Guest Post by Eric Peters
If an EV could go say 900 miles on a charge, as is supposedly in the works and just around the next corner, that would supposedly allay what is styled by those pushing EVs as “range anxiety” – the soft slur used to mock people who aren’t anxious about how not-very-far EVs can go; they just don’t want any part of such a car.
A very different thing.
The slurring is interesting in itself because it’s a variation on the argument ad hominem – the personal attack – which is the first (and last) resort of the person who has no facts or wishes to avoid dealing with them. You are “phobic” – that is, fearful – of men who dress and act like women and insist you pretend to believe they are women – as opposed to your objecting to the insisted upon malleability of objective reality.
“Range anxiety” is a softer version of the same; it is similar to “vaccine hesitancy” – both slurs implying the slurred person is timorous rather than prudent.
Anyhow, this “range anxiety” business may be ameliorated by the supposed long-range EV batteries that are (here we go, again) just around the corner. And maybe this time, they are. It will make no difference because it will not solve the problem.
The problems – plural.
Range isn’t the current problem, fundamentally. It is how long it takes to recharge an EV battery, even partially.
Range has never been a problem in the past – for vehicles powered by gas-burning engines, that is – because it takes almost no time at get more gas. Americans used to commonly drive enormous sedans and station wagons with V8 engines three times the size of the small fours in common service today. These land yachts of the ’70s often averaged less than 15 miles per gallon and on account of that – and even with a 25 gallon tankful of gas – they didn’t go appreciably farther than a typical brand-new EV does with a fully charged battery.
But you could refuel a V8 land yacht of the ’70s in five minutes or less, so its functional range was in fact much greater than the modern EV’s.
Even one with a putative 900 mile-range battery – because inevitably, that battery will need to be recharged – and it is going to take the same long time to do it that it does now.
Or longer, even.
It is true the owner of such a vehicle would not need to wait as often. But does that make a material difference? The putative 900 miles of range – and we’ll assume this is somehow not the usual, so-far case of the actual real-world driving range being 10-20 percent less than touted – would allow the owner to avoid having to stop more than once a week or even once every two weeks for a 30-minutes-or-so “fast” charge. But that’s still 30 minutes-or-so once every couple of weeks of sitting and waiting at a Sheetz or Wal Mart parking lot, something no one who owns a “gas guzzler” never has to do in the normal course of events.
The apologists will retort that you can plan around this. Precisely the problem. Well, another one of them.
It is a kind of psychosis, this apologizing for (and rationalization of) problems that we never used to have to deal with but are being pressured to accept because . . . why, again?
Oh, yes – that’s right. The “climate” is “changing.” How, precisely, is never specified. Only that is “changing” in some alarming way and on account of that, something must be done. That something not being conservation.
Rather, diminishment – a subject for another time.
So, half-an-hour or so once or twice a month or so, depending on how you plan things. Assuming you can afford one of these things. Assuming there is a sufficiency of electricity – and places to plug these things into – to recharge these things when there are a lot of these things in need of a charge.
What will it take to recharge a 900 mile battery? Probably 2-3 times as much power as it takes to recharge a current EV battery. That kind of power will not be available at home, certainly. It is doubtful it will be available anywhere else, either. Perhaps at a handful of industrial-grade facilities that have the power on tap to light up a small town. But that kind of power probably won’t be available in small towns or the ‘burbs either. That leaves the cities, where there is perhaps infrastructure to support the charging up of a 900 mile EV battery in 30 minutes or so.
But how about thousands of them, at the same time?
If you have the infrastructure – the heavy cabling, the power substations, etc. – you have the ability to convey the necessary power. But it must be produced before it can be conveyed. If there is not enough power to meet demand for it – and there isn’t – it does not matter whether the EV can be recharged in 30 minutes, because it will not be charged at all if there is no power to charge it.
Then how long will you wait?
Maybe until the next “breakthrough,” which is surely right around the corner. . .
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My next-door neighbor bought a Tesla Model X, which goes ~$100k, and he raves about it. He has a place in Florida (we’re in Texas) that he visits several times a year, and has driven the Tesla there and back without incident. His wife drives it daily.
He said it’s got about a 320-odd mile range, which gets him to about Mississisppi before he has to charge it; but Tesla has “fast” chargers in most states now, so he says he just stops off and grabs a bite to eat while the thing charges. A Tesla can charge fully on a “fast” charger — which only Tesla owners can use right now — in about an hour.
I have to admit, it’s a pretty impressive machine, very high-tech and sleek; the interior seats are all bucket seats, and it’s cavernous inside. Would I spend $100k on one of these? Hell no, but that’s not my money (thankfully). Anyway, it’s a geek’s wet dream toy, and to my neighbor Elon Musk is a genius.
To each his own.
that’s the root of the problem. Too many people don’t want it to be ‘to each his own’, they want to dictate what options and market choices individuals can freely access. Peters is spot-on in his commentary, as usual. As an aside, for the $100k that a Model-X costs, a person could purchase 2 gas-powered Lexus sedans that are just as luxurious, better-finished, and probably have some money left over. And I’d wager a tidy sum that a Lexus product will be far more reliable and have a longer service life than a Tesla.
It’s the same as the Elites, like Bill Gates, who have enough money to end poverty and hunger today, yet look how they spend their fortunes instead.
