Readers of this column witnessed – because I posted video of it – the difficulty I had recently attempting to put charge into an EV. The same problem I have encountered in the past when attempting to charge an EV – at a public “fast” charger. (I always use the air-fingers quote marks when using “fast” in the EV context, to point out the Orwellian use of a word to describe the opposite of what it used to mean.)
The problem isn’t the “pumps.”
Well, not exclusively.
It’s with the payment they’ll accept.
Nominally, these EV “fast” chargers allow the supplicant to buy electricity using a credit card. But I have discovered – by trying to pay for it with a credit card – that many of these “fast” chargers won’t accept a credit card. Not unless you’ve signed in with the company that owns the “fast” charger. Or – what they really want you to do – downloaded their “app” (cloying Millennial-era infantile abbreviation, because it’s too much trouble – and too adult – to say application) onto your phone so that they can keep track of you.
Charging you for the charge is almost incidental.
None of these “fast” chargers accept cash, either – at least, none that I have ever had to deal with. They are 100 percent electronic transaction. Which means they are 100 percent not-anonymous.
Every charge you make – and every rule you break – they’ll be watching you.
Of course, it’s much more than just that. Ultimately, the point is controlling you. This is what EVs are fundamentally all about. The vehicle is as incidental as using the smartphone to make calls.
Smart people have caught on to this.
The use of these devices is how they’ll meter transportation via the charge you’re allowed to buy. Which you’ll only be able to do electronically. If you haven’t been a good boy or girl – as defined by how obedient you are – then (cuing up the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld) no charge for you.
One of the great liberties afforded by gasoline (and diesel) is that it’s hard to prevent you from buying it. And the government doesn’t knows you’ve bought it. Or how much you’ve used. At least, not if you paid cash for it. This includes the motor fuels excise tax, which is the one tax that isn’t really in that it’s (a) entirely voluntary and (b) there is no way for the government to know how much you’ve paid or even if you’ve paid at all.
But when you pay electronically they know – and so, have the power to prevent you from buying. In other words, the power control what you’re allowed to buy.
This is why the push for electronic transactions. More finely, for electronic-only transactions.
There is no legitimate reason why these EV “fast” chargers lack a slot that accepts cash. You can still use cash at self-checkout kiosks at supermarkets and so on (although it’s abundantly clear they are using these to condition people to paying electronically, by regularly not accepting cash, even though the machine is capable of accepting it).
But there is a reason.
It is that they want to eliminate the use of cash to pay for fuel – so that they can control how much fuel you’re allowed to buy (and so, use).
In order to impose conditions of use.
The absence of any way to pay cash serves notice as to their intentions – as regards EVs. They are the vehicles for ushering in a cashless future. Like the smartphones they emulate, EVs are all about knowing what you’re doing – by keeping you plugged in. And just as it is getting harder and harder to buy things without using a smartphone, it has already become almost-impossible to buy fuel for an EV without using a smartphone with the “app” installed.
Even if you aren’t using cash – as I wasn’t.
A credit card can be charged – but it’s not necessarily on your phone – and you don’t have to have a phone (yet) in order to have (or use) a credit card. Put another way: You should be able (hypothetically) to fuel up an EV – that is, charge it up at a commercial “fast” charger – without having to have or use a smartphone.
The kiosk (and so the corporation and so the government, which have become functionally interchangeable synonyms for the same oppressive machine) would of course still know you bought “x” amount of fuel (electricity)
But that’s all the machine would know.
It would be harder to know what you did with what you just bought. Yes, of course – the EV knows (and could tell) but it wouldn’t be as vertically integrated. And there are no doubt ways to prevent the EV from telling on you. But it is much, much easier to control you when everything you’re allowed to do must be done via an “app” that’s connected to their QR code mechanisms for controlling you.
Think of EV “fast” chargers as a glimpse into the CBDC future they have in mind for us. “They” being the people behind the masking.
They know no more cash – and just the app – means no more liberty because if people aren’t free to buy without having to beg implicit permission from an implacable machine that has the power to prevent them from buying if they don’t have the machine’s approval, then they haven’t got any liberty.
All they’ve got is what they’re allowed.
And there’s an app for that.
. . .
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They went from a gold backed dollar to a slave backed dollar…backed by your labor/body….if they go to MMT it will be nothing backed …just print….and with AI doing all the jobs…no slaves needed….hence the cull ….ramped up in mar. 2020……
also a slave death is a payday…kaching….they steal your trust account….a 7.5 billion cull is a big payday……
I drive a plug in hybrid so I would like to use these chargers sometimes. Yes, infuriatingly, they often require an app- even if the machine takes CC or even if the juice is “free”! No thanks, I’d rather use gas.
CBDC is not acceptable, unless it is coupled with legislation prohibiting banks from unpersoning people.
(Even then I have my doubts & I don’t like it)
But if you take away the power to unperson people and cast them into the outer darkness…what good is it? Where’s the fun in social credit scores if you can’t put teeth into them? That would seem to defeat the whole purpose, in which case the whole experiment becomes unnecessary.
But if they do “unperson” people in any kind of numbers, alternative currencies will pop up overnight. And if they don’t do that, they can’t exert much control by demanding compliance.
TPTB have screwed themselves, they just don’t know it yet. Or maybe they do, and are flailing. Just got to ride this one out, just like the ‘Rona. And Ukraine. And Israel/Palestine. And whatever they have in mind for us next. They’ll run out of gas eventually.
Kinda worries me though if they do “run out of gas”. I suspect someone who refuses to go without making one final statement will push the Big Red Button. (There is always the possibility that that would be the best outcome, of course.)
The Fed can’t even take a joke a magazine makes about their “Fed Now” project…..
https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/fed-threatening-sue-bitcoin-magazine
‘if people aren’t free to buy without having to beg implicit permission from an implacable machine, then they haven’t got any liberty.’ — eric
This implacable machine already exists. It’s detailed in an NYT article today, which surveyed 500 people whose checking and credit card accounts were cancelled without explanation:
‘If a bank has filed an SAR [Suspicious Activity Report], it isn’t legally allowed to tell you, and the federal government prosecutes only a small fraction of the people whom the banks document in their SARs. As a result, you don’t know what you’re under suspicion for.’
‘Federal data on the types of SARs that banks file show what they worry about most. Last year, banks tagged categories like suspicious checks, concern over the source of the funds and “transaction with no apparent economic, business or lawful purpose” most often, according to Thomson Reuters.’
https://archive.ph/R7ygp#selection-645.223-657.61
Banksters’ secret SARs are straight outta Kafka:
‘In Franz Kafka’s novel The Trial, Josef K. is arrested, but can’t seem to find out what he’s accused of. As K. navigates a labyrinthine network of bureaucratic traps—a dark parody of the legal system—he keeps doing things that make him look guilty.
‘Eventually his accusers decide he must be guilty, and he is summarily executed. As Kafka puts it in the second-to-last chapter, “The Cathedral:” “the proceedings gradually merge into the judgment.”’ — Benjamin Winterhalter
In the dark, inverted world of the US fedgov, ‘bank secrecy’ does not mean privacy for customers. Rather, it means that banksters and regulators can take adverse action against customers, who are legally prohibited from knowing why.
Liberty disappeared with the parodically-titled Bank Secrecy Act of 1970. Then Nixon cut the link with gold in August 1971, meaning that our ‘balances’ represent nothing but counterfeit paper and digital currency anyway. The US fedgov is a gigantic, liberty-shredding fraud. George Washington would vehemently repudiate it.
An app installed on a sail phone with the right permissions gives the author the ability to gather far more detailed information about the user than many people realize.
I ran Capo Gecko’s app for the first time in months the other day, and the newest version of the program asked for permission to gather location data even if the program continues to run “in the background”, when the user interface is not on screen.
Not going to happen, but many people just click “Yes”, which is the problem.
An app for an electric blanket demanded location data from the phone. I refused.
Incredibly, the manufacturer denied that the app required location data, even though it wouldn’t initiate without it.
I sent the thing back for a refund. They knew my shipping address, if it was state-by-state sales totals they wanted. No way in hell did that entitle them to track my daily movements. They can kiss my ass.
