reserve margin.” That margin is the difference between demand for electricity and what the grid can produce. When demand exceeds production, you get blackouts. That buffer has been shrinking because reliable...

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday said coal and natural gas – NOT frozen wind turbines – caused the power grid failure in this week’s Texas cold snap. Texas got hit with a rare cold snap that spanned to the southern part of the state and the power grids gave out. .... Snip.... Millions of Texans suffered blackouts partly due to the frozen wind turbines. Psaki said reports suggesting renewables caused the power grid failure in Texas are inaccurate, rather it was renewables that came in to save the day. “Numerous reports show that it was failure in...

To the right-wing folks who are INCORRECTLY claiming greening the grid caused the power outages in Texas: YOU ARE WRONG! In fact ==> 1) If we had a ton of local rooftop solar on homes and businesses and on solar carport parking lot structures AND storage batteries in those places, including in our homes, a lot more people would have power RIGHT NOW in Texas! 2) The technology exists to allow people to bring electricity into their homes from an electric vehicle’s batteries for up to three to five days. This technology is not yet in widespread use, but it...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said passing the Green New Deal would have helped to prevent the devastating power outages in Texas that have left millions struggling to find warmth in their homes amid a brutal winter storm and record-shattering cold temperatures.