We Ain’t a Goin’ No Damn Where

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Normally, when a new car is dropped off for me to test drive, it arrives ready to drive. The electric car they just dropped off is ready to wait.

That’s because there’s no place to charge it up fully before it arrives – and even if there were, it would no longer be fully charged by the time it arrives, because a lot of charge is used up getting the EV from where the closest “fast” charger is (which for me is about 30 miles down the road) and also because the driver who brings the vehicle doesn’t have the time to wait – again – for another charge.

He already had to stop (and wait) at least once to recover enough charge just to make it to my area – after using up most of what he had getting not-quite-there. The press pool – the hub where most of the new cars sent to journalists like me are kept – is located in the Northern Virginia area, which is about 240 miles away from me.

Most EVs can’t go that far on a single charge. The few that can will be almost out of charge by the time they get to my area.

But they still haven’t gotten to my place.

If it were a non-electric car like the ’23 Challenger I got to test drive last week, the driver could fill ‘er up in less than five minutes at the gas station that’s less than five miles down the road from my place. That’s why the new vehicles sent to me to test drive and write about have always arrived ready to drive – with a full tank of gas.

Not so with electric vehicles.

I get to wait while it charges – which can take as long as two days, if the only way there is to charge it is by using a standard 120 volt household outlet.

This is all most homes have, by the way. At least, it is all they have in their garages.

They probably have a 240 volt outlet inside – in the kitchen (for an electric stove) or the laundry room (for the electric dryer). But that is too far from the garage – where the electric vehicle would be – to reach a cord from the car to the outlet, allowing for “faster” Level II charging.

Which only takes 8-11 hours.

But you can’t charge that “fast” if the cord can’t traverse the distance. And even if it did could, you probably wouldn’t want to – because if you plugged in the EV to the stove/dryer outlet you could not use the stove or dryer while the EV was plugged in. Having to unplug your appliances to plug in another appliance on a daily basis would get old very fast.

So you’ll need to have an electrician come out to wire up a Level II (240 volt) outlet in your garage or somewhere close enough for the power cord to reach. That will cost you anywhere from $500 to $2,000 or more – depending on how much work the electrician has to do. It may be considerably more involved than just running the wires from the electrical  panel to the (new) outlet in the garage if the panel needs work. That will probably be so in older homes with panels that can’t handle adding another 30-50 amp circuit.

You’ll have to wait for the electrician, too.

And, of course, pay him to do the work.

People with the necessary knowledge could maybe wire up a Level II circuit themselves. But if they do it wrong and there’s a fire, they’ll be paying for that, too – as the insurance mafia will likely deny the claim if non-code/sketchy wiring is found to have caused the fire.

The good news is if the EV catches fire in your garage and burns down your house, the damages will probably be “covered.”

At any rate, I plugged in the EQE – to a standard household outlet, which is all I’ve got in my garage – and after roughly 14 hours of waiting, the EQE had recovered about 37 miles of range. This being the equivalent of about how far you’d be able to drive a typical non-electric economy car after having poured about a gallon or two of gas into its tank – which takes maybe two or three minutes.

It takes the same two (maybe three) minutes to pour that gallon or two of gas into a non-electric car in winter, too.

But in winter, it takes a lot longer to recover the electric range-equivalent of that because of the cold. Or rather, because the electric car is burning up charge while you’re charging up just trying to keep its battery warm enough so that it can be charged.

Either way, it’s not much charge – for people who need to be able to drive farther than a couple of miles down the road and back.

For me, 37 miles is (roughly) one way; it’s another (roughly) 37 miles to get back. That’s about 80 miles of actual driving distance – in a car that says it can go 145 miles but in my experience as well as that of many who’ve actually driven EVs in the real world, it is likely to be at least 10 percent less than that, if it’s warm.

And if it’s cold, it will likely be a lot less (20-40 percent less is my experience). This is a problem if you haven’t got time to wait for a charge, which you’ll be needing to do more frequently, because you haven’t got much to start with.

If you have to wait for it at home, you’ll be at home more often, too.

Which is of course the point of all this, you see.

Well, one of them.

. . .

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106 COMMENTS

  1. Tesla won’t charge in the cold:
    https://odysee.com/@OzFlor:7/291222b:e
    (be sure to watch to the end)

    Runaway Tesla Kills Two People In Out Of Control Crash 11-16-22 The Jimmy Dore Show
    https://www.bitchute.com/video/dKSjtmTXAa6C/

    Tesla fires 2023
    https://odysee.com/@NO_EYES_ON_ME:2/Teslafires2023:8

    Elon Musk is a DARPA cardboard cutout fraud
    https://odysee.com/@Instigator:2/Elon-Musk-is-a-DARPA-cardboard-cutout-fraud:0

    Electric cars promoted by NASA temp fraud:
    https://electroverse.info/nasas-climate-fraud/

    NASA lies about temperature data, and also Moon landing:
    https://www.bitchute.com/video/DsmlqScVcuQ8/

    NASA lies about Mars rover, Mars mission being filmed on Devon Island, Canada:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEGPWZE2Ugc

    • Th sad fact is very few people know how slow a 120 volt charger is.

      37 miles of range in 14 hours seems unusually low in a moderate climate. Various internet sources claim 4 to 5 miles of range for every hour of 120 volt charging, which is almost as bad. I’ll assume the internet sources have a pro-EV bias, but their claims are still bad news.

      240 volts seems almost mandatory for EV owners. 240 volts is slightly more efficient than 120 volts, but not much. Level 2 chargers can deliver about 15-25 miles of range per hour.

      • That is not going to work for people who work 12 hour shifts. Get home, plug the car in and yet still maybe, barely have enough to get to work the next day/night. That is only if your employer has plug ins available enough to charge your car to get you home. And if it is the dead of Winter? Forget it you are going nowhere the next morning after maybe getting home.

    • “LOL 14 hours for 37 miles? ”
      Absolutely pathetic. I’ve reasonably hiked 20 miles with a 30 lb pack inside of 8 hours. To be fair it would be in mild weather and with plenty of hydration. So it’s slightly faster than a brisk walk from somebody who has at best mid range athletic abilities if measured in miles per hour (including CHARGE TIME). Which it should be.
      Time is something that once it is gone cannot ever be recovered, part of what makes our lives valuable is we have a finite amount if time on this earth.

