Some people see the fuel crisis as a 'manufactured emergency' to stem the huge decline of interest in electric vehicles

But is it?

The pro-EV wonks are all claiming the current situation as a moral victory for the Twin Cults of Electric Jesus Christ and Net Zero. Yet the main push is not for EV's but to panic the general public into getting solar and batteries for their homes which most people cannot afford without incentives/rebates and credit finance to fund the purchases,

There's lots of anecdotal reporting that Telsa Cybertruck interest is tanking. Thankfully the wankpanzer has never (yet) been made in RHD so will never be sold in this country. Here in Australia, it's currently a 'war' between incumbent Felon Musk's Tesla (maker of high end EV's) and Chinese BYD (maker of cheap [relatively speaking] EV's) for the bulk of EV market share, with very minor presences of other car makers in the BEV space. EV's still make up less than 5 percent of all registered vehicles in Australia.

Liqud fuel for non-EV's is still insanely cheap currently hovering around A$3 a litre for diesel and a bit less for petrol. Before Trump's Folly it was only just under $2 a ltire, so the price hasn't risen much at all yet.

That said I haven't filled up my 4wd in a few weeks (since before Trump started his phony oil control war), and my car is out of rego so I can't drive it anyway. The 4wd takes 140 litres so will def be a cost impost to fill, but I don't have to plug it in to 'charge' every day to deal with range anxiety.

Both vehicles were filled up before Trump's pet project began. Car only needs it's annual rego inspection $50, then I have to pay for rego + tax and compulsory third party insurance (both about $450 each), so roughly $1000 to get it back on the road for another year. Wouldn't matter if I had an EV as EV's are generally heavier than their equivalent non-EV's so still incur the same rego and insurance costs.

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samueltyler2 · 80-89, M

I don't know where you buy your gas, but where i live a US gallon of gas is pushing $4 USD while it was down to $2.60 3 weeks ago. I was in Costco yesterday, they now charge $32 for 2 dozen Kirkland brand golf balls. They were $25 in december.

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Jayciedubb · 56-60, M

@samueltyler2 you must be in Oklahoma? ..Texas?? ..even $4 a gallon is cheap gas for me. Different states have different taxes ..as do counties. We're paying more than $5.60 a gallon.

The thing about EVs that people are finally coming around to is that, unless they're being charged by wind, water or sun, their power is being generated the same way refrigerator, air conditioners, etc are generated. If that's coal, or fracked natural gas, how much good are they really doing for the environment. How much control do they give a government that's pushing it's people into relying on, like here, where the memorandum is to be off petroleum by 2050. 🤔 or was it 2030?? Icr.

zonavar68 · 56-60, M

@Jayciedubb And to be proper 'net zero' an EV owner must only recharge his/her EV from electricity transformed by his/her own solar and/or wind systems. No grid power at all - ever, and no connection of the EV to be a grid battery - ever.

samueltyler2 · 80-89, M

@Jayciedubb in my state, NJ over 50% of power comes from non fossil fuel source and that percentage is rising. Sadly, if MAGA has its way that trend will disappear.

With a large percentage of people living in rental homes, it is unlikely they can benefit from a direct connection to rhe grid, so will be forced to pay a premium to charge. When i charged at home, my cost was about ten cents a kilowatt hour, in my a9artmrntbitbi s now twrnty five cents, at a high speed charger sixty centa. The latter is barely break even with the current grid price.

Driving an EV is a far nice experience in so msny ways. It isnt for everyone maybe.

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

Prices for the BYD, the Chery and the various known Hybrids are all dropping into the region of the Petrol cars now. While range is still an issue if you want a trip of more than 250Km, we have reached the level where the "second car" or shopping jeep could be replaced by an EV or plug in hybrid when time comes to replace it. This will of course be encouraged where the home has solar panels and a battery. One EV manufacturer is already including a home plug in port with the purchase of a new vehicle. And once thats done, fuel for that car is effectively free, and supply disruption proof.
The one problematic issue we have not seen yet is the issue of the value of the EV car when it comes time to replace it..As of now there is talk of the car having no value to speak of with the Batteries depleted. However, the lithium in the batteries and other precious metals may well be recyclable at prices much higher than they fetch now. We just dont know..😷

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samueltyler2 · 80-89, M

@whowasthatmaskedman actually he did NOT de novo get the idea. He bought it. He adopted a modified Polaroid model. He developed the charging infrastructue, first offering it free, it is now not cheap!

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

@samueltyler2 OK.Not his creation. But still something the public liked they hadnt been sold before. In the case of Ford and GM they are telling the US public. "You will continue to buy what we know how to make."😷

samueltyler2 · 80-89, M

@whowasthatmaskedman there were some early adapters, but not many could afford the cost of his initial offer. He did not turn a profit on that model for many years.

MrBrownstone · 46-50, M

Guess how goods gets to the store that everyone buys from.

Roundandroundwego · 61-69

No. EVs are extremely popular and China leads the way towards sustainable affordable transportation.
The West needs chaos, poverty and mayhem to get the nuclear option back up!

MisterBander

It costs us $50/month to power our EV where it used to cost $400/month for our gas powered van. If we had solar power too we would probably be making $100/month.
All the nonsense spewed above is meaningless in comparison.
Guess what, Trump and his murderous rampage cannot touch that.

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Midlifemale · 61-69, M

@MisterBander Are you comparing the same size vehicles ? Or a smaller EV to a large V8 powered van ?

MisterBander

@zonavar68 We get around 350km on an 80% charge which is the max charge recommended. We can get over 400km on a full charge, I think it was around 430. It costs $50 per month to power it.
I would love to hear how much it cost to fill up that diesel pickup per month.
The cool thing about EV is, there is no radiator, no exhaust, no transmission and it charges when slowing down so you save on brakes too. Super fast because the engine doesn't need to do anything to go faster, so passing someone is instant, starting from a light is instant, you just zip in front of all the gas cars and see ya later sucker.
There is no negative side to EV at all other than on longer trips it will take longer to charge up to 80%, but it sounds like that will be changing soon from the Japanese announcement recently. Apparently 9 minutes to charge up to 80% and range extension up to 1250km per fill.
I expect in the next 10 to 20 years we will see range going to 5000km and time to charge will be 2 seconds, but that might just be fantasy.

MisterBander

@Midlifemale Well, as you likely know, EV doesn't work well pulling big loads. The van we had would carry 7 people, but mostly it only went with 1. Maybe every 4 years when the inlaws visited would we fill it up. Our EV holds 5 and we have never filled it up fully yet.

swirlie · 31-35, F

Price of regular gas in Toronto today is $1.70 per liter (CAD)

Price of diesel is $1.96

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