EV - not ready for the masses?

[jbehrn]

Around 2010. Another cold snap killed gas lines. The TX legislature did nothing and then acted like 2020 was the first time.

In central Texas (N. Austin area) I didn’t experience an outage due to cold weather during 2010 winter. The reported outage isn’t near what’s is was in 2021. Maybe it was localized to a smaller geographical area (North Texas)? Either way, you’re right, ERCOT should have had any issues resolved over the previous 10 years.

Regardless my original response still stands, the state govt. was responsible and failed…

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[Geoarch]

EVs are cool. Any household in a position to do so should have one. But having only EVs is a dicey proposition.

I agree. We have 6.23 kW rooftop solar (we don't pay electric utility bills) and plan on getting a plug-in hybrid. The charging will be free, and running around town will be free as well. Longer trips, not taking the JTR, will be on the gas engine. EVs have a way to go to get across the country, but as battery technology improves, it will be a different story. I'm a geologist, and despite what you may hear in some of the media, oil is becoming a limited commodity. So not even counting global warming, we'll have to do something in the relatively near future. I'm 73 and have lived through the gasoline prime time. That lifeway is coming to an end, as much as I love my JTR>

 

[ZoMojave]

But please do not spread misinformation, lies and conspiracy theories surrounding EVs and EV technology. That too is, "No bueno!". If you hear or read something about EV technology, do some investigating from multiple sources to see if the information is true, exaggerated or outright false

Agreed. Unfortunately, there is true, exaggerated or outright false info floating around in all areas of this subject. It's difficult to separate what is real and what is not.

 

[The Duck of Earl]

Ya. Ya. Ya. There is credence to both ‘agendas’.

EVs would be great if adopted en masse (everyone’s cars themselves could essentially be batteries to help support the grid during peak loads). But in the time being,
unless we roll out a bunch of new nuclear plants, whatever.

No need to go on a rant about insufficient range or slow recharging here. This being a truck forum (and one where supposedly people take their vehicles ‘off-grid’), the limitations of the current offerings are quite self evident.

Hell, Jeep’s own 4xe trim is downright stupid. Worst of all worlds, without excelling at anything. No thanks in its current form for the Gladiator….

The time now is for hybrids. Not plug ins - but real, powerful hybrids. …but those don’t get the govmnt sponsored (should I say forced taxpayer subsidy) $7,500 tax credit (more in some states) just for being a square peg that still doesn’t fit into the round hole…

 

[Forum Crawler]

We need to stop calling these things EV’s or electric powered.

They’re not electric powered. They’re coal powered. Fossil fuel powered. The whole damn thing is a virtue signaling pipe dream.

 

[Escape.idiocracy]

We need to stop calling these things EV’s or electric powered.

They’re not electric powered. They’re coal powered. Fossil fuel powered. The whole damn thing is a virtue signaling pipe dream.

I am trying so hard to get a photo of one of the three teslas in my town with “no snake river dams”…. ?. (Live in the PNW- our power from hydro supports a lot of the surrounding area as well…)

Thought you would enjoy the irony.

 

[dcmdon]

We need to stop calling these things EV’s or electric powered.

They’re not electric powered. They’re coal powered. Fossil fuel powered. The whole damn thing is a virtue signaling pipe dream.

It depends where you live. If you live in upstate New York, your EV is hydro-electric powered.

In North Dakota, wind powered.
In WV, Coal powered.

A lot of it is virtue signaling. But some of it is simply that EVs give a great driving experience.
I have a neighbor who is a perfect "good"EV use case.

He doesn't take long car trips, commutes about 20 miles each way, and charges his car in his attached garage every night.

The 2 teslas that he and his wife own are super convenient, super nice, and very very fast.

The one time he went on a long road trip, he had the sense to rent a suburban for a few days.

In contrast a friends brother lives in NYC and is a virtue signaling idiot. He parks on the street and has to wait with it at public charging stations when he charges. Its pure stupidity. He's constantly taking time out of his life to "charge the Tesla".

In contrast my neighbor never even has to go to a gas station. A couple of times per week he plugs his car in in his own garage.

EVs make sense in certain use cases and are idiocy in other use cases.

Plug in hybrids on the other hand are simply better in almost all cases.

Take a guess what the Toyota vehicle with the highest fuel economy is that isn't a Prius. Its a Rav4 Plug in hybrid.

Take a guess what the quickest Toyota vehicle is that isn't a Supra? Its the Rav4 hybrid. I'm no fan of the Rav4. But I'm fascinated with its drivetrain. Tons of power. Tons of fuel economy. Toyota reliability. (Unlike the version 1.0 attempt that is the 4xe, Toyota has been building hybrid vehicles for 25 years)

 

[Geoarch]

Ya. Ya. Ya. There is credence to both ‘agendas’.

EVs would be great if adopted en masse (everyone’s cars themselves could essentially be batteries to help support the grid during peak loads). But in the time being,
unless we roll out a bunch of new nuclear plants, whatever.

No need to go on a rant about insufficient range or slow recharging here. This being a truck forum (and one where supposedly people take their vehicles ‘off-grid’), the limitations of the current offerings are quite self evident.

Hell, Jeep’s own 4xe trim is downright stupid. Worst of all worlds, without excelling at anything. No thanks in its current form for the Gladiator….

