It’s a complicated problem and I’d honestly say that while EVs are probably (unless we see synthetic non-carbon fuels for ICE) the future, the infrastructure is not there yet for it. I am still driving fully ICE cars, an elderly Honda Fit (had it for 20 years and it’s been very reliable) and a 90s Nissan truck (manual, super fun to drive). Once Fit is dead, I’ll probably go to PHEV or full EV for my commute car.
My points were to demonstrate that the proponents on either side could bend the statistics/numbers to support either position. My daily driver is a Honda Clarity, 50 mi on a charge. Bought it in 2020 just prior to the pandemic when EV/ PHEV went begging. All new, fully loaded for $22K for a $38K car ($8K Honda credit, $8K tax credits and $1K SoCal Edison credit)! As a trader, I couldn't resist that trade. As a former techie, I actually believe EV has one advantage: It is early in the development/technology life cycle and time is on its side. ICE is at/near the end of technology cycle and further innovations will be limited. But we all know you never say never, best just to follow the market. Take care.
Yeah, we are still very early in the battery tech development cycle and in the vehicle development cycle. As is, I've test-driven an electric motorcycle and it was an eye-opening experience
%% I still like IC, the early pioneers get all the arrows. I drive a lot +never have seen a real life charging station or TSLA. But I live In US + we still value choices . Interesting CA announcement ''Amid the Heat Wave CA Asks EV Owners EV Owners to Limit Charging ......9-2-2022. Talking Snake Media Pushes EVs, but that's not a good reason. Ford cut back on big EV Plans .
https://electrek.co/2024/05/06/watt...t-charge-station-with-1-2mw-speeds-and-solar/ WATTEV MEGAWATT CHARGE STANDARD (MCS) WattEV opens US’ first megawatt charge station with 1.2MW speeds and solar Jameson Dow May 6 2024 WattEV has just opened the first electric truck charging depot in the US to use the new Megawatt Charge System, capable of delivering up to 1.2 megawatts of power, currently the highest-speed charger available in the US, along with solar and battery backup on-site and a unique partially grid-islanded setup. WattEV says that its charge depot in Bakersfield, CA, includes the first MCS charger in North America, and the fastest as well. Tesla has a number of its own 750kW chargers deployed “behind-the-fence” in Pepsi and Tesla facilities, but this 1.2MW charger beats those in speed and is also publicly available. MCS is a new charge standard being worked on by charging standards organization CharIN. The standard is close to being finished, though currently there aren’t really available MCS-capable trucks, or even UL-certified charging units. As a result, WattEV’s installation is somewhat of an experiment. The site has 50 total chargers, split between 32 grid-tied 360kW CCS chargers on one side, and 3 1.2MW MCS and 15 240kW CCS chargers on the other side, attached to backup batteries and solar and fully grid-islanded. That latter part is particularly interesting – WattEV got grants from the California Energy Commission to create this grid-islanded setup, wherein power for the chargers is fully provided by 5MW of on-site solar (which WattEV wants to expand to 25MW eventually) and 3MWh of battery backup. WattEV could connect the setup to the grid, but between its grant from CEC, the lack of UL-certified MCS chargers, and delays that would have been caused in the permitting and interconnection process, it decided that grid-islanding half of the site would be the right decision for the time being. The inclusion of an MCS charger promises the ability to fill a truck in the same time as a traditional truck rest stop. While trucks don’t currently have 1.2MW charging capability, WattEV wanted to be ready for when they do. Notably, something many operators bring up is that they’re waiting for chargers before they start building or buying trucks. Here, however, we have an infrastructure provider out in the lead – building infrastructure before trucks are being built or purchased. In a world where operators have gotten used to using infrastructure as an excuse, WattEV seems uninterested in allowing them to continue to use that excuse. Like WattEV’s other chargers, this one will be publicly available either via membership or scanning a credit card/QR code at the site. It’s near an industrial park in Bakersfield with several distribution centers and near the 99 freeway, which services the California central valley. WattEV also offers a “truck-as-a-service” model, wherein the company offers electric trucking at a set price with lower startup costs. The charger could be of use for those distribution centers, bringing goods in from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and also for traffic in the valley, as there are many local farming facilities and produce delivery services (for example, OK Produce in Fresno, which has committed to full zero emission operations).