Why the hell would an ELECTRIC BLANKET require an “app” to function?! I always thought that you just either plug it into a wall, or insert batteries, adjust the temp, and that was it. Yet another simple device that has to be Rube-Goldberg-ed “just because”.
Self checkouts…get free labor from the slaves….send them an invoice for your labor….
These big corporations like Walmart see the other big corporation… that is called the government….robbing the slaves so they figure they might as well join in….
frequently there is items that scan at a higher price then what the shelf tag says…watch out….they are thieves….I complained about one item scanning at a higher price…5 trips to the store later it still hadn’t been fixed….
they steal your labor and your money….
I was thinking about this incident. My guess is that the credit card reader’s cellular connection was down, so the reader was offline. But then, the app probably woudn’t have authorized either, unless it had some way to link the car to your account.
We know there’s a handshake between the pedestal and EV to determine what the best charging method should be. I wonder if there’s an exchange of VIN or other user data too? Mabye that’s being logged and there’s a limit to how many vehicles can be tied to a credit card? Maybe a fraud detection system kicked in? I know in the 1990s the fraud detector would look for lots of fuel and sneaker transactions because the first thing people did with stolen cards was fill up all their friends’ cars, then head to Foot Locker.
Note the message: There was a problem authorizing your Program Card. Ensure your card is activated to your account or try starting a session in your EVgo app. Please contact EVgo Customer Support at 877.494.3833 for assistance.
I’d at least call and see if there’s a limit to how many vehicles can be active at a time. Might be good to know for the road warriors who rent often.
You sound like a reasonably intelligent person…but I must ask, with that in mind how in the hell did you get suckered into buying such a piece of garbage??
Their rules only apply if you consent
https://invidious.flokinet.to/watch?v=Z72nlDM63mE
Looks like they found you Eric….
Thanks, Ken – just flushed “Anne.”
Wifey bought something at CVS,,, cost $8. 53. She went to pay cash but the manager of the store at the register told her to use the machine,,, it took cash. Wifey told her she doesn’t care to do business with machines so the manager walked over to the machine, scanned the product then spent the next 10-15 minutes trying to get the nine ones wifey gave her to be accepted. Finally the machine spit out her change,,, wifey left telling the manager “that’s why I don’t like them!
Tell you something else,,, I don’t like what Lowes and HD are doing. Every freakin checkout is one of those damned machines. Only one checkout in the lumber area accepts cash.
1: I am not an employee of either so I don’t want to do their job.
2: The checkout at the lumber area is at one end of the store. Its like being told “Back of the Bus moron!”
I now buy from Amazon unless I truly need it now, I used to go there a lot! Now most of the employees (retired military do nothings)are running around the store chit chatting with each other. I hope the bastards go bankrupt.
Walmart now has 2 registers open and about 30 of those self checkouts. We have cut back enormously buying Walmart. Takes about 20-30 minutes to check out.
You know,,, if they offered 2 or 3 percent off I might just use their self checkouts but today they would simply raise the prices and blame inflation like their doing with everything else.
If we allow them to take our cash we will be in serious trouble. For one thing I would have to get a “smartphone” and a service which I do not want nor can afford. Can’t pay your service fee, no transactions!
Like the insurance extortion,,, can’t pay the service provider… no CBDC for you.
I don’t think many of the proponents are thinking this through…
Last time at WMT, they had 0 checkers. You had to use self check out. A whole bunch of employees, though, just shuffling around. Pissed me off and I’d say I’m never going back but they had really good prices on my items in store as well as my size. I had checked online on Amazon, Target (even went in the new local one, forget it) before hand and prices seemed extra high. Looks like “third party sellers” buy in the store and sell online at a mark up to those who don’t want to go into Mos Eisley (the bar in Star Wars). Caveat emptor.
Man, I stopped going to Wally-World in the Before Times. I don’t miss that place At All.
Just the other day I was talking to a guy about self-check-outs. I said, “I read a bit, if they want us to self-check-out & won’t give us a discount, … why don’t we just unload the trucks, too?”
The guy responded, “Yah, & do their inventory, as well?”.
Big Rip-off.