      • Frankly, guys, I am somewhat surprised that a 240V charge is anything more than more efficient. Generally, that’s the way current works. Say, a 240V electric motor uses less current to do the same work as running it on 120V. I am not sure how 240V could charge any faster. Damn, I’ll have to look it up.

        • @Techerspet
          In the US 240 volts is like having 2- 120 volt circuits going to the load. Also most 120 volt circuits top out at 30 amps. VxA =3600 watts. A standard level 2 EV charger would be 50 amps and that’s 50 amps (per leg/circuit)so your potentially delivering 240V x 50A = 12,000 watts.

          Those are hypothetical best case numbers for brevity, which don’t account for power loss or circuits typically not being loaded above 85% rated capacity so it would be less in real life applications.

          • Thanks; good explanation.

            Then Level 3 chargers step up to 480 volts, with power output from 60 kW (five times higher Level 2’s 12 kW) up to 360 kW (thirty times higher than Level 2).

            Easy to see how the poor battery could get fried, though, getting zapped that hard through water-cooled cables.

  2. OT, but there was a great piece by Jacob Hornberger over at LRC titled “Libertarian Reform is not Freedom.”

    https://www.lewrockwell.com/2023/07/jacob-hornberger/libertarian-reform-is-not-freedom/

    He uses “school choice” a.k.a “vouchers as an example. It is an excellent discussion of the insidious nature of the concept of “reform” and how it actually cements the premises of the welfare-warfare state in the guise of being an opponent of such and an ally of libertarians.

    • While I usually agree with Jacob Hornberger, maybe he got his meds mixed up in producing this bit of written nonsense. He never mentions any libertarian by name but constantly refers to “they”.
      He couldn’t have been referring to this libertarian, since I’ve mentioned, on this forum, the
      importance of the Separation of School and State”

      https://schoolandstate.com/

      From the Libertarian Party Platform:

      “Education is best provided by the free market, achieving greater quality, accountability, and efficiency with more diversity of choice. Recognizing that the education of children is a parental responsibility, we would restore authority to parents to determine the education of their children, without interference from government. Parents should have control of and responsibility for all funds expended for their children’s education.”

      • Did you even read it? Here’s the first paragraph where he states who he is talking about.

        From link:

        For the past 25 years or so, the libertarian movement has been dominated by libertarian reformers — that is, those libertarians who have dedicated their lives, energy, time, and money to reform proposals intended to make the welfare-warfare state work more efficiently and more effectively. In the process, they have convinced themselves and others that they are advancing liberty and libertarianism with their welfare-warfare-state reform proposals.


        Now, you may not be in this group but don’t tell me they don’t exist. The school choice example is totally on point as well. In my state, gov’t schools are hemorrhaging students and credibility. So what do “they”, the “reformers” who make a claim on “liberty”, do? Put forth “choice” in an effort to “save public education” rather than letting it die a death as it should. The kayfaybe kabuki of the D governor makes it seem like “sticking it to the libs” or some such nonsense. All that happens is, over time, the gov’t, through its payments, starts to control non-gov’t education as well.

        • I like Jacob Hornberger, have followed him a long time, and met him once or twice. But Hornberger makes his living telling his supporters what they want to hear. He mentions that gov’t schools are hemorrhaging students, why is that? The school choice movement. Would it be great if the government stopped regulating and paying for schools? Hell yes! Is that going to happen soon? Hell no. In the meantime at least the government monopoly is being wrecked.

          Hornberger is also an open borders fanatic. The more people that stream across the border, the better according to him. I believe in what Murray Rothbard says, you cannot have both a welfare state and open borders.

          • Yeah, no. I have only homeschooled my teenager and I will tell you that, in my state, the biggest factor in the schools hemorrhaging students now (I said that, not JH, does anyone even read the piece before commenting?) was the phony doofy-doof-19 scamdemic. Kids were abused by the schools and the parents, who voted overwhelmingly not to mask their kids, were totally ignored by the school board who took their orders from the governor. Plus, many saw, via “online classes” the absolute travesty of an excuse for “education” that was being serve up by hardcore leftist indoctrinators. The “school choice movement” didn’t even exist here until the Red Teamers took it up this year.

            You don’t get the point of his piece either. The monopoly isn’t getting wrecked, the tentacles will be expanding via gov’t payments to non-gov’t schools. Shut off the Chatgpt for a while, will ya?

            • “””You don’t get the point of his piece either. The monopoly isn’t getting wrecked, the tentacles will be expanding via gov’t payments to non-gov’t schools. “””

              I totally get the point of his piece. And it’s a real concern. However I still think it’s a better way to go because no matter what the state requires it will still be up to the individual schools to follow it.

              As an example I know someone who teaches in a Charter School in an Arab Muslim neighborhood. The curriculum is completely geared to things Muslims think are important including a lot of religious stuff which is totally forbidden by the states rules for Charter Schools. They completely ignore it, something that could not and does not happen in the local public schools.

              Why are they able to get away with it? Because there is no school board that they have to answer to and the locals would raise hell if they were forced to do anything different. I think this is a formula for other schools as well. And I have seen in other places, conservative Christians that are running schools and are NOT going to go with a pro-LGBT curriculum. It’s small steps but in the right direction.

              • Take the king’s schilling, do the king’s bidding. “Getting away” with things isn’t liberty. Don’t kid yourself.

                The other skeevy part of this is that it is often a vector for a big grift for the other “team”. Think “faith based institutions” under W. It was how Karl Rove paid off many of the religulous types for supporting a ne’er do well legacy for prez.

    • Hornberger’s article is well thought out and IMO, totally on point. He is right. I can understand (although not agree) with some libertarians view that schools vouchers allow for “choices”, but it does not promote free will. Once again, it is the bureaucracy holding a gun to our head allowing us a preference of avocado or cucumbers for our salad. Maybe, we want tomatoes, but that’s not an option.

      Worse, it expands the control of government by now forcing their education requirements onto private institutions. “Hey, we are allowing you to send Little Johnny here, so this is what you must teach him to receive federal/state dollars.” Big Brother is just broadening his reach.

      • School choice seems to be a hot topic among the red team in VA nowadays as well. Here’s the angle as I see it. The scamdemic swelled the coffers of schools in particular. Now, for going along with the D’s and the scam, the red teamers want their cut via “private schools” and “faith based institutions” run by their cronies as opposed to the teachers unions, etc. As I mentioned to Cashy, I recall this being a big thing in the W. administration. Nothing new under the sun.

        • Hi Fun, Rg, et al –

          It seems me to me that homeschooling is the libertarian away to educate your kids. Homeschooling endorses this proposition – and it also operates as an opt out of government schools. Yes, you’re still forced to subsidize government schools via the taxes they make you pay – but the government doesn’t control your kids and you control their education.

        • Funk Doctor Spidock July 21, 2023 At 3:23 pm
          Take the king’s schilling, do the king’s bidding. “Getting away” with things isn’t liberty. Don’t kid yourself.”

          Yeah that’s exactly right.
          But In my state the Constitution prohibits public money going to private schools and the Teachers Union is the 600lb gorilla in state politics. The only relief from public schools is for parents to pay for private schools themselves. Or send to charter schools which are chartered by the government but can operate independently from the public schools. So it’s still “government” financed but at least parents don’t have to pay for the public schools and have to pay again to send to private ones.

          • Public education is the longest running and most successful psyop in the history of the species. One’s children would be better off being taught to read, write, and do basic math and left to their own devices. If you aren’t homeschooling, your kids aren’t being schooled, they are being trained.
            Government is not a solution to ANY problem, it’s the cause of most.

            • Hi John

              Very well stated. If you look at the root of most of our major problems, you find that its the Gangs of thieves and murderers (which is all governments are and have ever been) who are responsible. From crime to “education” to the economy (foreign and domestic) and almost everything in between. Government is really good at killing people and breaking things (as is to be expected) but much less effective than a free market would be for just about everything else. But when you can pillage entire populations, and indoctrinate them to accept it, you can pass it along from generation to generation. Until reality catches up to you. Then nature takes its course. We are almost to that point now. Mordor on the Potomac, is shredding the illusions and delusions that have kept them in power for centuries. Hubris creates its own Nemesis. Its too bad that so many people are going to suffer for it. I’m dreading the coming winter. Especially with the Progs and Neocons hysterical fear of the Orange Man. Desperate people do stupid and dangerous things.
              Lets hope we survive the consequences of their desperation.

  3. You guys are not looking in the bright side of this EV madness. At 14 or more hours charge time you won’t have to be anywhere on time! Everyone will be in the same boat. Don’t want to go somewhere? just tell them the cars not charged. Late for work? Still waiting on the charger. Miss a day at work? Brown out.

    They can’t give you a hard time about it because it’s for the environment.

    • Problem is, the loss of productive work will reduce and likely eliminate profits for most companies. You better make sure you’re working for a company that provides a truly essential service that mankind cannot do without or you’ll be sitting at home for a very long time.

      • Very true, RK. On the flip side TPTB can use it as an excuse as to why we have to live in those 15 minute cities, and why we have to settle for existing with nothing. They, too, could flip it around…

    • “Late for work? Still waiting on the charger. Miss a day at work? Brown out.”

      Uh, what work? We’ll be pretty much redundant at that point. lol And besides, even the few remaining employers that DO require a “human touch” will just say “Well, why didn’t you stop at a ‘fast’ charger on your way home?”.

  4. The Manhattan Institute website has a great, very long article “Electric Vehicles for Everyone? The Impossible Dream”

    It states 250 tons of earth moved for the ore for one 1000 pound EV battery, and that mine development is way behind the curve, and most of the mines are not in the US or Europe.

    My neighbor who just picked up an Alfa Romeo Tonale plug in hybrid says California would need 300 mines alone to convert all the cars in the state to EVs. He said he won’t buy a straight EV because he doesn’t want to get stranded.

    • Gee, where are all the eco-fags when you need them? Oh yeah, they’re too busy bragging on FakeBook and InstaSham about how they “saved the planet”, by forcing us to subsidize their $100,000+ Bummer…uh, Hummer EVs! Speaking of which, remember when their ICE counterparts were “wasteful”? Now, an electric monster truck would be considered “greener” than a Geo Metro.

      • Here’s another question…..where were all these eco-fags as you put it when (if Seymour Hersh’s report was correct) the Biden regime blew up Nordstream 2 pipeline? Or when forest fires create massive pollution? Or when these globalist elitists fly around in private jets to meetings to lecture the masses about how THEY need to reduce their standard of living? Or the fact that the U.S. Military is the biggest polluter in the world? All I hear from them is CRICKETS 🦗

        • The demon eco fascists in this neck of the woods are trying to shut down the last coal power plant we have in the borough. These people are truly insane. They will be the first ones to bitch when the black outs come in the dark dead of winter at forty below. And then, they will blame the rest of us for their stupidity and short sightedness.

      • They think they have the moral high ground.

        One problem with issues of personal freedom is dealing with things that HAVE to be shared like the air and “climate”. While you can make a theoretical case for things like the roads and police being privatized there are no solutions like that for the air/climate. That’s what drives them so strongly towards environmentalism. It’s only solutions are basically collectivist, and since they are basically communists they love that and use it as a hammer against everyone else.

        • Hi Cashy,

          Yes – and that brings us back to the “harm caused” standard I’ve been arguing for. Instead, what’ve we’ve got is a harms asserted standard. Whether we are talking about “climate change” or forcing people to buy “coverage” it is fundamentally the same principle at issue. This idea that because X is afraid of something he feels may cause harm, impositions and costs are legitimately imposed upon Y.

          This principle must be rejected if any of this is to be dialed back – and future such stopped dead in its tracks.

          Consider: If the government had been obliged to prove that actual/quantifiable harm was done to actual people as a result of VW “cheating” on emissions certification tests, VW would probably still be making those brilliant TDI diesel engines the government forced off the market.

          Instead, all the government had to do was establish that VW had “cheated.”

          • There is no “harms caused” standard. That’s not a thing. Plenty of crimes and torts are based on the intent or possible ramifications of an action.

            In this case the argument of future damage from current air pollution is a valid concern. Once a thing is done it cannot be undone. That is their case. I don’t agree with it but it is worth discussion. And most of the people you share the air with agree that there should be discussion. I would like to see these issues settled by referendum rather then politics. I think we could win on that.

        • Cashy with his mealy-mouthed apology for “collectivist solutions” to combat “issues of personal freedom.” Put a sock in it. If you’re going to push collectivist authoritarianism, don’t obscure it with your weasel language. Come out an just say it.

          Oh, we also noticed your recent radio silence. You must have had a day off from your job at CISA.

          • It was nice not having Cashy around. Like the classic cars of old, it was nice to enjoy the old times on this site, if only for a short while.

              • Typical. Insults with no discussion of the issue. You are basically an insult troll as you bring nothing to a discussion except for insulting the person who attempts to discuss the issue with a different opinion then yourself.

                I have no idea what the CISA is. Is it some fictional secret government agency planning to put everyone into labor camps?

        • Hi Cashy,

          Why must anything be done with the air and climate? Yes, we must all breathe it in and live in it, but nature has a way of taking care of itself. It does not need the touch (or ideas) of human kind when it has operated on its own just fine for the last 4.54 billion years.

          There are over 150 active volcanoes on Earth.
          Are we going to stop them from spewing sulfur dioxide and other toxic gases? Do I believe human beings should be mindful of their home/their Planet? Absolutely.

          We should all try to recycle, replant, and repurpose. I am also for companies and individuals making safer and greener alternatives, but this should be voluntary and part of a true capitalist economic system. The end user will choose the most successful product, not the government or “activists”.

          Only in the last hundred years have we had any issues between mankind and our planet. Why? We are compensating risk. Stop insuring those who choose to build in dangerous areas or who pollute the environment. Let the company or individual take the liability. People will quickly learn when they are the ones left holding the bag.

          • You must not remember the 1970’s when the air due to smog was toxic to breathe because of factories and tailpipe emissions. Or the rivers and lakes were dead due to indiscriminate dumping of garbage and chemicals.

            It was the actions of the government through environmental legislation that led to much cleaner air and water. There would have been no other way to do it. The earth was not going to heal itself.

            This issue like every other one I’ve argued is not a case for total government control over our lives. It is a case of WHERE THE LINES are drawn. In the public spaces there must be a way for the people to act collectively. There is no other way.

            • See RG, collectivist authoritarianism is really the most reasonable way to deal with all of the “issues” that the Cashys out there (apologists for sate control) find important. Now please stop asking questions and raising good points.

              “There would have been no other way to do it.” -Cashy

              I mean, the neighboring property owners or citizens could never have sued them for polluting the air and water, right?

              • How would you sue the millions of car owners that emitted the smog, or which factories were the ones that put out the smoke that caused that problem?

                How would you know all the companies past and present that contributed to the pollution in Lake Erie which almost reached the point of no live fish?

                Proposing impractical solutions to huge problems like these might win you some points with the anarchist crowd that cheerleads here but rational people realized that collective action was necessary in these cases. That does not mean it is necessary in all cases but people like you have no desire to seek compromise. You only want to rant and insult as you know that no one really cares what you say anyway so spew whatever BS you want.

                I also don’t know what DARVO is, I imagine it’s another secret govt agency that is trying to read your thoughts through your tin hat?

                • You may not know what the acronym “DARVO” stands for but you’re an expert at it. You should google it.

                  For cars, a good class action attorney would sue the car manufacturers for polluting. Same thing for the factories. They would all be named as defendants.

                  Thanks again for apologizing once more for the collectivist authoritarians in such a cartoonish way: Impractical solutions by anarchists bad! Rational people (which you euphemistically mean government) with collective action good!

                  • Why should the car companies be sued? That’s like suing the gun companies if someone wrongly shots someone. YOU should have been the one sued, as it was YOU and other drivers of that era that were doing the polluting. Now see how dumb that idea is? I doubt it. Just go ahead and insult instead.

                    • Nope Cashy. Guns are specifically designed solely to emit bullets when an individual loads in the bullets and pulls the trigger. Any injury or damage caused by bullets are the sole cause of the person pulling the trigger (save the instance where a gun’s design causes it to fire on something without the operator intending to do so, in which case the gun manufacturer should be held liable for it’s poor design). Cars, on the other hand, are designed to transport people and stuff. They’re not designed for the purpose of emitting noxious gases. That’s a byproduct. If in the process of transporting people their design is such that they foul the air and cause harm to others, those manufacturers should be held liable for the damage they cause to people and property. If you want to add in the drivers in the lawsuit, be my guest.

                    • A party should be held accountable when they hold legal responsibility.

                      The gun companies should not be held responsible for an individual killing someone else. The gun companies can be held responsible if the gun was made with deficiencies that caused harm to the end user.

                      The same goes with auto manufacturers. Should an auto maker be sued if someone on their cell phone runs a red light and kills a person? No. Should the car manufacturer be accountable for fuel tanks that exploded or items that were in their control? Yes.

                      If I eat tainted meat from a poultry farm should I be the responsible party even though I did not realize that the farm did not follow sanitary methods?

                      Back to my previous post about PG&E. Is the responsible party the one that swam in their swimming pool or drank water not knowing PG&E knew that the water was poisoned and tried to hide it?

                      In your case above, there may be no liable party. Not everything requires a lawsuit. Sometimes the end user and manufacturer are both innocent and neither realize that their product caused harm. Do we punish and extort something/someone from 50 years because the rules have changed in the meantime?

                      I would also ask how do we determine pollution? How do we know that these vehicles contributed to it? Because some bureaucratic agency told us so?

            • “It was the actions of the government through environmental legislation that led to much cleaner air and water.”

              Wrong, it was the actions of the private sector that went to government and demanded action. Government does nothing on its own. Actually, I would argue the case that private foundations do much more for the environment, research, animals, and veterans than anything touched by bureaucrats. Non profits like the Conservation Fund, Waterkeeper Alliance, Friends of Animals, Tunnels for Towers, etc. receive very little support from taxpayers with 76-100% of their support coming from private donors.

              How much enforcement do you believe elected leaders and their forced legislation have on the same large conglomerates that contribute to their re-election campaigns? Not much. This why companies like PG&E are still around. One would think $25.5 billion in fines would crater most organizations, but when one provides handsomely to their elected officials on an annual basis those penalties and fines are either picked up by insurance, taxpayers, or spread over a significant number of years.

              Cashy, do you truly believe government is here for your safety? That they care about you and yours? Take one look at the COVID fiasco and how our own government pushed an experimental drug (that they knew was not safe or effective) onto our own peers. They bribed, pushed, coerced, and threatened to make sure these shots saw the light of day. Is this the “safety” that you are referring to? Is this the collectivism we should support?

            • Funny. You’d think our beloved overlords would’ve declared “mission accomplished” after the cleanup, and left us alone. But oh no! It seems that the cleaner the environment is, the TIGHTER the regulations become. Gee, why do you suppose that is?

              • It’s called “mission creep”. Every government agency’s goal is to stay alive and in force. This is why they are constantly finding new ways to remain “relevant” (I use that term loosely.

            • The answer was to shift production to other countries. Imagine the pollution in China and other countries caused by the production of computers and other electronics. Does John Kerry stay up at night worried about the disposal of old computers or electric car batteries?

            • Hi Cashy

              As a matter of fact I do remember those times. I lived through them. I also remember the various fearmongering and hysteria of that time. This is a clear property problem. How did the problem originate? Because the companies involved had been allowed for decades to violate the property rights of those around them. Why? Because they pretty much owned the politicians (as they do now). But politicians have weak points. One of those is Public Opinion. Various groups (for their own ends) started making a LOT of noise about pollution. That give the politicians the chance to rush in and “solve” the problem. One of the results was the EPA. Do I even need to go into chapter and verse on how much damage they have managed to do to wide parts of the country and economy?
              In a real free market economy. companies and everyone else wouldn’t have been able to get away with the pollution we’ve seen. The problems would have been resolved much sooner, and without all of the fear mongering and hysteria. Don’t even get me started on how the hysteria about nuclear power was created. Bottom line anything you want the Gangs to do, could be done more effectively and cheaper by a real free market system.

              Anyone interested in the details of why we need more fossil fuels (not less) should read The Moral case for Fossil Fuels, and his second book Fossil Future by Alex Epstein.
              https://www.amazon.com/Fossil-Future-Flourishing-Requires-Gas-Not/dp/0593420411

              He also goes into the details of how and why and by whom the hysteria over nuclear power and fossil fuels originated.

          • Yes, RG, this climate hysteria is so stupid it’s hard to find words to describe it. I look out the window every day and see nothing calamitous. We have cloudy days and sunny days, calm weather and storms. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. After a dry spell in early summer, the last few weeks have brought four inches of rain. The grass is green again, and so are the weeds. The squirrels munch happily in our rejuvenated garden.

            “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

  5. The irony, the irony! -that you, Eric, have to now spend a good portion of your time driving these abominations! The Libertarian Car Guy driving around and reporting on these tethered [In terms of their power source, and “connectedness”]; these darlings of the crony-technocracy which are so beloved by the mask-wearing fully -vaxxed virtue-signaling droids who worry about their “carbon footprint”! -The most non-libertarian anti-cars craved by the most non-libertarian anti-people; the product of the most anti people redistributors-of-wealth….
    -The things that look like what we once knew as cars, but which instead of enabling autonomous free-ranging, and the ability to live independent of the system far from cities and infrastructure, now leash their users and hobble such independence, and tether them to the state’s infrastructure and control and watchful eye. It’s kinda like if Murray Rothbard had been a reviewer of Microsoft products.

    Eric, I’d wager that you’re probably the lone car-reviewer with access to the press pool who tells the truth about these electric turds…but it must be painful- like having to shoot yourself to review ammo; and the audience that would be helped by your reviews -the ones who most need the reality of EVs pointed out to them- are the ones who least want to hear what your enduring this hardship to be able to say.

    Interesting side note: I was watching this vid about little Appalachian coal-mining towns in WV, and not one, but several hillbillies being interviewed in different towns all realized the scam that EVs are- something most “sophisticated” city-dwellers are ignorant of. The common theme among what they said when talking about coal mining, was something along the line of “Where do they think the electricity comes from for all of these “green zero-emission” electric cars? It comes from coal and natural gas! And if they think they’re going to replace that with solar and wind, they got another thing coming, because it’s too expensive and unreliable”. Just shows you that men can still think and see reality when it is not obscured by the Kool-ade of indoctrination.

    • The Canadian wildfire smoke is also ironic. Talk about “carbon emissions.” But ICE cars bad says the regime. Gotta protect Mother Nature, who seems to have no qualms soiling herself.

      • And not mention the “Glo-bull warming”….. Guess them Canook fahrs are having the opposite effect, as here in southern KY (Not that the smoke ever made it down here) we’re having the coolest July EVER! Typically we’ll have some 100+ degree days in Jew-lie. We haven’t even gotten to 90 this month. Have had several days where it never got out of the 70’s! Unheard of for here! Don’t think we’vbe ANY 100 degree days in the last 3 years as a matter of fact.

        If it were the opposite and we were setting heat records, they’d be plastering the news everywhere and citing glo-bull warming…..especially on the National Weather Svc. website…..but since the present conditions don’t fit the agenda..not a word!

        • California has been allowed to have stricter emission standards, not because of excessive pollution but the nature of the topography of the Los Angeles “basin”.
          The only reason for California’s stricter emission rules was a misguided and erroneous assumption about the Southern California Los Angeles basin.
          Situated between mountains and the ocean, this area was known by the native population as the “valley of smoke”, long before the proliferation of the internal combustion engine.
          The topological nature of the area made it susceptible to “inversions” in which stale air would be trapped in the valley due to meteorological conditions.
          Other states have latched on to California’s stricter emission limits without regard for the cost-benefit analysis of adopting these regulations.

