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Editor: We are entering, we are told, a new era of innovation and technology, of clean energy, and efficient transportation. Hey, what more could we want? It is curious, though, how fast the fog of delusional dreams evaporates with the dawn of reality.
In this line of thought, our Governor and President have been enthusiastically beating their Electric Vehicle drum nonstop for the past three or four years. So, how’s it going?
First, there is no shortage of bright ideas, mandates and government rules. Biden wants 67% of new passenger vehicles, 60% of delivery trucks and 25% of tractor-trailer trucks to be electric by 2032. Our Governor wants 20% of vehicles on the road in Minnesota electric by 2030 (nationally, it’s around 1% now). All these plans were rolled out with much fanfare and, to be sure, for a few folks these electric buggies work out fine. Someone who has a 20 mile drive to work and comes home and tucks his little baby in the garage and plugs in its bottle warmer is happy as a clam. Some manufacturers, too, piled on this green bandwagon overflowing with government subsidies and promises of a big rock candy mountain of money.
Expanding this electrifying excitement with a broad brush to the general motoring public hasn’t worked out as well. Backed by rave reviews and crisp advertising, the first wave of euphoric buyers jumped in with both feet. Usually Iron Rangers think twice before they drop a $75,000 wad of cash but, apparently, all it takes for some emotional loonies is to step on the pedal - with a shout of “eeeEEEAAAGH” and a bubble of adrenaline - and they’re in! Wheehaaw! Most people can get the same high with a few beers on a Friday night…and it costs a whole lot less. And I’ll bet the excitement cooled a bit for all the Voltmobilers in Chicago and Iowa this winter when a snowstorm and cold snap hit. They couldn’t even get a grunt out of their dead electric toys that were piled up like cordwood. This is in mid-states, mind you; come up here to see what real winter is like.
Manufacturers’ enthusiasm got a realignment with real life too. World leader Tesla, with stock dropping 65% and missing sales projections by 15% - even with 20% price cuts - has slashed its worldwide workforce by 10% this year. Lagging sales have caused companies like Volkswagen, GM, Mercedes Benz, Ford, Jaguar, and Aston- Martin to scale back or delay their electric nightmares. EV makers Rivian’s stock dropped 90%, Odysse pulled the plug on the whole program, and Fiskar’s stock dropped from $28/share to as low as 9cents recently. Ford is said to be losing $36,000 on every e-rig it rolls out.
The bad news continues. One fellow was attempting to drive his F150 Lightning from Canada to Chicago, but was having so much trouble finding places to charge it he finally ditched it and grabbed a rental car to complete his trip. I hope it wasn’t a Hertz car he jumped into as it’s been reported that Hertz is dumping some 20-30% of its electric fleet. I guess things aren’t working out real well there, either. Even Ag company, John Deere, tinkered with an electric tractor. They considered reworking their newest 9x, 620 hp ethanol-fueled model to electric drive. Doing this would require nearly 60 batteries weighing almost 67,000 lbs….20,000 lbs. more than the tractor itself! The fuel version of this tractor costs $430,000 - the electric model would add $1.3 million for these batteries. Not surprisingly, they scrapped this plan.
Well, they say, at least EVs have lower maintenance costs. Evidently no one told this to Consumer Reports who found that EVs have 79% more problems than normal cars. For example, Tesla just recalled nearly all of their 4000 new electric trucks with accelerator problems, or the $1billion recall of 73,000 Chevy Bolts with defunct batteries. There is also widespread resistance with dealers across the country to sell or service these electric calamities. Even with routine maintenance, some dealers won’t touch these things with a 10 foot pole. Mechanical repairs are expensive enough, but if the controls get scrambled on your electric jalopy, now you need a computer/electronics technician. The rate of pay for these is somewhere around the range of a brain surgeon.
If you happen to catch your E-Tub on fire, this can be a problem too. Fire Departments come across engine fires on vehicles occasionally, but 4-500 gallons of water puts it out. One fireman I personally talked to recalled an experience with an electric bonfire. Multiple departments pumped water for hours to get this thing out - 100,000 gallons worth! This was so unbelievable that the next time I saw this guy I asked him again - I thought I had heard wrong. Nope. This was the number. So now we have a Hazmat site with a gurgling puddle of toxic liquids as big as a skating rink. But all of this is done, of course, to save the planet. Keep in mind, the American Enterprise Institute reports that the EPA concluded that if we all drive EVs here, global warming would be mitigated by a full 0.023 degrees by the year 2100!
Henry Ford didn’t have to strong-arm or bribe people (think $7500 rebates) to buy his Model T. An idea that is affordable and works, people will willingly buy. This simple fact obviously hasn’t dawned on the socialist leaders of our country today. Our ratchet-jawed Governor who keeps blurbling on incessantly about EVs here and EVs there (while he burns around town in his big, smoke-belching SUV), and our sleep-walking President who wouldn’t know an EV from a lawnmower, still think EVs are the silver bullet that’s gonna save the world. Someone needs to clue these jokers in that their battery is dead and their whole EV program is running on low voltage.
Jim Hofsommer Markham, MN
