Are You Clamoring for an Electric Car?

 

(With my apologies to Gary McVey, prepare for one of my incendiary posts.)

Is a Tesla or a Chevy Bolt, or a Nissan Leaf on your Christmas list this year? Can you hardly wait to ditch that gas-guzzler in the driveway and replace it with a vehicle that you can “fill up” from an installation in your garage, at a lot less than a tank of Regular?

Well, if that’s what you see in your future, so do most of the world’s car manufacturers. There probably isn’t a car manufacturer who isn’t working on designing and building an electric car, either purpose-designed or just replacing the internal-combustion engine in a model they already build with a big battery. General Motors has already announced their coming “All-electric future.” The European Union is mandating more and more strict emissions rules for vehicles sold there, and their carmakers like BMW, Renault, Daimler, Fiat, and Volvo are all touting their electric vehicles.

But you might wish to wait a moment before you go all-in on electric, especially if you live in the United States outside of a central large city. First, let’s check out the price of that electric car versus its gas-powered brother. The Nissan Leaf retails for about $30,000. Its near twin, the Nissan Versa, costs about $19,000. An electric Chevy Bolt will set you back about $36,000. Its similar brother, the Cruze, is about $17,000. See a pattern developing here? In the past, you could rely on a nice Federal tax credit for your electric car, to help mitigate that huge price differential, but not anymore. Most carmakers have sold enough cars that they don’t earn any tax credit now. So, it looks like GM’s All-Electric Future will be a lot more expensive than its Internal Combustion Present.

That nice home charger in the garage will set you back another $700 or so. However, unlike the five-minute fill-up of your gas-powered ride, it will take you up to 3-4 hours to recharge that electric car. And the “range” of an electric car is a lot smaller than the range of miles you can get from a tank of gas. So, you’ll probably want to forget those long road-trips in your new electric car. And if you get caught in an unexpected traffic jam, that electric car’s range might just shrink. If you get caught with your battery down in the middle of a busy street or freeway, it might be pretty embarrassing to have AAA send a truck to hoist it up and carry it to the nearest charging station. And there’s no guarantee that there will even be a nearby charging station! They are still pretty few around the country today.

Also, what about that wildfire in your area, when the police or highway patrol comes to your house and tells you to evacuate? What? Your electric car is out of charge? It won’t get you very far when you need to evacuate? Too bad, it becomes a hunk of junk when the fire reaches your house, and you really can’t carry much on your back. Then, what about that power failure in the next thunderstorm? Your car needs a charge? Impossible with no power! That’s especially worrying when you are a rural resident, where you are already far from most services.

Now, I’ll bet that new electric car might not seem like such a good investment. And electric cars are so new, there’s really not much of a market for used ones. And big Li-ion batteries don’t last forever, and eventually need to be replaced, at a cost far above that of an internal-combustion engine. So your electric car might not be worth very much when its battery wears out, and you might be out one-third the price of the car for a new one. Oh, and batteries don’t perform very well in the cold, so if you live in a northern state like Minnesota, your car will need to be kept indoors so its battery doesn’t freeze or get drained by the cold weather. And beware of the company parking lot while you’re at work — your car might not run when you come out to go home at the end of the day.

My own viewpoint is that I will never, ever, buy or drive an electric car. I appreciate being able to get in my gas-powered car, and go wherever I want, whenever I want, with no “range anxiety.” I like long car trips, without the worry of how long I have left before my car dies. Gas stations are everywhere, and if you keep a full or close to full tank, you can even drive around during a power outage. And when you are forced to evacuate, you can fill up the trunk with your goods and just drive away. I’m betting that most Americans aren’t clamoring for an electric car, and that GM’s future might not be so prosperous if it expects most Americans to want one.

An electric car will not be in my future.

Published in Economics
This post was promoted to the Main Feed by a Ricochet Editor at the recommendation of Ricochet members. Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 202 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. Slow on the uptake Coolidge
    Slow on the uptake
    @Chuckles

    Phil Turmel (View Comment):

    Slow on the uptake (View Comment):

    Phil Turmel (View Comment):

    Gary McVey (View Comment):

    Mendel (View Comment):

    Phil Turmel (View Comment):
    The power electronics that govern the motors also wear out/fail unexpectedly. Very complex and very sensitive to complications of overheating.

    I’ll admit this was news to me. Now that we have a decent amount of real-world experience with EVs, has this actually been a relevant issue with the mass-produced EVs to date?

    No.

