Revisiting The REALITY Of The Electric Vehicles Push
The EV story being incessantly pushed by this Progressive-powered administration isn’t as positive as they, and the national media, would now want you to believe, particularly when it comes to the real impact on the very questionable human-caused climate change smoke-screen we’re being given (literally so, in coal-burning China)!
Actual, ultimate impact on world climate was reported in an article entitled, “If Electric Vehicles Are So Great, Why Mandate Them?,” by Norwegian writer Bjorn Lomborg. Mr. Lomborg writes: “The climate effect of our electric car efforts n the 2020’s will be trivial. If every country achieved its stated ambitious electric-vehicle targets by 2030, the world would save 231-million tons of CO2 emissions.” Per the UN Climate Panel model “that comes to a reduction of 0.0002 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century.” Extremely minimal change, making all of this cheer-leading from D.C. not at all persuasive. Especially when it comes to achieving it, by cannibalizing America’s dependence on ever-dependable, always-available oil and natural gas, and by potentially dis-allowing our citizens and businesses the freedom to purchase the vehicles they prefer.
Yes, there are federal subsidies available for citizen purchase of EV’s, but those vehicles must be manufactured in the U.S., not Mexico or other nations, and the cost of manufacturing many of the models is reportedly going up and up, effectively neutralizing those consumer subsidies.
The villain here is the true availability of the minerals necessary for the manufacture, especially of the massive internal batteries required. Most of the “materials needed for all of those batteries are controlled by the Communist Chinese Party.” And the energy for their manufacture, as previous indicated, comes ”mostly from burning coal in China.” Continuing: “Electric cars impact on air pollution isn’t as straightforward as you might think. The vehicles themselves pollute only slightly less than gasoline cars, because their massive batteries and consequent weight leads do more particulate pollution from greater wear on brakes, tires, and roads.” That particulate issue is likely the first time you’re hearing about it, as it was for this writer. And speaking of massive battery’s weight added to EV’s, here comes another potentially serious issue previous unreported.
This one, reported by Matt Vespa on the townhall.com site: “Fossil fuels being the recharging fuel for electric vehicles is a dirty secret, but another deadly peculiarity exists. They’re more deadly on the roads. The batteries that give these cars the 300 or so mile range before recharge are understandably massive and quite heavy, adding a fatality factor should a crash occur.” So, there’s another concern unreported, until now, but only on a selected conservative website! Adding to this: “The United States is already a global leader in traffic-related fatalities, with a thirty-percent jump in the last decade. That’s in contrast to every other developed country, which saw a decline.” Two weight examples: “The electric Ford Lightening, for example, is now 6,500 pounds. The Hummer EV is even heavier, clocking in at 9,000 pounds. Its battery alone weighs more than a Honda Civic.” This would seem to make the need for sudden stopping to avoid an accident similar to some larger trucks! Something to definitely keep in mind when thinking about a more expense, larger, EV model.
And the prices for vehicles and materials will continue to escalate. “Prices for the raw materials used in many EV batteries – lithium, nickel and cobalt – have soared over the last two years, as demand has skyrocketed, and it may be several years before miners are able to meaningful increase supply.” Miners underlined, as mining seems to be a negative for the climate control types. And most of it today, for these minerals, is reportedly now being done in China, and in African countries, where too often in the latter, we’re told, it is being done by children, under less than ideal conditions. The U.S. auto manufactures are being encouraged, subsidized, to create more U.S. facilities, and mines, to bring the needed processes back to American soil. But that will, of course, take time, especially the mining aspect.
And as if we needed reminding at this point: “China processes more than two-thirds of all nickel and cobalt globally, compared with 1% or less of each mineral for the U.S., according to research firm Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.”
And speaking of battery recharging on the go, it can take between 30-minutes on up to 8-hours to recharge EV between empty or simply topping off. Compared to about 5+ minutes for a gasoline-powered car to completely refill at a gas station. We don’t know yet what the commercial cost of using an away from home, privately-owned charging station will be, beyond the delay demanded and the parking congestion around them, once enough of them have even been built nationwide, which isn’t the case now!
And speaking of battery replacement! It will not be cheap. Here is the actual charge for a battery purchase and installation for a Chevy Volt, not even a top end, super expense EV. The battery purchase charge was listed on the actual dealer’s “Customer Quote:” Battery: $26, 853.99. Installation labor: $1,200. That may come closer to the original purchase price for that vehicle! One day, that price may come down, but likely no time soon. That in contrast to a published statement from the current Transportation Secretary who is pushing, like the rest, for conversion to electric from gasoline models: “I’m still astonished that some folks …still seem to really struggle to let go of the status quo (i.e. gasoline vehicles).” Yes, we do! Just look at the prices for purchase, repair, and all the rest associated with today’s EV’s. The vast majority of America’s citizens remain perfectly content to continue with their historic modes of gasoline-powered transportation with known costs and the known ease of driving unlimited distances. Not to mention the reports of minimal actual impact on the climate, the excuse being used from on-high to impose EV’s on us.
Meanwhile, pushing the company line, previously shown to be largely invalid, once really digging below the surface, President Biden, too, “has aggressively pushed for an expansion of EV ownership in the U.S. as part of the effort to combat climate change. He has pledged to ensure 50% of new car purchases are electric by the end of the decade.” You should know that, reportedly, EV’s accounted for 4.6% of new car sales in 2021. Likely increasing this year, with all the administration urging and media coverage, but, we predict it’ll be no where near that dream-world touted percentage in 8 short years.
And finally, this reality from commentator Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.: “These large-battery vehicles would have to be driven many tens of thousands of miles before they rack up enough mileage and save enough gasoline to compensate for the emissions created to produce their batteries.” Mr. Jenkins concluded: “According to the consultancy AlixPartners, some $526-billion is currently being invested to create dozens of mostly high-end electric vehicles aimed at the 17% of buyers who constitute the luxury market. The impact on climate of these cars will be zero. Let’s hope the impact on taxpayers will be zero when the bills come due.”
(If Electric Vehicles Are So Great article via The Wall Street Journal, 9-10-2022; Materials & energy to manufacture batteries controlled by China, and particulate issue via powerlineblog.com, John Hinderaker, 9-11-22; Accident potential increases due to battery weight & potential via townhall.com, Matt Vespa, 9-15-22; Prices of raw materials via cnbc.com, John Rosevear, 8-29-22; Mineral mining & processing in China via The Wall Street Journal, Rebecca Elliott & Mike Collas, 9-15-22; Buttigieg quote via breitbart.com, Trent Baker, 7-20-22; Biden EVC push via foxbusiness.com, Thomas Catenacci, 7-22-22; Climate impact zero via The Wall Street Journal, Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., 7-23-22).