          • Good point, Anarch!
            I remember as a kid in the early 70’s when the ‘pollution’ narrative was just starting to be heavily pushed, it seemed that most of the images, cited conditions, and complaints were from CA. E.g. they’d show thick smog in the air….it was always CA. (You could always tell, because the traffic lights had the large backing plates, which were only in use in CA. at the time- Yeah…I noticed things like that when I was 8.) because despite the traffic in NY (and the industry- factories, etc. which were still extant at the time) we had no such problem in NY- Only time you could ever smell the air in NY is when The Bronx or Brooklyn was burning down.
            Such is a very common tactic that the overlords have been able to push very successfully ever since mass media came about- convince everyone everywhere that a problem that exists in one or two places is definitely going to effect them wherever they are.
            Two faggots find each other on CL and meet up at a park at 3AM to share drugs and butt sex, and one kills the other…and suddenly it’s “Dead Body Found At Local Park” (sans details) and suddenly everyone’s afraid to go to the park at 11 AM, and wants more pigs on patrol……and they’ll never hear the whole story about the butt-fuckers unless they actually do some research (Which few ever do), so they’ll believe the fairy-tale media image of how poofs are such benevolent and wonderful people- and thus perception is so easily altered.

  6. First they came for your gold, but not everybody was foolish enough to give back their gold specie.

    Then after 1964, they came for all of the US minted silver coin, removed it from circulation, now the money supply has gone exponential.

    Remove precious metals from the money supply, expect dismal economies.

    Nows theys a coming for the cars, the gas, the appliances, your bank account, everything. You ain’t gonna have nothing, no need to go anywhere.

    We’re gonna tell you when you can go places, not until then. 15 minute concentrated populations can be controlled, no problem. Limited mobility, limit food supplies, you have control.

    You’re going to be happy or else, you no good swine.

    You’re an American Indian these days, stay on the reservation.

    Those savages are always suspect, shoot a few now and then for fun.

    You don’t need nothin!

    Why are you someplace else? Get back, don’t come back, stay where you are.

    Always live in fear, nothing better to do.

    • I’m picturing a “Mad Max” style future, wars over gasoline in a war torn desert apocalypse. Stock up on ammo and dirt bikes. Man that Mel Gibson is right about everything!

      • In the Mad Max ‘verse, the breakdown was gradual. No mention of the specifics of whatever :Apocalypse” happened, but in the first movie, there’s at least a semblance of what we’d think of as “civilization”, Aussie-style, Main Force Patrol and courts and all. There’s even a road maintenance crew where the “Night Rider” and his floozy meet their fiery doom. Of course, the Toe Cutter and his minions don’t care.

        The second installment, aka “The Road Warrior”, takes place an unspecified number of years afterwards, where even that much civilization has vanished. What few are left are desperately scrounging for the precious “juice”, ie, gasoline. Max, thanks to being temporarily ambushed by a kooky gyrocopter pilot, comes across a small settlement in the Outback with an oil well and refinery. Its under seige by a local gang on dirt bikes and off-road vehicles, led by a hulking man wearing a hockey mask. Originally that was supposed to be Jim Goose from the first film, now maimed and rendered insane. Max works out a deal where he gets get an abandoned tanker rig, they end up escaping to sonewhere in the Northern Territory as the tanker is used as a decoy.

        The third movie is more straightforward: yet even more unspecified years later, Max’s old blown Falcon XB is hauled by camel power. He happens upon Bartertown, getting caught up in a local power struggle between its self-appointed leader, Auntie Entity, and a smart little bastard called “Master”, who understands the process of making methane from pig feces. He’s protected by a hulking idiot called Blaster, who turns out to have the mental capacity of a small child. As grudges are settled by a fight to the death within the arena called Thunderdome, Max, per a deal with Aunty, picks a fight with Master Blaster. Max wins, but seeing the childish nature of Blaster, wants to spare him. He reveals his deal with Aunty, which outrages Master, who vows to destroy the methane plant. Auntie’s goons kill Blaster, put Max on trial (:Bust a deal, face the wheel”), exile him to “Gulag”, and enslave Master. Max, wandering the desert and dying of thirst, runs into children that survived a plane wreck all those years. With their help, he gets his tide back from Bartertown, and after the big chase scene, wanders again into the desert. The kids, along with the kooky gyro captain, now in possession of an Airtruk plane, fly off to the abandoned ruins of Sydney, where they settle.

        • Nice MadMax summary. Yes the 2nd Mad Max is the one I was thinking about. Also the recent remake was similar to the 2nd one. I think the 2nd one is the most popular. The 1st one was a surprise success and the 3rd one was over the top.

          Wasn’t Waterworld about gas too? Something about a big tanker? I think we can all agree that the future is really going to suck without gasoline!

  7. Better get used to it. From my observation many if not most loved the lockdowns. didn’t have to pay rent, got checks in the mail from papa gov. Gave them time to do what they wanted, like meditation. If they did ‘work’ they did so at home tapping their little Ithingies. No need to go anywhere. Go online, get what you need and have it delivered. It’s all made in China. They are creating a version of Hunger Games. Basically gives fat lazy ass Ameican’s a reason to be,,, well, fat and lazy.

    • In the Mad Max ‘verse, the breakdown was gradual. No mention of the specifics of whatever :Apocalypse” happened, but in the first movie, there’s at least a semblance of what we’d think of as “civilization”, Aussie-style, Main Force Patrol and courts and all. There’s even a road maintenance crew where the “Night Rider” and his floozy meet their fiery doom. Of course, the Toe Cutter and his minions don’t care.

      The second installment, aka “The Road Warrior”, takes place an unspecified number of years afterwards, where even that much civilization has vanished. What few are left are desperately scrounging for the precious “juice”, ie, gasoline. Max, thanks to being temporarily ambushed by a kooky gyrocopter pilot, comes across a small settlement in the Outback with an oil well and refinery. Its under seige by a local gang on dirt bikes and off-road vehicles, led by a hulking man wearing a hockey mask. Originally that was supposed to be Jim Goose from the first film, now maimed and rendered insane. Max works out a deal where he gets get an abandoned tanker rig, they end up escaping to sonewhere in the Northern Territory as the tanker is used as a decoy.

