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Very well said DeficitHawk. It’s ironic the folks, who are negative about EV, don’t own an EV.
We have 2 EV’s and no gas car. Wife’s car charges about twice a week at home during off-peak. I get free charge for life and also charge about twice a week. Plug it in, go for a walk or jog, or shopping. Come back and 87-95% charged most of the time.
Most siblings also own 1-2 EV. It works for us. The experience has been great in the last 5+ years.
If you lived in Minnesota would you be just as happy with your EV's?
You need those savings to buy your next battery.
They simply just don't work in most land areas of America if you're being practical and drive more than 100 miles. I'm not sitting at a charging station for damn near a half hour.
Also, with few exceptions - the Tesla batteries are holding up just fine with the older models (going on 10 years now) with minimal degradation and they expect over a million miles on average with the current models.
extreme minority that is road tripping across the country towing stuff all the time
Not making fun. Some CA people are extremely naive about how the rest of the country lives. Not saying you specifically. Which EV can tow 9k lbs gross like my Armada can and still get 300 miles? For that reason EV's are a non-starter here in the midwest.
Enjoy them for your short trips in a sedan that will get smashed in an accident.
I was born and raised in the Midwest and our family never had to tow anything in our lives.
My car was paid off in 2012. Gas is the least of your concerns when you are sitting on a depreciating asset. My gas guzzler will still be running in 20 years with minimal maintenance. Not sure I could say the same with an EV that is 40 years old. Plus, in cold climates the EV lose range and power faster than you can say carbon footprint.
But for 90%+ of the US population, the Tesla's totally meet our driving needs without any hassle.
socal2 says
I am saving about $200/month in gas over the last year. I only use the Super Chargers if on a road trip and have to pay for it. I charge at home 98% of the time and it costs me $8 to fill up.
You need those savings to buy your next battery.
Eman says
Very well said DeficitHawk. It’s ironic the folks, who are negative about EV, don’t own an EV.
We have 2 EV’s and no gas car. Wife’s car charges about twice a week at home during off-peak. I get free charge for life and also charge about twice a week. Plug it in, go for a walk or jog, or shopping. Come back and 87-95% charged most of the time.
Most siblings also own 1-2 EV. It works for us. The experience has been great in the last 5+ years.
If you lived in Minnesota would you be just as happy with your EV's?
Do 90% of the US population live in houses and not apartments (I actually do not know the stats)? An electric car is great if you have a home where you can install a Level 2 charger. If you live in an apartment with no Level 2 capability, you are limited to charging a Tesla soley at superchargers, which will greatly shorten the battery life. If you buy a Chevy Bolt (which I think is marketed toward apartment dwellers without home Level 2 access) it has circuitry to save the battery at L3 sites by limiting the charge power. That means 1.5 to 2 hours per stop to charge the Bolt on long trips. For around town, the Bolt would need 2 hours to charge for every 230 miles or so.
Fact is you cannot use the roads and basically pay little to nothing to use them.
My Prius prime gets 55 mpg in pure gasoline mode. I paid $3.799 this week for gasoline in San Jose. About 7 cents per mile.
My Prius prime gets 55 mpg in pure gasoline mode. I paid $3.799 this week for gasoline in San Jose. About 7 cents per mile.
According to the website, my Prius Prime will consume 0.25 kw-hr to travel one mile. Paid my PG&E bill last week, average cost was $0.40 per kwhr. This roughs out to 10 cents per mile, about 40% higher cost than gasoline.
And NO, I will not save $ with some kind of other "EV-charging-at-home" plan which sets punitively high rates for when not charging the EV.
My Prius prime gets 55 mpg in pure gasoline mode. I paid $3.799 this week for gasoline in San Jose. About 7 cents per mile.

I don't have solar, but have the EV plan with SDG&E and pay $.14 kwh during super off-peak when I charge overnight. I get about 3.3 - 3.8 miles per kilowatt. So about 4 cents a mile.

Oh my! 81 cents per kwHr peak during the summer.
socal2 says
Oh my! 81 cents per kwHr peak during the summer.
Obviously batteries are still massively expensive, but EV's have way less moving parts and components to wear out. No transmissions, oil changes, brake jobs etc....
No lithium battery can last 20+ years.
I think people who own a home and have a garage where they can charge, and who also own more than one car for the family (so the other car can be a gas car) can make good use of electric cars.
Europe Abandons All-Electric Car Mandate
Stupidity of "switch to electric" while killing power generation
Igor Chudov
1 hr ago
France24 and the Wall Street Journal (paywall-free link) report that the EU abandoned its much-ballyhooed transition to electric cars, which was supposed to culminate with a total ban on gasoline cars in 2035. ...
The transition was supposed to go on for 13 years after its announcement in 2022 but was abandoned only a year after its adoption. What happened?
Prodded by climate activists, the EU was pressured to ban fossil fuel vehicles and replace them with battery-powered vehicles. The problem is that such a transition is impossible:
Transitioning to electric passenger vehicles will increase electricity demand by 25%.
Transitioning to electric trucks will further raise electricity demand to a total of 40% increase.
EU is phasing out fossil fuel generation and replacing it with unreliable solar and wind generation - thus decreasing power availability instead of increasing it to meet greater demand.
As cars and especially trucks are charged at night, solar and wind power cannot contribute to charging.
Are electric cars more efficient?
Running a gasoline car involves:
Burning gas in the internal combustion engine and converting thermal energy to mechanical energy. That’s it.
Charging an electric car’s battery from the grid and driving the car involves:
Burning gas at the power station and converting thermal energy of gas to mechanical energy of the gas turbine. This is only moderately more efficient in a power station than gasoline cars.
Then, losses begin:
Converting the mechanical energy of the turbine into electrical energy in the generator involves generator losses
Converting medium voltage from the generator into high transmission voltage involves transformer losses
Transmitting the power along the high voltage lines involves transmission losses
Stepping down the voltage in several substations involves transformer losses again
In a home charging station, converting 220v power into DC for car charging again involves conversion losses
A chemical process in the battery being charged heats the battery, involving charging losses
Running the car’s electrical motors from the battery requires inverter losses to generate electricity for traction motors and motor losses.
Take a look at what happens when a driver needs heat in the cab:
Heating a gasoline car in winter involves redirecting waste heat (hot antifreeze) from the engine into the cab heater, thus not requiring additional fuel.
Heating an electric car requires a resistance heater or a heat pump, needing to eventually consume more energy from the grid - with all the above conversion losses included.
Which process (gasoline car vs. electric) is more efficient at converting fuel, burnt directly in the car engine or at distant power stations, into usable energy to propel a car traveling on a highway? The gas engines win outright. ...
The climate change field is full of crooks and is directed by those who recently gave us a non-working and dangerous Covid vaccine.
I do not believe them or their paid scientists any more than I believe the dishonest “Covid science.” ...
https://igorchudov.substack.com/p/europe-abandons-all-electric-car
Europe Abandons All-Electric Car Mandate
Stupidity of "switch to electric" while killing power generation
Igor Chudov
1 hr ago
France24 and the Wall Street Journal (paywall-free link) report that the EU abandoned its much-ballyhooed transition to electric cars, which was supposed to culminate with a total ban on gasoline cars in 2035. ...
The transition was supposed to go on for 13 years after its announcement in 2022 but was abandoned only a year after its adoption. What happened?
Prodded by climate activists, the EU was pressured to ban fossil fuel vehicles and replace them with battery-powered vehicles. The problem is that such a transition is impossible:
Transitioning to electric passenger vehicles will increase electricity d...
https://notthebee.com/article/one-tiny-little-detail-they-forgot-to-tell-you-about-those-electric-vehicles
It's 2x because there is still high demand for ALL Tesla Products.
rocketjoe79 says
It's 2x because there is still high demand for ALL Tesla Products.
I can see why high demand would increase the price of the Tesla, but why would high demand double the insurance cost?
Clearly, automobiles for personal use will be banned, replaced by a state Uber service. You will own nothing….
Clearly, automobiles for personal use will be banned, replaced by a state Uber service. You will own nothing….
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