Well, it’s next week, and here’s my Electric Car Anxiety Part 2 blog post. Hopefully you’ve all read Part 1 and have been waiting for Part 2 with bated breath. Anyhow, it’s a week later, presumably the Atlantic Ocean did not yet rise enough to flood my condo, and I’m still here. I have probably not purchased an EV yet, unless the federal government really went into panic mode and completely did away with ICE vehicles and gasoline in the past week. So, here goes. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
First I need to correct an error from Part 1. I stated that for the Ford F150 Lightning, when towing a 7200 pound camper the range dropped from 300+ miles to 60 miles. My glasses (and perhaps my brain) must have been fogged up, because when I went back and re-read the article it actually dropped to 90 miles, still not great. However, I apologize for the mistake. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
Another source of anxiety associated with EVs includes the OMG-which-tires-to-buy anxiety. EVs weigh 1,000+ pounds more than a normal ICE car, mainly because of the massive battery system. Their range per fully charged battery depends on how easily the tires roll. If you use regular tires designed for an ICE car, those tires might not be strong enough to support the additional weight of an EV. It could be “pop goes the tire”, especially if you’re going around a corner kind of fast. So, there’s we’re-gonna-crash anxiety associated with EV tires. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
If your tires are underinflated, your EV won’t roll easily and “down goes your range.” You’ll also experience terrible road noise, so you won’t need the stereo system that runs on electricity because you won’t be able to hear it. Not using your stereo system could potentially increase your range, although it might also increase your blood pressure if you enjoy music. You might choose to overinflate the tires so your EV will roll easier, increasing your range. But this could cause a very bumpy ride, and “pop goes your spine.” Tire companies are spending millions developing new types of tire materials to solve these problems, but from those trusty car magazines I get the impression that we’re not quite there yet. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
What will we do with the kajillion tires already out there for ICE vehicles? I might suggest a federal government program that provides every family with children a new tire swing. When I was a child back when dinosaurs roamed the earth (just ask my daughters), we hung a tire from a low tree branch by a rope and used it as a swing. You could both swing and spin, and it was a blast. But children don’t play outside anymore. It’s apparently not safe, and they would prefer a virtual tire swing anyhow. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
Then there’s the EV availability-and-quality anxiety. It’s been reported that the tech companies have first dibs on all the newly manufactured computer chips, currently followed by ICE vehicles. There aren’t enough chips to allow the car manufacturers to build EVs fast enough to keep up with demand. If you shelled out the $100 to get in line for a new F-150 Lightning, for example, much like the airlines’ current motto when you buy a ticket to fly somewhere, “good luck with that”. It’s unclear to me how far behind they are on the list, but I’m guessing it could be a couple of years before some folks have to shell out that $90,000. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
Good news, you have plenty of time to save up, or apply for a very large loan, at 17% (I forgot to mention that interest rates are rapidly rising due to massive inflation, so there’s that…interest-rate anxiety). I was hoping to make this a humorous blog post, but even I’m feeling anxious and getting a headache. If I want to be able to afford a new EV by 2030, perhaps I should invest in drug companies that manufacture headache and anti-anxiety medicines. But the stock market keeps heading south, so there’s that. Perhaps I should go back and read my previous blog post about how I inadvertently moved to a third world country. That one was kind of funny. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
There have also been reports of poor quality control with the manufacture of EVs. I’m guessing the car manufacturers are hurrying up to make that 2030 deadline, and quality control is suffering. One car manufacturer recently had its entire line of EVs (I think it consisted of 248 cars actually sold to consumers) recalled because the wheels are prone to falling off. I kid you not. And an engineer friend of mine looked at a Tesla with the thought of purchasing and told me that he found a part in the glove compartment that had been jury-rigged with cardboard and a rubber band. Again, I kid you not. For $46,000+ I at minimum expect bailing wire, duct tape and super glue. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
EV batteries also get quite hot as they charge and discharge. Apparently there have been cases reported of an EV spontaneously combusting. And they are famous for bursting into flames in a collision. I also wonder what happens when you drive your EV through deep water, as in a large puddle in a heavy rainstorm. This must be possible since Jeep is coming out with an EV Wrangler. Hopefully that electric motor located on your front and rear axle is very well sealed and insulated from getting wet, because if I remember correctly, water is a conductor. That is why it’s not a good idea to use your hair dryer or toaster in the bathtub. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
The US Congress is trying to pass a law to give us a $4,000 rebate if we purchase a used EV. A friend told me that someone in his family recently bought his daughter a used 2014 Chevy EV to use at college. Within a couple of months, the battery went belly up, dead, defunct, nailed to the perch…you get the idea…and replacing it was going to cost more than they paid for the car. Then they got the bad news; there were none available anywhere. So, their daughter now has a huge paperweight parked in her college parking lot. How is this a good thing? Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