    This phenomenon starts showing up in industrial power electronics around the 10 to 15 year mark. Premium brands may go 15-20. So we’re not there yet for mass-produced EVs. But soon. It’ll add to the battery-lifespan induced EV resale problems.

    Tendency for catastrophic failure, or will there be a graceful degradation as is often the case with IC vehicles?

    Industrial power transistors tend to fail catastrophically. I’ve been present for failures that sounded like gunshots. And left shattered, smoking debris. (A bad batch of a to-remain-anonymous premium brand’s bookshelf spinneret drives.)

    Fine, but it’s possible to design – at higher cost – more fault tolerant products:  Redundancy, load sharing, for example:  Do you know if that sort of thing is done?  I’m guessing not, if the expected life span is long enough.

    • #181
  2. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    RushBabe49: Are You Clamoring for an Electric Chair?

    Fixed it for you.

    • #182
  3. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Arahant (View Comment):

    RushBabe49: Are You Clamoring for an Electric Chair?

    Fixed it for you.

    I know somebody who recently got one, as well as a van with a ramp so he can drive it in. The chair gets re-charged every 3-4 days or so. 

    • #183
  4. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):

    And from today’s KOMO report, the state of Washington is contemplating taxing drivers per mile driven as a substitute for the gas tax that is not bringing in enough revenue lately, due to more fuel-efficient cars and EVs (very popular around here). Read the whole story.

    Maybe, but a lot of that tax revenue supports Mass Transit and not roads.

    Just another way to track us

    • #184
  5. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):

    And from today’s KOMO report, the state of Washington is contemplating taxing drivers per mile driven as a substitute for the gas tax that is not bringing in enough revenue lately, due to more fuel-efficient cars and EVs (very popular around here). Read the whole story.

    Maybe, but a lot of that tax revenue supports Mass Transit and not roads.

    Just another way to track us

    eh.

    Every vehicle sold in America already has a device installed that records the number of miles the vehicle has traveled.  It’d be simple enough to require a once/year payment of X dollars or cents per mile recorded to the jurisdiction where the vehicle is registered.  No reason to “track” where anyone actually went.

     

    • #185
  6. Spin Inactive
    Spin
    @Spin

    Clifford A. Brown (View Comment):
    One more important fact: our electricity is largely generated by a nuclear power plant, so we get very stable and relatively affordable pricing.

    Brag about it, why doncha?

    • #186
  7. Spin Inactive
    Spin
    @Spin

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):
    One more important fact: our electricity is largely generated by a nuclear power plant, so we get very stable and relatively affordable pricing.

    They’ve been talking about that for years.  

    • #187
  8. Spin Inactive
    Spin
    @Spin

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):

    And from today’s KOMO report, the state of Washington is contemplating taxing drivers per mile driven as a substitute for the gas tax that is not bringing in enough revenue lately, due to more fuel-efficient cars and EVs (very popular around here). Read the whole story.

    Maybe, but a lot of that tax revenue supports Mass Transit and not roads.

    I drive a Hemi.  I welcome the tax by the mile approach!  

    • #188
  9. Spin Inactive
    Spin
    @Spin

    Some feedback on the tax-by-mile system:

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=262&v=Hxor-M5QIoI&feature=emb_logo

    Note the moxey of the guy from Moxee, saying the current system is unfair.  

    • #189
  10. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):
    Every vehicle sold in America already has a device installed that records the number of miles the vehicle has traveled.

    Mine broke.

    • #190
  11. Spin Inactive
    Spin
    @Spin

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):
    Every vehicle sold in America already has a device installed that records the number of miles the vehicle has traveled.

    Mine broke.

    The way the seatbelt beeper always “broke” in all my dad’s cars?

    • #191
  12. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    They had some people agree voluntarily to test a possible system last year.  Those people were totally creeped out when they received multiple speeding tickets in the mail, for hundreds of dollars.  The system was tracking everything they did, and charged for all instances of driving even one mile per hour over the posted speed limit.  Do you want Big Brother in the car with you at all times?  That’s what the State is contemplating.

    • #192
  13. Spin Inactive
    Spin
    @Spin

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):
    The system was tracking everything they did, and charged for all instances of driving even one mile per hour over the posted speed limit.

    It was?  Tracking everything they did?  Sending them speeding tickets?  Link me on that…

    • #193
  14. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):

    They had some people agree voluntarily to test a possible system last year. Those people were totally creeped out when they received multiple speeding tickets in the mail, for hundreds of dollars. The system was tracking everything they did, and charged for all instances of driving even one mile per hour over the posted speed limit. Do you want Big Brother in the car with you at all times? That’s what the State is contemplating.