Overnight holds the record of repeating the same sentence every time EV is brought up. You know he's at least a boomer.
I could quote a philosopher, but I will go with German house: it’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice
It seems some of you are too obtuse to accept what is undeniably in front of you. I can understand if you've never really spent much time outside the US that you're used to letting competition determine the leader. It's not an entirely bad proposition if you're willing to accept its deep flaws. The first is that entrenched powers will make it very difficult to challenge their hegemony whereas only government intervention can do so, and, the second, is that it's a naturally conservative approach (if it ain't broke, don't fix it) leaving little opportunity for optimization and change until competitive/government pressure requires it. As a consequence, the transition to EVs is puzzling to some and the only end result will be an Enron like implosion that will take us back to our "normal" way of life. The expected reaction is thus to denigrate the underlying reason for this transition (human caused climate change? Hogwash!), belittle the proposed technology and its effectiveness, and to remind us how good life was before all this nonsense. This view is also steeped in history, the one where America is the dominant world economy and the rest of the world wished it was just like us. We lead, they follow admiringly. While that may have been until perhaps the late 1970s, the fact is that at least Europe and Asia have caught up with and often surpassed our ability to innovate and sell our wares and way of life, for better or for worse. The Paris Accords, the global commitment to urgently address man caused climate change was not driven by the US but by Europe, or rather by the international scientific community, which is no longer dominated by the US. The arbitrary transition deadline of 2035 was set by Europe and, while it may be set back some years, it is close enough in time to require a paradigm shift in the way we consume energy and pollute our environment. Europe and Asia proceeded with structured transition plans, as they're accustomed to doing. But in the US, this is much more difficult to implement for the reasons I have outlined earlier. Not only does government have to interfer with entrenched business powers, but it also needs to sell and convince the population of the necessity to transition. So the overarching conflict is between impacted businesses and government to win the hearts and minds of the American people. It's not a coincidence that some will repeat ad nauseam that government is corrupt and untrustworthy, that scientists are overeducated crackpots who don't really know what they're talking about, etc. It's as much a part of the agenda as is the other side warning that the end of life is imminent if we don't act now. It's social propaganda to sell us a range of responses that politicians and businesses hope will lead you to vote one way or another. What is fundamentally different from past generations is that this transition to dramatic environmental policies which EVs are a part of, is led and implemented by the rest of the world while America -except for some states- finds itself struggling with even buying into the premise. It's also that China, our possible war enemy, is also a key driver of this transformation, both for the sake of its environment and its economic export. That is, while Europe had always looked up to America to lead, now China is offering and implementing an alternative that many in Europe and Asia and embracing, a non political global intervention to help heal the planet from our destructive behaviors. We can make all we want of the simplistic sell, but we're just as gullible embracing the nonsense that our favorite media slant sells us. The writing is on the wall: Governments around the world and in some US states will, in 2035 or a bit later, ban the sale of pollution producing vehicles. With that, all dependent industries will have to adjust accordingly. And if you think they can survive on 100 million remaining ICE vehicles in the US, you're in for a rude awakening.
France adopted the metric system in 1795. It was about 100 years later much of Europe followed. We still show MPH on our speedometers and road signs. As well as most other measurement we use in our daily life. EV's will gain further penetration but I seriously doubt based on our prior history ICE's will be extinct anytime before the hmmm the end of this century, if at all. Same as broadcast TV did not completely replace radio, cable did not completely replace broadcast TV, or streaming completely replace cable and similarly whatever follows streaming.
You're right, there will be enthusiasts with rare and exotic cars who will buy expensive permits to drive in special events, with all the complications tied to gas, repairs, parts, insurance, etc. They will be the 3% of diehard drivers who swear to die driving their ICE vehicles. American folklore. But you can be sure that by the end of the century, nearly all vehicles will be EV and all will be self driven.