The EV Debacle 12024

The notion that the US can convert to Electronic Vehicles any time soon is suicidal. The conversion from horse-drawn carriages to gas powered engines took 39 years. It began in 1886 with Karl Benz and was accomplished in 1925 with Henry Ford.  Roads were rough from 1925 to 1950 with Eisenhauer’s Highway System. The conversion took 64 years.  We should expect that EVs may be useful for short commutes after we have fixed our power grid to handle the extra load. We now have the cart before the horse. 

The gasoline combustion engine evolved to include the Toyota Prius Hybrid in 2000. The 2005 model and got 60 miles per gallon. I bought 2 Prius Hybrids in 2005. US Auto Companies tried to adopt hybrid technology, but their cars were too heavy.

The EV was introduced by Tesla that was incorporated in 2003. Like automobiles in the 1890s, these were toys for the rich and they still are.  Rather than waiting for Elon Musk to perfect the EV over 39 years in 2042 or over 64 years by 2067, all Auto Companies began to build EVs. They should have known that this would fail. We know the US Automobile companies were dumb when they kept the UAW and failed to build cars with better gas mileage in the 1970s.

Now Dealer lots are full of unsold EVs as EV ownership limped from 1% of sales to 3% of sales and US Auto Companies are going broke. They are too expensive and full of problems including limited range, a 10 year lifespan, fires and few charging stations that don’t work in the cold.  Government has screwed up this one-car parade with bad judgment, poor planning and squandered money.

Electronic vehicles were first attempted in 1828 in Europe and further developed throughout the 1800s to include batteries. The US version in 1890 traveled at 14 mph and wouldn’t start in cold weather. They were toys for the rich. This EV development phase ended in 1910. Gasoline powered internal combustion engine cars outperformed the early EVs. In 1925 the Ford Model T was the car everyone wanted.

It is not likely that this second phase of EV development will succeed in the US.  Battery replacement costs are unknown and the cost of building charging stations for long trips is too high. US EV batteries appear to have a 10 year lifespan.

The Chang Li EV is priced at $3600, but it doesn’t meet US safety regulations and cannot be imported to the US.

The Nisson EV is $20.000.

The Chevy Equinox EV is $35,000.

Biden’s EPA has proposed to mandate that 66% of US citizens must use EVs in 8 years by 2032. It is not likely that EV ownership will grow much beyond its current 3%. 60% of US citizens live in rural areas.  

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader