Electric vehicles have become a huge fad recently, especially with the government pushing them hard with tax benefits. You see ads for them everywhere, and EVs have also become a status symbol for some virtue-signaling woke commies.
But I will never own one, and I’ll tell you why in this post.
Electric vehicles aren’t reliable in cold winter weather
I bumped into a story today about EVs not working in cold weather. Frankly, I did not know this, and it surprised me. Can you imagine being one of these people in Chicago, stuck because your vehicle won’t work because of the cold?
Desperate Tesla owners in and around Chicago were seen trying to charge their vehicles with no luck amid frigid temperatures that have gripped the Midwest.
Charging stations have essentially turned into car graveyards in recent days as temperatures have dropped to the negative double digits, Fox Chicago reported.
"Nothing. No juice. Still on zero percent," Tyler Beard, who had been trying to recharge his Tesla at an Oak Brook, Illinois, Tesla supercharging station since Sunday afternoon, told the news outlet. "And this is like three hours being out here after being out here three hours yesterday."
One expert told the news outlet that cold weather can impact the ability of electric vehicles to charge properly.
"It’s not plug and go. You have to precondition the battery, meaning that you have to get the battery up to the optimal temperature to accept a fast charge," said Mark Bilek of the Chicago Auto Trade Association.
I cannot imagine being stuck in -30-degree temperatures because my vehicle won’t work in the cold. In that kind of cold, you are taking your life into your hands if you have to depend on an electric vehicle.
Cobalt mining: Child labor and environmental damage
Cobalt is often mined by children exploited in dangerous and illegal child labor.
Recognizing the prevalence of child labor in the mining of this mineral, in 2009 the Department of Labor placed cobalt ore from the DRC on its List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor. Over a decade later, child labor persists in cobalt production, raising risks for the entire lithium-ion battery supply chain.
Child labor, under international standards, means work (excluding permissible light work) below the minimum age as established under national legislation—usually 14 or 15 years old—as well as the worst forms of child labor which, for children under the age of 18, includes all forms of slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, illicit activities, and hazardous work that is likely to harm their health, safety, or morals.
I wonder how many deaths and injuries to children occur in those cobalt mines. Somehow, you don’t hear much about this when EVs are promoted in the media, advertising, etc. Nobody wants to talk about it. It’s one of the dirty little secrets of electric vehicles.
And how much damage is done to the environment itself as a result of the cobalt mining? It’s rather ironic when you consider that electric vehicles are pushed hard as “green” technology, but rely on cobalt mining for one of their most important and necessary parts.
EVs are more expensive than gas-powered vehicles
Electric vehicles are often way out of the price range of working-class people. Even the most basic model EV is significantly more expensive to buy and operate than a basic gas-powered vehicle.
Do electric vehicles (EVs) affordably reduce CO2 emissions and save money for their owners despite their higher purchase price? These are questions the researchers at Argonne National Labs sought to answer in an updated report comparing the cost and life-cycle energy use of gas-powered vehicles, electric vehicles, hybrid vehicle, and vehicles using other fuel types.
The findings show that, on average, current EVs are more expensive to operate than comparable gas-powered vehicles over their lifetime, the reduction in CO2 emissions is relatively small, and those reductions likely cost more than the value of the environmental benefits.
Using an average ownership period of five years, the cost difference is clearer. The cost of purchasing a low-range EV (200 miles), like a Nissan Leaf or Chevy Bolt, is more than the cost of purchasing and operating a gas-powered vehicle for owners who have the vehicles for five years.
The analysis assumes each vehicle is driven an average of 14,231 miles in the first year and 178,102 miles over its lifetime.
How are working-class people supposed to buy an electric vehicle? Such vehicles are clearly geared toward upper-income people. And I got a chuckle out of the fact that the ridiculous “carbon reduction” is minimal in EVs. There goes the “global warming” selling point that is pushed by the government and media.
From the perspective of a delivery driver, EVs suck!
I make a part of my living as a delivery driver. This means that I must have a reliable vehicle at all times. I cannot risk getting stuck somewhere because my vehicle’s electric battery has run out of juice. Nor can I risk using a vehicle that won’t function properly in winter weather.
Also, I do not have time to stop for two or three hours to charge an electric vehicle’s battery. I must zoom into the gas station, fill up, and zoom out to go do my deliveries. How on earth would I get my deliveries to my customers if I were stuck at a charging station? That would be a nightmare!
Can you imagine the look on a customer’s face if they were told that their delivery driver is stuck at a charging station or that his vehicle simply won’t work because the temperature is too low? The customer who has been waiting for their delivery is not going to be happy at all, and is likely to refrain from buying products from any company with unreliable delivery drivers.
Elon Musk: Electric vehicle huckster salesman
I follow Elon Musk on X, and I’m glad he bought it. He did the world a service when he took over X and tried to steer it back toward free speech instead of woke communist censorship. But in some of his posts on X, he comes across as a real huckster salesman type when he pushes electric vehicles.
Don't get me wrong, I love technology and Tesla cars have some cool tech in them. But so what? What good is it if the temperature goes down and your car doesn’t work? I need a vehicle that gets me from point A to point B reliably, and every other feature beyond that is just icing on the cake.
I understand that a lot of Elon’s money comes from his ownership of Tesla, but I have to roll my eyes sometimes when he pushes them on X.
Give it a rest, Elon!
Steer clear of electric vehicles
My recommendation is to avoid buying an electric vehicle, unless you are wealthy enough to keep it as a second vehicle that you don’t need to rely on for your daily transportation in all weather conditions. Spending tons of money to buy an EV as your only vehicle just isn’t worth it if you consider all the problems and higher costs you might face while owning it.
How many of those people stuck at the Tesla charging station in Chicago will buy a gas-powered car when they finally get rid of their electric vehicles? 🤔
The thing I can't stand with the "green" initiatives like Net Zero is the absolute all-or-nothing mindset they can't seem to get around. There are great uses for electric vehicle tech, like in underground mining transportation, but they are not at all suitable for becoming a replacement for internal combustion. There's the same issue with renewable energy sources; we should be trying to get as much cheap energy out of our systems as possible, but trying to completely replace existing technology that works well is a completely misanthropic endeavour doomed to failure.
I’ve stopped arguing the fact EVs are a piece of shit, but hey, what would a former Chrysler and aerospace engineer know...
The thing I can't stand with the "green" initiatives like Net Zero is the absolute all-or-nothing mindset they can't seem to get around. There are great uses for electric vehicle tech, like in underground mining transportation, but they are not at all suitable for becoming a replacement for internal combustion. There's the same issue with renewable energy sources; we should be trying to get as much cheap energy out of our systems as possible, but trying to completely replace existing technology that works well is a completely misanthropic endeavour doomed to failure.