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Deleted member 5962
Guest
Rant time! I saw a headline the other day that both GM and FORD plan to be all electric by 2035. I'm all about cleaning up the planet. I'm all about developing electric cars for those who CAN use them, to reduce pollution, fuel consumption, etc.
But am I the only one in the world who wonders how the heck they plan to impose an "electric vehicle only" standard in the near future? My very first question: Has anyone else noticed that in all the talk about electric vehicles and how great they are, not one time have I ever seen anyone advertise the "expected battery life." Has anyone seen mentioned ONE TIME how long that new car that claims 200 miles range per charge will last once the batteries are 2 years old... 3 years old... I've used rechargeable batteries for years, and despite newer better materials, one thing they've never changed is that batteries have less and less capacity with each use. So will my 200 mile charge last 150 miles after 2 years? Of 125? or 100??? Oh, and here's a doosie.... when those batteries go bad, and they will go bad... how much is it going to cost to replace them? Are they just expecting that someone who doesn't spend $50/week on gas won't mind ponying up $4000 for new batteries when the car is 3-4 years old? More importantly, why are none of these three critical things EVER mentioned? Not one time, and I've watched, have I ever seen battery life expectancy, battery replacement costs, or battery capacity loss discussed. Not to mentioned the electric motors themselves... we're pretty used to gas engines now and just about anyone can build one that will last over 200,000 miles or more. What about the batteries, but what about the electric motors? And how about your 4 year old trade in that is in mint condition, but... well, "it is due for new batteries and new motors so..." what kind of trade-in value will that have?
Then I noticed them BRAGGING about new charging methods allowing 1 hours charging time to provide 25 miles or driving range! With any traffic, that won't get me home from work. And forget vacation. You can't drive anywhere! So they get all this infrastructure in where you can now charge every place you go... I want to go to a state lodge for a weekend and it's out in the middle of nowhere, and 2 hours from home. I barely make it there on a charge. Once I get there, I can't even go out to dinner because my car needs a full charge now.
So far, I've mentioned a few things that affect ME. What about the whole freaking infrastructure of our country? How are distribution chains supposed to work? Semi driver has a super electric semi that can run 3 hours. So, instead of going from Cinci to Alabama (route one of my clients runs nightly) he goes 3 hours, they have a whole new facility there where they stop, unload, load it onto another truck... that can only go 3 more hours so it's still not at it's destination, and then each of of these trucks sits for 12 or more hours charging after their 3 hour drive. Yeah...that's gonna work.
What about pulling my camper? Or people with boats? Want to take a weekend at a lake that's 3-4 hours away? Sorry, not possible.
This goes on and on and on. Every time I see someone say "we'll be all electric vehicles by 2030" or some such stuff, I wonder what they're smoking. I can see pushing for more and more electric vehicles, FOR THOSE WHO CAN US THEM. But to think we can completely do away with gas engines in the near future is, as this point a pipe dream, and the pun is fully intended!
I grew up in the car business. I know a couple things about it. This whole electric car things seems to have gone from an "exotic" market vehicle, to being thrust down the throats of the general public, while hiding lots of very important facts about ownership that people have the right to know before spending $50K on a car. WAKE UP AMERICA!
But am I the only one in the world who wonders how the heck they plan to impose an "electric vehicle only" standard in the near future? My very first question: Has anyone else noticed that in all the talk about electric vehicles and how great they are, not one time have I ever seen anyone advertise the "expected battery life." Has anyone seen mentioned ONE TIME how long that new car that claims 200 miles range per charge will last once the batteries are 2 years old... 3 years old... I've used rechargeable batteries for years, and despite newer better materials, one thing they've never changed is that batteries have less and less capacity with each use. So will my 200 mile charge last 150 miles after 2 years? Of 125? or 100??? Oh, and here's a doosie.... when those batteries go bad, and they will go bad... how much is it going to cost to replace them? Are they just expecting that someone who doesn't spend $50/week on gas won't mind ponying up $4000 for new batteries when the car is 3-4 years old? More importantly, why are none of these three critical things EVER mentioned? Not one time, and I've watched, have I ever seen battery life expectancy, battery replacement costs, or battery capacity loss discussed. Not to mentioned the electric motors themselves... we're pretty used to gas engines now and just about anyone can build one that will last over 200,000 miles or more. What about the batteries, but what about the electric motors? And how about your 4 year old trade in that is in mint condition, but... well, "it is due for new batteries and new motors so..." what kind of trade-in value will that have?
Then I noticed them BRAGGING about new charging methods allowing 1 hours charging time to provide 25 miles or driving range! With any traffic, that won't get me home from work. And forget vacation. You can't drive anywhere! So they get all this infrastructure in where you can now charge every place you go... I want to go to a state lodge for a weekend and it's out in the middle of nowhere, and 2 hours from home. I barely make it there on a charge. Once I get there, I can't even go out to dinner because my car needs a full charge now.
So far, I've mentioned a few things that affect ME. What about the whole freaking infrastructure of our country? How are distribution chains supposed to work? Semi driver has a super electric semi that can run 3 hours. So, instead of going from Cinci to Alabama (route one of my clients runs nightly) he goes 3 hours, they have a whole new facility there where they stop, unload, load it onto another truck... that can only go 3 more hours so it's still not at it's destination, and then each of of these trucks sits for 12 or more hours charging after their 3 hour drive. Yeah...that's gonna work.
What about pulling my camper? Or people with boats? Want to take a weekend at a lake that's 3-4 hours away? Sorry, not possible.
This goes on and on and on. Every time I see someone say "we'll be all electric vehicles by 2030" or some such stuff, I wonder what they're smoking. I can see pushing for more and more electric vehicles, FOR THOSE WHO CAN US THEM. But to think we can completely do away with gas engines in the near future is, as this point a pipe dream, and the pun is fully intended!
I grew up in the car business. I know a couple things about it. This whole electric car things seems to have gone from an "exotic" market vehicle, to being thrust down the throats of the general public, while hiding lots of very important facts about ownership that people have the right to know before spending $50K on a car. WAKE UP AMERICA!
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