Unsurprisingly, more cars, even if electric, are not a solution. Yet again, the answer is better public transport.
Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
381–390 of 1001 posts
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#382Here's a slightly different take: When I first tried electric cars, I absolutely loved them and really wanted one. However a few things to consider:
1. My country's infrastructure when it comes to electric cars is appalling. I'd be fine in the city but outside the city, I'm pretty screwed.
2. Winters: though climate change has softened winters down considerably but still, the fact that a full charge in summer gets you 250km and the same charge gets you less than 50 in winter is something I won't be able to work with.
3. The skewed stats about how eco-friendly electric cars are. I mean my 3 liter diesel is arguably more eco-friendly if I employ similar tactics of presenting the data: I drive it once a week for single digit kilometers.
4. Musk: let's just say that he made sure I hate electric cars and anything he's involved with. I can't stand his ego, lies and hypocrisy. Let's just say that if he goes missing tomorrow, I won't miss him a single bit.
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#383Unsurprisingly, more cars, even if electric, are not a solution. Yet again, the answer is better public transport.
How do you provide better transport to a village with 30 houses in and services in 4 different directions?
There is literally demand for no more than 30 journeys a day in each direction. An hourly bus service would have more drivers than passengers even if it captured 100% of passenger journeys.
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#384I think the central problem for me boils down to some fairly essential math. When you are fueling up a gasoline vehicle, you are drawing something like 10-20 megawatts of effective power for the duration. And remember, this is pretty much any gas station. Now, what kind of power output can I expect at the highest end supercharging station under the best possible circumstances? The solution seems to be hybrid where yo…
20MW? That’s some impressive charger, the most I’ve ever seen is 0.15MW, and the typical home charger is 0.007MW.
A typical large EV would charge in 20 seconds at that rate.
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#385Earlier quoted context omitted.
People focus too much on edge cases when making life decisions, imo. > We need a dining room for when we have parties (has a party once every 2 years; room sits empty 99% of the time) > We need a guest bedroom (guests could stay at the hotel down the street) > I need a pickup truck (driver is an accountant who maybe picks up a couple bags of mulch from Lowes twice a year) I'm glad I live in a prosperous society where…
>People focus too much on edge cases when making life decisions, imo. Edge cases can mean life and death sometimes. Is my vehicle going to get stuck in an emergency if no one plows snow on a 1 mile stretch of unpaved road between my home and the major road? If unrest/war/natural disaster happens and major infrastructure is non functional can I pack my family in to my car and just go 3k miles without worrying about ch…
The examples you make are ridiculous.
And the fact that you feel those edge cases life threatening tells a lot about the capitalist propaganda.
And somewhat the people that do these kind of reasoning yet don't even have seriously life threatening savers like idk a carbon monoxide sensor.
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#386This article makes me even more dismayed at the fact that the Chevy Volt never really took off. I really believe it would be the perfect car for most people: 1. As the article points out, most people drive less than 40 miles a day, and the Volt provided 40-50 miles of electric range. 2. Since the battery is relatively small for an EV, no expensive home charging system is needed - just plug it into a normal 120V outle…
I agree, but noting one downside to the Volt and other plug-in hybrids: the complexity. There's a lot that can go wrong when a car is in any kind of collision. EV have 'scary' high voltage cables that many repair shops don't want to deal with, but they make up for it with simplicity. Plug-in hybrids have almost all the complexity of both, combined. My Volt ate some road debris, and it punctured an oil intercooler and…
+1 I've also been bitten by this.
The low production volume of the Volt meant that the 1st generation Volts suffered from a poorly designed regulator on all windows, so the power window stops working. Those need to get replaced 5-8 years in. The battery coolant sensor is also poorly designed and if you ever get the dreaded SHVCS message, will prevent the Volt battery from charging. The dealer then rips you off asking for $2000 for what should be a 15min repair. /rant
Aside from these small things, I've loved the Volt and the 40mi is perfect for the average commute. Wish GM invested more in Volts instead of Bolts, which are way less aesthetically pleasing.
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#387Earlier quoted context omitted.
People focus too much on edge cases when making life decisions, imo. > We need a dining room for when we have parties (has a party once every 2 years; room sits empty 99% of the time) > We need a guest bedroom (guests could stay at the hotel down the street) > I need a pickup truck (driver is an accountant who maybe picks up a couple bags of mulch from Lowes twice a year) I'm glad I live in a prosperous society where…
Having room empty 99% of time, empty guest room and unutilized pickup brings me far less stress than dealing with situation when I actually need them. How is that annoying?
It's super toxic for the planet, and in 99% of the cases useless.
If we reason like that capitalism will push us further into buying and buying because what if.
Car rentals and Airbnbs literally are the answers for both.
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#388Dumbass "journalists" with the usual clickbait. Explicitly MORE people are buying EVs: > Sure, sales of EVs keep going up — a record 300,000 cars sold in the US in the third quarter of 2023 were electric The only thing they're seeing is "but the pace of adoption has markedly slowed" -- no shit, have you seen the interest rates and price diffs? And which manufacturer grew the most? Oh that's right the only all-EV one.…
Business Insider is blogspam. Pretty much anyone can sign up to write, and their primary goal is to get clicks not win Pulitzers. And they are immensely successful at it considering how consistently they show up on places like HN despite having no content of value. Forbes is in the same bucket.
Business Insider and Forbes are in my Google search results blocklist for that reason. There is no quality content on those websites.
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#389The article talks about range concerns as if they're simply incorrect or ill-founded: > Niedermeyer said that while an electric car can meet most people's driving needs, it struggles with edge cases like road trips because of the need to recharge. Since Americans have been promised a one-to-one substitute for their gas cars, this seems like a failure; an EV should be able to do everything a gas car can. This idea per…
People focus too much on edge cases when making life decisions, imo. > We need a dining room for when we have parties (has a party once every 2 years; room sits empty 99% of the time) > We need a guest bedroom (guests could stay at the hotel down the street) > I need a pickup truck (driver is an accountant who maybe picks up a couple bags of mulch from Lowes twice a year) I'm glad I live in a prosperous society where…
I'm extremely confident that our guest bedroom that sits empty most of the year has increased the # of family visits we get by a whole lot. It's still mostly empty and it's true they could stay in a hotel, but they feel welcome, they have a place they can make their home, and it's just less commitment and planning.
If you're middle age and only see your family once or twice year when you visit them on holidays, it's sobering to make a guess as to how many more times you'll see them in your life.
I'm guessing my empty guest bedroom that might as well be replaced by a hotel visit has doubled the number of high quality visits I'll have with some family members.
Re: Fewer people are buying electric cars in the US
#390The article talks about range concerns as if they're simply incorrect or ill-founded: > Niedermeyer said that while an electric car can meet most people's driving needs, it struggles with edge cases like road trips because of the need to recharge. Since Americans have been promised a one-to-one substitute for their gas cars, this seems like a failure; an EV should be able to do everything a gas car can. This idea per…
My Skoda Enyaq has a range of around 350 km ( 100% -> 20% ), using a 300kv charger the car is fully charged pretty fast.
I have traversed Germany in the north south axis quite comfortably.
The thing can pull a trailer, max distance is less but I only need to go the local hardware store.
I think those concerns overall are unfounded for most of us.