    After we got home from our 2018 Europe trip, I got two speeding tickets in the mail. Or rather, notices from the car rental company that I had gone over the speed limit on the autobahn, and that the fine was charged to my credit card. There were two notices each involving a violation of the same magnitude but in a different jurisdiction.  It seems these were places where the speed limit was lowered in areas under repair. 

    I’m not saying that’s a reason we should have such a system. Maybe the contrary.   

    This was in Germany. I didn’t get any tickets on the autostrada in Poland, perhaps because it was newer and in even better repair than the German autobahn, or perhaps because they didn’t have such a monitoring system in place. I don’t know. 

    • #194
  15. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Spin (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):
    Every vehicle sold in America already has a device installed that records the number of miles the vehicle has traveled.

    Mine broke.

    The way the seatbelt beeper always “broke” in all my dad’s cars?

    Nope. It just broke. Took it to the shop with other things, and they said they would have to pull the dashboard, etc, and quoted a price of $500 or more on a 27-year-old hoopty that ain’t worth that.

    • #195
  16. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Arahant (View Comment):
    Took it to the shop with other things, and they said they would have to pull the dashboard, etc, and quoted a price of $500 or more on a 27-year-old hoopty that ain’t worth that.

    Hoopty. Heh.

    • #196
  17. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Percival (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):
    Took it to the shop with other things, and they said they would have to pull the dashboard, etc, and quoted a price of $500 or more on a 27-year-old hoopty that ain’t worth that.

    Hoopty. Heh.

    I’m a musician, and you know the drill.

    • #197
  18. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):
    Took it to the shop with other things, and they said they would have to pull the dashboard, etc, and quoted a price of $500 or more on a 27-year-old hoopty that ain’t worth that.

    Hoopty. Heh.

    I’m a musician, and you know the drill.

    For those in the dark:

    • #198
  19. Spin Inactive
    Spin
    @Spin

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):

    They had some people agree voluntarily to test a possible system last year. Those people were totally creeped out when they received multiple speeding tickets in the mail, for hundreds of dollars. The system was tracking everything they did, and charged for all instances of driving even one mile per hour over the posted speed limit. Do you want Big Brother in the car with you at all times? That’s what the State is contemplating.

    After we got home from our 2018 Europe trip, I got two speeding tickets in the mail. Or rather, notices from the car rental company that I had gone over the speed limit on the autobahn, and that the fine was charged to my credit card. There were two notices each involving a violation of the same magnitude but in a different jurisdiction. It seems these were places where the speed limit was lowered in areas under repair.

    I’m not saying that’s a reason we should have such a system. Maybe the contrary.

    This was in Germany. I didn’t get any tickets on the autostrada in Poland, perhaps because it was newer and in even better repair than the German autobahn, or perhaps because they didn’t have such a monitoring system in place. I don’t know.

    I lived in Germany in the late 80s and early 90s.  You could get a ticket mailed to you then.  It was different tech, but the same result.  Oddly, I never received a ticket while driving a tank…

    • #199
  20. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):

    And from today’s KOMO report, the state of Washington is contemplating taxing drivers per mile driven as a substitute for the gas tax that is not bringing in enough revenue lately, due to more fuel-efficient cars and EVs (very popular around here). Read the whole story.

    Maybe, but a lot of that tax revenue supports Mass Transit and not roads.

    Just another way to track us

    eh.

    Every vehicle sold in America already has a device installed that records the number of miles the vehicle has traveled. It’d be simple enough to require a once/year payment of X dollars or cents per mile recorded to the jurisdiction where the vehicle is registered. No reason to “track” where anyone actually went.

     

    Like they would do that. No, they will want track ing .just wait.

    • #200
  21. Ray Kujawa Coolidge
    Ray Kujawa
    @RayKujawa

    Percival (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):
    Took it to the shop with other things, and they said they would have to pull the dashboard, etc, and quoted a price of $500 or more on a 27-year-old hoopty that ain’t worth that.

    Hoopty. Heh.

    I’m a musician, and you know the drill.

    For those in the dark:

    My dad’s 1973 Ford Pinto stationwagon (with faux wood siding even!) proved its worth for many years in that regard.

    Cordovox, 2 amps, spare Fender amp, and for security purposes only, a conveniently stashed lead pipe.

    • #201
  22. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    Arahant (View Comment):

    RushBabe49: Are You Clamoring for an Electric Chair?

    Fixed it for you.

    LOL!!!

    • #202
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.