There’s also the charging-the-battery anxiety. It’s not quite as simple as one might think. There’s Level 1 charging in a 120 V outlet (bring along a good book, a pillow, and a snack, because this takes a while; up to 18 hours). If you’re traveling cross country with the kids, they could get quite annoying waiting this long with nothing fun to do, and the entertainment system won’t be working. Your battery is dead. Level 2 charging uses a 240 V device and can charge the battery in 1.5 hours, but only up to 80% charge. It’s a lot harder to shove those electrons into the battery after the 80% point. There’s also something called rapid DC charging, but I don’t know much about that one. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
I did read in a car magazine that someone has designed a Robby-the-Robot thingamajig for use in parking garages. Apparently old Robby is a gigantic rolling battery. There’s an app (of course there is) that allows you to contact Robby, reserve a parking space, and when you arrive this robot rolls to your spot and charges your car. There’s no reference to how many cats, dogs and children old Robby might run over rushing to your car. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
And I’m not one hundred percent sure who would have the right-of-way if I came face to face with this thing in my SUV. But I’m gonna give him a wide berth since he’s packing enough juice to charge an entire EV. Sounds more like a rolling death taser to me. Yikes! Anyhow, since he’s a giant battery, I’m guessing Robby is an example of a fast DC charger…although I could be wrong. I often am. Just ask my wife and daughters. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
It’s reported to be best to run your EV with the battery charged between 80% and 20%, or you can shorten battery life (sounds a lot like my laptop). Fast charging up to 100% can reduce your battery’s life and/or damage it. Running it to empty can apparently destroy it. I also read an article stating that if you run your EV down to empty battery, there’s a normal car battery in there somewhere that the EV turns to in its last gasp. If you run that to empty too, you must replace that normal car battery before you can recharge your EV battery. So, make sure the Triple A guy brings a car battery along with his version of Robby the Robot. Otherwise, it’s a towin’ to the garage you will go. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
I also read that the charging equipment is not standardized (remember Betamax and VCR?). Tesla apparently uses a charging device that does not fit other car manufacturer EVs. I understand that Tesla charges something like $32 to use one of their fast chargers, so it’s not exactly a freebee. The price of electricity is also going to go up. That’s a no-brainer, since 60% of the electricity in the USA is currently made using fossil fuels, and we are all experiencing that high-gas-price anxiety at the moment. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
Also, the federal government (those wonderful geriatric Congresspeople, octagenarians who still think we’re riding around in horse and buggies) won’t be able to tax gasoline anymore to pay for our infrastructure. So, get ready for a tax on the air you breathe, or a urination tax, or a walking tax, or God only knows what those knuckleheads will come up with. They’re so old at this point it’s probably the same ones who decided to go with gasoline cars in the first place, because the streets were always full of horse poop. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
Finally, there’s the US electrical grid. It is currently August, (I think…I’ve been confused a lot since Covid hit, and my Covid clock just stopped…not sure what that means), and it’s hot as hell outside. There are brown outs around the country due to high usage of A/C. The US electrical grid is ancient (kind of like our current Congress), with lots of weak spots where damage can take out whole segments of the country. I remember several years ago when the Federal Government published that information, providing terrorist with an excellent way to disrupt the country. But I digress. What happens when everyone plugs in their EVs at once to charge? Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
Supposedly you should charge your EV overnight when everyone is asleep and not using their washer/dryer, oven, microwave, TV, etc. EVs are supposed to come complete with the ability to program the time when they will charge, so you can set it for overnight. However, I’m still skeptical that the decrepit electric grid can handle everyone in the US plugging in their EV at once. Although there is the sad fact that not everyone will be able to afford $46,000…like two house payments. And from our experience buying a used EV results in a large paperweight that doesn’t require charging; so maybe there won’t be as many EVs as we think. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
Furthermore, according to those suffering from severe eco-anxiety, in future electricity is only supposed to be produced by sustainable sources (i.e. wind and solar). Any dufus can figure out that the sun isn’t out at night, with the exception of perhaps some seasons in Alaska. And even the Energizer Bunny hasn’t yet figured out how to make a battery large enough to store sufficient energy to run LA or San Francisco overnight. So, there’s that. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
Perhaps the answer to this problem lies here in sunny Florida, during hurricane season. If one could build a sufficiently sturdy windmill, it might be possible to generate a heck of a lot of electricity. However, in a hurricane your EV won’t require a charged battery to motorvate (is that a word?). It’ll most likely make like an airplane and fly away. And no worries, I do not plan to address EPs (electric planes) in this blog post. That’s a whole different level of anxiety. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