The old saw about those with the most deserving it least is self-perpetuating.
Yeah, the ol’ “just get a bite to eat” thing. Try that at 5 degrees F. The heater will drop that range down to 150 miles. I don’t need to be forced to “get a bite” to eat ever 2 hours.
And if its dark, 4:30pm in winter here, you’ll need lights in addition to the heater. That pizza might be outta range. Better go with door dash, help feed a hungry driver.
I can get over 400 miles in my 2015 F150 and refill it in 5 minutes with another 400 miles of range at any station, not just the few with a Tesla charger. It didn’t cost me 100k – I bought it used, try that with an EV.
I drive weekly from DFW to central Texas and there is 1 station that I know of with superchargers in that 275 mile drive compared to countless gas stations.
You can also throw a couple of 6 gallon gas cans or one of those farmer tanks in the back of your truck and double or triple your range and refill them all in ten minutes. Can’t do that in an EV. Of course by now we have all seen the videos of the poor boob in a Tesla towing a running generator plugged into the car. Many are carrying small gas Honda generators in their trunks.
Here in Illinois, Governor Smirking Pig Face has declared every new or remodeled home must install an EV charger and every landlord must install one for any tenant who wants one.
You are really only getting the good part of the report card. The fact that travel is interrupted forcibly, that using any and all accessories impact the usable range, and range anxiety never leaves – there is simply no practicality to an electric vehicle. I get that some people simply want them, but there is no ecological reason to do so. Even at $4 a gallon for gas, finding a better deal for creating usable energy for that same $4 is is pretty tough to beat.
A recent report says EV’s cost the equivalent of $17.30 per gallon to operate. Your gas car might get 2-300,000 miles from an engine but that battery pack would need to be replaced two to three times in that many miles at $15-25,000 a pop. Then there is the ecological nightmare of disposing of all the batteries and the cars. Who in heck is going to buy a used car needing a new $25,000 battery? Nobody. It’s going to get stripped of usable parts and shredded.
Or, what if your credit card doesn’t work at the charging station? What if your car deems you to be a bad/inattentive driver? Then you’re truly fooked.
Another poorly understood facet of rechargeable batteries of all types is their time to failure can be shortened by both fast charges and fast discharges as well as the number of charge cycles. Time to failure is something that most manufacturers really do not like to tell their customers. Once ICE vehicle engines are erased from the world and EVs dominate their long term reliability and cost of ownership will be more fully understood. But for now, caveat emptor.
excellent comment. My understanding was that fast- charging also cannot be done to 100% energy capacity, only 75-80% or the battery will be damaged
There’s a peak at 80% after that you are just spinning your wheels. The same with a home solar setup charging a battery bank.
One thing for sure: Eric will never be offered a plum, well paying job at biden’s Department of Energy.
My Tesla is 9, going on 10, years old now. Max range is around 240 miles, which is more then enough for city driving, not long distance. Recharge time is irrelevant as it charges overnight at home. I wish it have 500 mile range. It would be much more usable to go out of town.
And that’s a great car.
For city driving.
Gottta get something else for out of town, though.
I don’t begrudge anyone’s choice for buying anything.
As long as it’s reciprocal…
Eric Peters highlighted that only 6% of EV owners rely entirely on their EV for road transportation. Most EV owners have at least two vehicles. Saving the Earth my ass.
And that’s a great car.
For city drivingFor a Beverly Hillbilly.
There you go hating white folks again.
What’s funny is that EV’s are most popular in California – where electricity costs 45 cents per KW hour – up there with Italy and Ireland. It takes 50 KWH to fully charge a Tesla 3. That’s $25 in CA after electricity surcharges are added in. Dumb people think they’re free to drive.
Just wait for the future when people find out how much more electricity will cost. nobody ever talks about this.
I really feel like people haven’t been mean and vindictive enough with regards to your comment so here’s a thumb down and a hearty F U.
Tesla sucks. Their owners are pretentious bloviating gasbags without the slightest possession of common sense or social grace.
EVs are nothing but a leash held by the people who want you controlled
No different than computerized OTA connected ICE vehicles.
Sorry.
Sooo;, let’s look at my schedule next week. Leave Beaufort, SC and drive to Charlotte. No recharging stations nat the Hampton Inn at Phillips Place. Nothing new soon, as Johnny Harris just sold it at $169,ooo/room. Oooh, $29.MMor so.
No Tesla stations. And Johnny is a BIG liberal D
Oh, uo there in my 2022 1794 Edition Tundra. 386HP, 19 MPG.. As Ray Wylie Hubbard would say, “Screw you, we’re Texas, oops, South Carolina”.
I cant manage to plan around bringing stupid reuseable bags to the store and you want me to plan around waiting hours on a car to charge?
Shame on you for daring to bring up such issues and raining on the Climate Change con artists’ parade! How dare you challenge the gaslighting and Green Agenda narratives! You must be some kind of critical thinker or dissident. The Big Brother Deep State will have to keep you under surveillance from now on. That will teach you!
For some reason this article compelled me to listen to this classic…!
I’ve had people explain about how they plan their trip around battery charging stations and then find out many don’t work. I had a young man with a Tesla tell me the range wasn’t near what was claimed and he was going to go trade it in on a new f-150.
They also have among the worst resale values of any used vehicles.