Electric Cars Cheating on Mileage

The Federal government is just a referee, never tipping the scales to pick a winner, right?

Here's an article about a city, Oslo, Norway, that's gone heavily electric, even construction equipment:

Even in cities, there are problems with EVs:

1. Parking garages now have to handle much heavier vehicles.
2. As the article points out, more microscopic particles of tires come off because of the weight of the vehicles.

The irony is that Norway has sold oil and gas to create its sovereign wealth fund. Part of that fund goes toward "renewable energy infrastructure."

The attractiveness of EVs is undeniable -- the clean nature of the fuel, the simplicity of the motor, and quieter city streets, as the article points out. But looking at the total return on investment, we have to wait for dramatic improvements of all kinds, and a build-out of the infrastructure, to make it worthwhile. In the meantime, Toyota continues to offer hybrids....

OccupantCDN (View Post):

Now electric cars have a use case… In larger cities, with regular routine daily travel, they could help reduce smog and pollution in downtown cores. But in smaller cities or rural areas, where travel distances could be much larger or more variable day to day. They dont make as much sense.

This!

This simple truth has always made sense to me. EVs and that technology are brilliant, and would totally transform certain situations. But because they are undeniably superior in some situations doesn’t mean they should be forced on everything. You can cut CO2 a bunch, if that is your goal, by encouraging their use in those places. But you do more harm than good if you inflict the things on everybody in every situation.

Same thing with windmills. And solar panels. They do generate electricity, and the technology could be usefully employed in remote areas where there is no energy grid. But to pollute the general countryside with the benighted things is folly. Stepping over a dollar to pick up a nickel.

As with anything, if people want EVs, or Hydrogen Fuel Cells, then they should be able to purchase them. The problem comes when the govt tries to influence the market. I figure that our next vehicle will be an EV because we need a short range vehicle for driving around town. With a range of 300 miles it could easily be used to go from SA to Austin and Houston for work.

I would have preferred that they promoted fuel cells over electric as it more closely mirrors our current fuel infrastructure and allows for rapid refueling. There are other e gineering challenges that need to be addressed with hydrogen distribution, but in many ways it is far superior to EVs.

I will never get an electric car because:

1. I live near Buffalo, NY.
2. I don't want to burn my house down since the garage is attached.
3. I don't want to drive a car that spontaneously combusts, especially in a way that no one can put out.
4. I don't want a car that requires repairs in the over-10K$ range for minor accidents.

As they say on the Small Dead Animals blog, we don't need no flaming sparky cars.

My house is heated with natural gas, which is very effective and economical even in the hostile New York regulatory environment that keeps driving up the prices. If I could, I would get a NG fuel cell, stick it in the basement, and provide electrical service to myself and four or five of my favorite neighbors.