      The third movie is more straightforward: yet even more unspecified years later, Max’s old blown Falcon XB is hauled by camel power. He happens upon Bartertown, getting caught up in a local power struggle between its self-appointed leader, Auntie Entity, and a smart little bastard called “Master”, who understands the process of making methane from pig feces. He’s protected by a hulking idiot called Blaster, who turns out to have the mental capacity of a small child. As grudges are settled by a fight to the death within the arena called Thunderdome, Max, per a deal with Aunty, picks a fight with Master Blaster. Max wins, but seeing the childish nature of Blaster, wants to spare him. He reveals his deal with Aunty, which outrages Master, who vows to destroy the methane plant. Auntie’s goons kill Blaster, put Max on trial (:Bust a deal, face the wheel”), exile him to “Gulag”, and enslave Master. Max, wandering the desert and dying of thirst, runs into children that survived a plane wreck all those years. With their help, he gets his tide back from Bartertown, and after the big chase scene, wanders again into the desert. The kids, along with the kooky gyro captain, now in possession of an Airtruk plane, fly off to the abandoned ruins of Sydney, where they settle.

  8. Hey Eric – when they drop off a car for you to test I assume there’s another car following to return both drivers to their starting point. It must frost the company to tie up two employees for that additional time, pay, etc. Surprised they don’t deliver it on a flatbed.

  9. Plug in hybrids are bad because why? No one seems willing to talk about the elephant in the room.

    I guess because all sin is sin any hydrocarbon burned (locally at least) is evil… unless you buy a carbon indulgence or genuflect and say 6 hail Gretas everyone is going to hell. And when we get there Al Gore will be at the gate to say “I told you so!” for all eternity. It’s right there in the title of the sacred record -An Inconvenient Truth. Inconvenience for thee, profits for Al’s buddies in the trading pits. And now his son has taken up the collar too.

    https://www.axios.com/pro/energy-policy/2023/07/18/an-ev-drive-thru-chat-with-al-gore-iii

    • “Cars” was a pet project of John Lasseter who is persona non grata at The Mouse … for now.

      The problem Disney faces giving “Cars” the same short shrift as Lasseter’s “A Bug’s Life” — Remember that one? — is that they sell a lot of Lightning McQueen toys at the theme parks.

      • @Eric – If you haven’t seen “Cars 2”, there is a remarkably prescient scene about the Dodge Challenger meeting his fate at the hands of the “Lemon” car antagonists led by a fake EV.

        The Challenger’s voice actor? Bruce Campbell.

    • Indeed, there have been some serious deviations from normal weather patterns. I’m not in the Canadian smoke storm, but have had weeks of 90+ degree days with hazy skies. An no rain.

  10. A bicycle would be more convenient than a EV. But then that is the goal of the Regime. They want us to live like the Chinese did under Mao. Then the part about “living” would be up for consideration as well. Carbon elimination may very well end up being neutralizing it at its source (people themselves); A reduction in the world’s population. I put nothing past those diabolical bastards in government!

  11. Despite the increasingly obvious problems with these EVs, the Biden Thing INSISTS that EVERYONE WILL have an EV no matter what (except for the elite of course). They say we need to force everyone into EVs NOW because of the “Climate crisis!” That reeks of the shrills of “We need everyone vaccinated now because of the COVID pandemic!”, even though there were warnings that mass vaccination in the middle of a pandemic was a TERRIBLE idea.

    For years, people on the Left bleated about how evil billionaires are, but over the past few years, they’ve seemed to have adopted the insane ideas that the billionaire psychopaths such as Klaus Schwab have and wish to FOIST them on the masses. They’ve also become Big Pharma’s biggest shills, parroting their narratives and advocating severe punishment for those who refused to be part of the massive COVID jab experiment. Will they be advocating MANDATED “vaccines” for flu, COVID, AND RSV in the fall? There’s a corrupt public health bureaucrat out there advocating such vaccines during cold & flu season.

    • The stupid politicians know that just taxing or outlawing CO₂ is a political non-starter and none of them are willing to martyr their careers over a degree or two of “climate change” so they roll out these dumb ideas.

      Meanwhile there’s a whole army of commodities traders and shorts who are chomping at the bit to make hay of the destruction of the US economy. Making travel difficult for most and impossible for many will slam personal productivty and pretty much guarantee a massive depression. Great if you’re Alexander Soros, looking to top dad’s near destruction of the Bank of England. Great if your resume’ includes a stint at Enron’s trading desk but now you’re at Goldman. Not so good if you drive to work, the store and your kids take the bus to school.

      I’ve got nothing against market makers and short side investors. Indeed they’re usually the ones who are quick to point out the market’s stupidity. But when they’re intentionally pushing misinformation to a media that lives for catastrophe, that seems wrong. Especially when everyone admits that these policy changes will destroy economies and kill people.

  12. Yesterday Tesla reported its 2nd quarter 2023 results. It brought in $24.9 billion of revenue in three months — that is, an annual run rate of around $100 billion. By comparison, GM and Ford revenues are in the $160 billion annual range: 60% bigger than Tesla, but the gap is closing.

    Tesla delivered 466,000 vehicles in the quarter. That sounds huge, but it represents global deliveries. Broken down regionally, Tesla’s sales are about 35% in North America, 45% in China, and 20% in Europe.

    Tesla’s 181,000 quarterly deliveries in North America annualize to 724,000 — or a little over 5 percent of the US light vehicle market. Tesla accounted for about half of all US EV deliveries in 2022: competitors VW, Ford, Stellantis and Hyundai were EV midgets by comparison.

    Far from being an EeeVee fanboi, I’m horrified that Tesla production — turbocharged (so to speak) by government fiat — has ramped up enough to propel the company to major auto maker status. More Teslas are blighting the streets, even in my remote area which is hardly EeeVee friendly.

    Bear in mind that with suffocating CAFE mandates (which tighten radically during 2024-26); comprehensive saaaaaaaafety standards that effectively dictate design; and looming EPA regs intended to make EeeVees two-thirds of US sales by 2032, this is no ‘market.’

    Rather, it is Soviet-style, Stalinist production-by-quota of commodified consumer goods, whether buyers want them or not. It’s easy to see how this could go horribly wrong in a recession, when sales crater. Some makers likely will be bankrupted, only to be rescued by Big Gov to ‘create jobbbbbbbbbs.’