The time now is for hybrids. Not plug ins - but real, powerful hybrids. …but those don’t get the govmnt sponsored (should I say forced taxpayer subsidy) $7,500 tax credit (more in some states) just for being a square peg that still doesn’t fit into the round hole…

And with regard to hybrids, and I agree, Toyota and others don’t make enough. They hit their CAFE quota and quit production. My wife has been trying to find a RAV4 plug in hybrid and they won’t even let her order one. Something’s fishy.

 

[The Duck of Earl]

Disagree on the Rav 4 prime. Power train is the same as the 4xe and totally geared towards getting that $7500 credit. Stupid, and pointless in real world.

Roll out a ‘super charged’ Prius powertain for the rest of us. Tacomas, highlanders, Camrys, whatever…. O, but we need pretend that we ‘care’ and that plugging in makes damn bit of difference…

 

[NachoRuby]

My wife has been trying to find a RAV4 plug in hybrid and they won’t even let her order one. Something’s fishy.

I thought Toyota didn't do custom orders for anything?

 

[Forum Crawler]

I am trying so hard to get a photo of one of the three teslas in my town with “no snake river dams”…. ?. (Live in the PNW- our power from hydro supports a lot of the surrounding area as well…)

Thought you would enjoy the irony.

Hydro is the only other energy source other than fossil or nuclear that is anywhere near reliable.

Wind? Solar? GTFOH with that. Weather has a mind of its own and it’s anything but reliable.

Like I said, we need to stop BS’ing ourselves with this “EV” thing. All these Teslas etc need to plug into a grid that is, by and large, still dependent on fossils fuels, or hydro.

The grid is NOT ready for what these “green energy” shills are selling.

 

[BAT]

I agree. We have 6.23 kW rooftop solar (we don't pay electric utility bills) and plan on getting a plug-in hybrid. The charging will be free, and running around town will be free as well. Longer trips, not taking the JTR, will be on the gas engine. EVs have a way to go to get across the country, but as battery technology improves, it will be a different story. I'm a geologist, and despite what you may hear in some of the media, oil is becoming a limited commodity. So not even counting global warming, we'll have to do something in the relatively near future. I'm 73 and have lived through the gasoline prime time. That lifeway is coming to an end, as much as I love my JTR>

Interesting as I work with a lot of Oil & Gas people and companies. I know its their bread and butter same as the EV folks have their line. But many of them and some of them I trust very much so as they are good friends say there is easily 400 years worth of oil, etc that is known now and that is not taking into consideration what they haven't found which they feel is quite substantial. Don't see why they all just can't play nice with each other but I get it there are massive amounts of dollars to bilk the government out of either way

 

[Forum Crawler]

The toxic pollution the spent batteries will produce makes todays internal combustion engines look like an environmentalist dream

Absolutely correct. Last I heard there were 3 maybe 4 facilities NATIONWIDE capable of properly disposing of these batteries. Hardly enough to meet current much less future demand. So ask yourself where the rest of that waste is going now or in even 10 years?

And follow the money on where and how these rare earth ingredients are sourced from.

 

[Escape.idiocracy]

Hydro is the only other energy source other than fossil or nuclear that is anywhere near reliable.

Wind? Solar? GTFOH with that. Weather has a mind of its own and it’s anything but reliable.

Like I said, we need to stop BS’ing ourselves with this “EV” thing. All these Teslas etc need to plug into a grid that is, by and large, still dependent on fossils fuels, or hydro.

The grid is NOT ready for what these “green energy” shills are selling.

So- the sticker no snake river dams…. There are a lot of people protesting the dams on the river because of fish and other reasons…. (That’s an entirely separate argument…)
What I found funny is the people that are driving these teslas are charging them utilizing a power grid that is almost entirely supported by hydro power….

I’m all for green energy. Nuke is great- super sustainable- let’s just make sure our cooking water supply has no issues ?
Hydro is great!
Solar definitely has its place.
Wind…. Ehh… I could argue this one either way…

Ev cars… sure there is a time and a place for those too…. But a full replacement of combustion is a joke at this point.

 

[BAT]

The same thing happened in n Texas a decade before. They claimed they’d address it to prevent a repeat, but never did. That disaster was on them.

A lot of what happened was on the local government agencies that were supposed to be regulating and overseeing things like fortifications, etc as they got money and it did not get used for what it was for. But a lot of what occurred during the freeze had to do with many issues snowballing. Shut down of power plants at the wrong time, power plants that were supposed to have been fortified but were not, reliance on solar and wind, clueless citizens who refused to take warning and preparations (I honestly was shocked that there was such a large group of people who just were clueless), State and local building regulations. These houses are not built for heavy cold and as many are finding out currently they are not built for extreme heat. Builders have gotten away with doing the absolute minimum and many are probably well below that level if they could get away with it. Substandard insulation, and insufficient heating/cooling systems. When I built my house which is a 2-story 2400-square-foot home. The builder and others fought me every step of the way on things I wanted to be done such as two A/C Heating units. They insisted that a 3-ton unit would be more than enough to heat and cool my home and refused to put 2 larger units in. I told them I would pull the plug on the sale unless they did that and other things like putting insulation in that attic which they said was not necessary. Every home built around me and we are talking thousands of homes were being built this way. Thin walls, tons of glass, minimal insulation. They didn't put in any ceiling fans cause the designers didn't like them. As soon as I moved in we put ceiling fans all over which have been a blessing. Many of the homes around me during the freeze had damage because of the use of non-insulated copper pipes over PEX. While my area didn't lose power it was still damned cold and my house was not built to handle it.

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