5 Reasons Why I Won't Buy an Ev Now Part 1
5 REASONS WHY I WON’T BUY AN EV NOW PART 1
This week's EPA pronouncement that two-thirds of the new cars sold seven years from now will be evs demonstrates the government’s blind eye neglect of seniors, the growing lower middle class, and the poor. I will dissect this policy in the next blog.
As an old goat, I treasure each moment of each day and all the little things that make me smile. I have enjoyed driving since I bought my first car in 1959, a '56 Ford. Driving down the street with windows down and radio a little loud, driving to a new place, and driving down a country road with my wife, destination unclear. I think many old goats share similar feelings.
My cars have all been affordable, comfortable, and amenable to my directions. If I must give up my car, I want something of equal value back. The current evs do not provide that.
They certainly are not affordable. I have limited income and maxxed out dreams. I do not want to pay 40-60,000 for an ev.
They do not seem comfortable. I think would be like sitting in front of a computer in a very small room. I rode in an Uber driver’s Tesla in Vegas(of course). I could not believe the large size of the screen nor the near-constant directives from a voice that reminded me of a backseat harpy.
The ev does only what its electricity-addicted battery allows. Say you want to go directly from A to D. Your math and your map tell you the ev can make it with volts to spare. But the boring and cautious ev likely will route you through B and C to satisfy its battery. And don't even think about a drive in the country to a destination unclear.
Maybe one day I will consider an ev will be the quality of a car. But not now for these reasons:
· COST
Average Price of the Top Ten Best-Selling EVs
The average price of the top ten electric vehicles in the US is about $68,817, with an average of $57,750 for the low-end trim of each model and $70,460 for the high-end trim of each model. For these ten EVs, prices range from $26,500 at the low end (the Chevrolet Bolt EV) and go all the way up to $119,990 for the most expensive trim of the Tesla Model X (still the base MSRP, since you can option the Model X up to $144,590).
Information from Find My Electric “The Ultimate EV Marketplace”
Most 70+ men probably would not want to pay these prices for a vehicle, except perhaps for the Chevy Volt. For example, using a price of $62,000, the approximate mean between the low-end high and low prices, and putting down 20% in down payment and trade-in, your monthly payment for a 7-year loan would be about $850 which is a lot to spend on a vehicle at this time of your life.
SUVs sold best in 1922, and the Toyota RAV-4 was the best-selling SUV at a base price of $23,000. This year, the b74x, Toyota’s electric SUV, starts at $42,000, an increase of $19K.
Many of us like or liked our F-150 which has been the bestselling truck for 46 consecutive years. Its base price for the EV Lightening has quietly increased from about $41,000 when Ford started its order list in October 2021 to $56,000 now.
· ROUTE
The range provided by your battery and the location of charging stations will determine your route. You may have to go places that you do not want to go or travel an out-of-the-way route to reach your destination. And this could hours to your road trip. And it would eliminate side trips to areas devoid of charging stations.
· CHARGING STATIONS
Companies own and maintain these. Because they make money from the sale of electricity, they will for sure install stations in high ev traffic areas like major highways and busy resorts. Low-income and rural areas likely will be left behind.
According to a J.D. Power's study, the number of failed attempts at a charging station increased from 15 percent in the first quarter of 2021 to 21 percent in the third quarter of 2022. I presume you would have to shorten the distance between charging stations to ensure you had mileage in the bank to get to another station.
· EMERGENCIES
I am thinking about natural disasters such as hurricanes and tornadoes that could cut off power to the power stations. You would be stranded in your ev unless you had a generator at home.
I would rather have a gas car. Gasbuddy.com will list the names of gas stations with fuel in stricken areas, and some states have laws requiring gas stations to install transfer switches to allow the use of a generator to provide power to the pumps.
· ENVIRONMENT
Considering this alone, less pollution from evs should improve the environment. However, I am not convinced that the government-orchestrated switch to EV, with the unknown effects of this tsunamic change on the American way of life, will have a net positive effect on the environment. More on this next week.
Topic for April -------
What is the favorite car you have owned?
Tell us about it.
Ostensibly, to reduce air pollution, the federal government and seven states want to force Americans to by ev's. The country has undergone major changes for the better but has never been driven by this mini-Mao tactic of government coercion.
The introduction of the Model T, which altered the meaning of the word horsepower, provides the best example of this change. After unsuccessfully introducing several cars, Ford introduced the Model T in 1909. It cost $825. 10,666 vehicles were sold. However, it caught on with the public. In 1911,34,857 were sold. Sales increased based on public demand, which reduced the cost which allowed Ford to reduce the price, which increased the number of buyers. This process continued through 1923 when more than two million Model Ts were purchased at $364 apiece. Competitors began producing more desirable vehicles, and Ford built the last of the 15 million Model Ts in 1927.
But this process of demand and supply between consumer and manufacturer continued and irreversibly changed the U.S. into a country with millions of registered vehicles in 2021.
For this reason alone, the federal and state government should cease interfering and allow this process to continue. As evs and their charging systems improve, more people will choose to buy an ev, and prices will fall, increasing the number of buyers. In a perfect world, gas vehicles will follow the horse and buggy to private property and museums.
But there are two other reasons why federal and state governments should go no further with this misguided project.
The ev needs a lithium battery, and lithium is an expensive mineral. Most of the lithium is mined in China, Chile, Argentina, and Australia. China refines most of the lithium, and sources most of the U.S.'s lithium. There is one small mine in the U.S. The U.S. ev manufacturers must compete with China, Germany, and all other countries producing evs for lithium. It has been likened to a gold rush. According to an International Energy Agency(IEA) report, existing mines and mines under construction will meet only 50% of the projected lithium need by 2030.
So, the questions are; Whether the manufacturers will have lithium batteries for the 8M vehicles the government is demanding they build? And if the answer is “who knows”, Is it not immoral for the government to demand that their citizens buy evs with no batteries?
Finally, environmental concerns exist on the front and the back ends. Despite being a relatively new industry, lithium extraction has a track record of land and water pollution. On the back end, the search continues for an ecologically safe way to dispose of or recycle lithium batteries.
Finally, I am not alone in thinking this plan will not work. The respected international news service Reuters is equally skeptical. Check out https://www.reuters.com/graphics/AUTOS-ELECTRIC/USA/mopanyqxwva/
Dan Bell
MY FIRST JOB
March 21, 2023
At sixteen I was nervous as hell as I headed toward the office door. A short guy smudged with grease with a ciggie hanging from his mouth met me halfway. He introduced himself as Don the owner. I told him I wanted the gas station attendant job for the summer. Don silently inspected me for what seemed like a couple days, then told me to follow him. I remember that I said no when he asked if I was afraid of work. Don told me to start work the day after school ended. I couldn’t believe I got the job. The station was the real full-service deal. Two sets of two pumps. Two bays. Mechanic on duty. Located at a main intersection on the newly constructed I-25 in suburban south Denver, summer travelers joined neighborhood regulars lining up at the pumps. A black, electrified cord running across the tarmac rang ding-ding when a car ran over it, calling me into action. I was the first man up that summer. Through the open window, the summer’s call-and-response went something like this:“How can I help you?”“Give me five dollars”“Regular or hi-test?”“Regular.” One day Don heard me offer “cheap or expensive” gas. After the customer left, he got in my face shouting that I should never use the word cheap to describe the products. Cheap, he said, means inferior. The tone of Don’s words imprinted my teenage brain. Sixty-four years later, I still ignore products advertised as “cheap”. I washed all the windows automatically and, if the driver wanted, I checked the tires. Under the hood, I wiped the dipstick clean with my red shop rag and guide it back into its hole for a measurement, checked the water by very, very gently turning the radiator cap to release the pressure. and checked the fan belt. The job ended with the bang of the hood.It could be car after car for hours. For the first time, I dripped the sweat from working hard, licked the blood from scraped knuckles, and laughed at bad jokes with men. I liked being included when Don, Joe, Kulakowski, Jerry, and the rest of the crew gathered around the red Coke machine to play a game I think Don invented. We each flipped the bottle over to get the city name where it was bottled. The farthest away won. Don is one of my memorable men. My firsts with him included my first beer in a bar and a visit to the dog races. Most importantly, Don taught me to value blue-collar work and gave me a deep respect for blue-collar workers which, in turn, gave me the confidence to take jobs as a tree trimmer, roofer, cab driver, grocery bagger, and lobster fisherman before I went to law school.I worked at the station for two summers before going away to college. At the Christmas break, I went to see Don about the next summer. He didn’t have the station anymore. I didn’t want any job. It would not have been the same without Don.