    Economics is called the ‘dismal science’ for a reason. The first word is true; the latter an absurd sham along the lines of ‘vaccine science.’

    Clouds so swift, rain won’t lift
    Gate won’t close, railing’s froze
    Get your mind off wintertime
    You ain’t goin’ nowhere

    — The Byrds, You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere

  13. Just enough miles to make a beer run, better stock up for a few days, you can drink beer while waiting for the next 37 miles of charge during the 11-14 hours required to charge the battery.

    Happy Motoring is a thing of the past.

    The Agony of EV’s and the Ecstasy of V8’s, something like that.

    “Don’t it always seen to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.” – Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi

  14. Sounds like you and everyone who plans to drive an ev needs to cough up $$ for a level 2 charger. Nice. But we must all be forced to drive only evs. Never mind we already had hybrid vehicles like Prius’s for years now which are basically emission free and oh yeah….. do NOT have this issue. No no. Nope. Nooot good enough for the dips. This apparently is the ONLY acceptable solution. What a crock. Its gonna be a bleeping shit show if they actually try to enforce this by 2035.

    • ‘Sounds like you and everyone who plans to drive an ev needs to cough up $$ for a level 2 charger.’ — RS

      For sure. Charging an EeeVee on 120 volts is like trying to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool with a garden hose.

      Not that I’m advocating for anyone to buy an EeeVee OR a Level 2 charger. But if one is obliged to test-drive soulless vacuum cleaners, then a vacuum cleaner charger is a work tool.

      • Speaking of swimming pools: Over on Reddit r/pumbing someone asked about how they could have a massive jump in water use month over month. Some of the responders asked if the neighbor had a pool.

        Not suggesting anything but they do make green colored drag cords…

        • It’s probably a toilet float valve not closing completely. I had a similar problem a couple months ago, valve not closing properly, water in the tank runs into the overflow tube and through the toilet to the sewer. Not fast enough to be audible but running 24/7 spiked the water/sewer bill big time.

          • There is a leak detector on your water meter. It’s a small dial that will indicate ANY water leakage. If you turn everything off in your house, and it’s still moving, something is leaking. If you can’t detect the leak in your house, the next step would be to see if you can detect a leak in your water service outdoors.

    • Indeed, RS –

      It’s “one of those things” many people are unaware of – chiefly because they haven’t been told. There is a reason for this. How may people considering an EV might reconsider if they knew they’d have to spend hundreds – maybe thousands – to upgrade their home’s wiring in order to be able to (realistically) use the EV as other than an occasional use vehicle?

      Hey, I like that one! I thtink I may use it going forward.

      • Eric, they should come with a warning similar to what’s on over-the-counter drugs:
        – For occasional use only.
        – May cause anxiety.
        – When charging, do combine with alcohol.
        – Do not use for more than 10 days unless directed by your psychiatrist.

  15. The Psychopaths In Charge are very good at coming up with “solutions” that can never work, to problems that don’t exist. Unicorn farts and fairy pixie dust abound.

    • Yes its now blatant denial of reality on all levels force fed to us from every angle media, government, corporations, the medical community. They lie constantly now about just about everything then several years later admit they lied. Of course nothing ever happens to them.

  16. Wow. Just wow.

    37 miles of range added to the EV after being plugged into a standard electrical outlet for 14 hours.

    14 HOURS charging for 37 miles!

    I wonder how much that cost on your electricity bill? If I had the EV you are testing my daily commute would also be around 40 miles as I live in the boondocks.

    That means everyday I will have to plug in the EV to a standard outlet (my two 240v plugs will be needed for my electric dryer and electric stove seeing as the ‘Ho banned gas appliances in NY). If I charge my EV everyday (14 hours) I wonder how much that will cost?

    Plus I live in snow hell (10 feet of snow a year), the EV is not going to be happy sitting in the frozen driveway all night while the extension cord trickles some “range” in its innards.

    My sis lives with me and she will need to charge her EV also, everyday on a standard outlet. The mind boggles how that will work and cost.

    You are right the DIPs (demons in power) do not want us going anywhere. We all need to wake up, this EV fiasco is coming and it is coming sooner than we think.

    • Hi Pug,

      Yup. It’s pretty bad. I’ve had the car for several days and have only driven it once so far – because it doesn’t go very far – and it takes so goddamned long to be ready to go anywhere, again.

      PS: You can’t use an extension cord. The factory charge box apparatus won’t work with them. You must directly plug it – the apparatus – into the wall socket.

      • How the hell does it know you are using an extension cord? I would think that if you used one heavy enough, perhaps 10 gauge, that it should work, if it’s not too long. RK probably knows.

        • It’s called “impedance”. The EV charger is a “smart” charger and can sense the slight “voltage drop” that an extension cord introduces.
          They’ve got you coming and going.

      • In that case, one better build a separate garage that is situated well away from ones house. Then that way when your EV catches fire, it won’t burn you and the rest of your house down to the ground. But also, how bad is your electric bill going to get having to charge an EV? And hell, for $30,000, one could buy a new, gas guzzling ICE vehicle that will not leave one stranded in the middle of nowhere at forty below. Also though, is the irony completely lost on these people, that they have to stop and charge this EV before they even get to your house, and even then, deliver it to you basically empty? Or are they too blind to see any of this?

    • “14 HOURS charging for 37 miles!”
      I could be wrong, I was once before, but is that not in the range of horsepower of the equine variety, or lower?

    • The vehicles are going to limit the current to 15A because that’s what most circuts are set up for in the US. My house is wired for 20A circuits all around, and those extra 5A would slightly improve charging time, but no. They’re designing for the lowest common demoninator. When you’re selling (potentially) millions of something to the general population it’s what you have to do. If there wasn’t the big push to get these things on the road a smarter approach would be to factor the cost of installing a charging port into the price and get the dealers to do the work. But that’s a pain point across the board so better to not mention it.

    • Pug, you raise an excellent point. It’s bad enough trying to charge up one EV at this pitiful rate, but it would never be possible to have 2 or more EVs in one household. How about 2 EVs for every household in a neighborhood of say 200 homes (400 EVs charging at one time). How does that work?

      This is the dead giveaway that the EV “revolution” cannot work.

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