I have no problem transitioning to EVs. I’m not an expert on the subject (no duh, you say?), but that doesn’t keep me from having an opinion. It might be especially useful for some place like LA, where every man, woman, and child apparently feels the need to have their own car. I’ve been there, and at times I wondered what it was that I was breathing; it certainly wasn’t oxygen. However, I do object to the way we are going about transitioning to EVs as a country. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
It’s been my experience that making decisions while in panic-mode (as in eco-anxiety to the max) is never a good idea. This approach can often lead to the very thing that you fear most, in this case the destruction of the USA, and the world for that matter. It’s called a self-fulfilling prophecy. And, if the federal government is really all that concerned about global warming, the oceans rising, and Florida and all ocean-front property disappearing in the next couple of years, why are retired presidents and Congresspeople buying up oceanfront property. That would be really stupid. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
How is it logical to get rid of gasoline and ICE vehicles before EVs are a viable thing? This can lead to high gas prices, and silly things like the commander-in-chief releasing the entire US oil reserve for sale? This begs the question, “If another Hitler comes along, what are we going to put into our tanks, fighter jets, aircraft carriers, etc. to make them go?” I thought that was one of the things the US oil reserve was there for. They can’t have all the vodka to power the tanks, cause I’m gonna be drinking that. Maybe I’m just an old guy, but I’d like to have some confidence that we can still defend freedom if another crazy person comes along. After 71 years on this planet, it’s my expressed opinion that Russia and China are not our bosom buddies. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
By getting rid of ICE vehicles before EVs are viable and dependable, aren’t we destroying the economy? People can’t all afford a new car that is the equivalent of a 2nd mortgage and used EVs don’t seem like a great idea. And, if the price of gas around the world really is being manipulated to drive people towards EVs, it’s not good. (I have no idea if this is true or not, because I can’t believe anything I hear on the news anymore, from either side of the aisle). For whatever reason, this is destroying small businesses, hurting the airlines, resulting in increased food prices through increased shipping costs, etc. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
Even more serious, if this EV thing fails, the federal government will end up bailing out the auto industry yet again, printing more imaginary money, leading to more inflation…oh, the anxiety. I’m beginning to think our only hope is that with the lack of chips and the current quality control problems, the auto industry won’t be able to make enough currently nonviable EVs to replace all ICE vehicles by 2030. This could provide the auto industry with more time to perfect the EV technology, you know, like batteries that aren’t the size of the entire car chassis of the vehicle and made of highly toxic materials. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
There is some good news that comes along with this panicked transition from ICE to EV. When there are no more ICE vehicles and people can’t yet afford a new EV or the EVs fail, we’ll save tons of money on health care. Everyone will be walking or bicycling everywhere, which will provide lots of exercise and fight obesity, making for a much healthier population. Furthermore, if electric tractor trailers, ships and airplanes fail, it will make it much more difficult to transport food. Therefore, people will lose weight, since they won’t have anything to eat; kind of a government-enforced diet plan, if you will. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
I’m sure that our geriatric Congressfolks have our best interests in mind, since their only concern is for the good of the American people who pay their salaries…or maybe it’s figuring out how to find their offices or their way out of the bathroom? I’m thinking that most Congresspeople are focused mainly on their how-am-I-going-to-get-reelected anxiety, which doesn’t leave a lot of time for them to serve the American people. And d’ya think a room full of professional octogenarian politicians are really in touch with mainstream America? They are more concerned about how they are going to power their private planes. Electric Cessna? Probably not. Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
If I were a reasonable old man, I might suggest a transition period from ICE car to EV that would include hybrids and plug-in hybrid vehicles. That technology already exists, is actually viable and dependable, and in some cases gets 50+ miles per gallon. By some reports, one could reduce emissions by up to 80% using this technology. Apparently, this makes too much sense. That would require a federal government with a collective brain that might do something useful and helpful for the American people. With a Congress full of octogenarians with their own private planes that fly on fossil fuel (unless someone has invented an electric plane with a very long extension cord), the only collective brain in Washington, DC most likely suffers from old age dementia. Then there’s that horse poop thing. Happy biking! Electric Car Anxiety Part 2
If you liked this blog post, you would also enjoy my comedy murder mystery series, including PLEASURIA: TAKE AS DIRECTED, MURDER BY ROAD TRIP, and THE REALTOR’S CURSE. For more and links to buy the books, go to johnjjessop.com.