Walmart….one register open…..and about 40 self checkouts….half the self checkouts were shut down….not enough staff to watch over your shoulder……big lineup…..you couldn’t even check your own stuff out….lol…..
since covid service is non existent….and prices are way higher…..they hate people inside the store….they treat people like a disease now…….
pushing people to order online…..conditioning people for the 15/min city/prison….no stores…no shopping…a drone will deliver your daily bug sandwich….as long as your social credit score isn’t too low….
watch the video….15 min city prison camp future…..animation….the reality…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWkepoLUZfs
EVgo’s website says that they accept credit cards.
The ‘Tap Card Here’ port includes a phone number, (877) 494-3833. If a card is declined, one could call them or try a different card. Occasionally one of my valid cards gets declined for no reason.
EVgo notes that ‘Sessions initiated by credit card will incur an additional transaction fee,’ but doesn’t say how much it is. This insidious ‘play Russian roulette with your wallet’ game is the prod to download the app (which I would never do — almost all apps are spyware).
EVgo’s revenue would be severely dented by not accepting credit cards from unregistered customers. It’s inconceivable that they would adopt such a policy — the company’s investors would not stand for it. Standard journalistic practice would be to ask them.
https://helpcenter.evgo.com/hc/en-us/requests/new
EVgo’s revenue would be severely dented by not accepting credit cards
….only EV owners use those chargers….once you own an EV you are trapped….you will do whatever to get a charge….towing costs more….lol
Hi Jim,
Nominally, they do accept credit cards; their pumps just decline them serially. I know for certain the specific card I use is good. I use it regularly. And I tried to use it at several of these “pumps” – all of which rejected it. This has happened at other “fast”chargers, too – and from what I gather it’s a pretty common problem.
In related news:
‘BREAKING: Reports Of Missing Deposits As “Direct Deposit System” Crashes (All Major Banks Affected)’ – Nov 3, 2023
…”The problem, related to the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network, has led to temporary delays in deposits.
ACH is managed by the Federal Reserve Banks.” […]
“Missing deposits and missing paychecks is a story that has happened MULTIPLE times this year…” [ I did Not know that.]
“The company responded in a statement to CNN that a “limited amount” of their customers are experiencing the disappearing deposits. They said most of them were “resolved” and that they would fix the problem soon.
“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience,” the bank’s statement reads.” …
https://100percentfedup.com/breaking-reports-of-missing-deposits-as-direct-deposit-system-crashes-all-major-banks-affected/
ACH is an obsolete, half-century old network — the bankster equivalent of a Morse-code telegraph.
The Federal Reserve’s dirty little secret is that technologically, it is decades behind most other countries, including developing nations.
Its dirty BIG secret is that not having been audited for over a hundred years, it probably could not get a clean opinion from an auditor.
If elected president, on day one I will order the entire Federal Reserve Board arrested, and charged with counterfeiting. Up against the wall, mf-ers.
Ron Paul. As an aside in addition to having delivered more babies as a OB/Gyn than any other politician ever, Doc Paul was Pennsylvania State Champion in the 440 yd event in HS. I am a track guy and keep track of those things.
They’ll get most people to use their digital money and apps by hooking them on universal welfare. Plenty of fools filed tax returns and accepted convid relief checks. Rats can’t resist that free cheese even when it’s in a trap.
Gresham’s law: Bad money drives out good, or worse money drives out bad. They’ll sell the CBDC as a convienent alternative to the greenback. The reality is people will hoard greenbacks the way people picked out silver coins until they were all out of circulation. You’ll conduct business in CBDC because you want to get rid of that s*** first. Dump it off on the next sucker. Stuff your matress with Benjamins.
Then most die, the survivors survive and get revenge, bigly.
A CBDC is physically dangerous, not just a danger to your liberty. Say the wrong thing and you might find yourself with no means to pay your rent, food, or your light bill. Putting you hungry, in the cold and the dark, until you are evicted and living outdoors. You can be killed with it, without warning.
You can buy prepaid credit cards with cash….using them is fairly anonymous….this requiring apps cuts that out…….you can’t buy EV juice with prepaid credit cards…
closing the loopholes…total surveillance and control….like a rat in a 2 foot by 2 foot cage…..
quote….You can still use cash at self-checkout kiosks at supermarkets and so on (although it’s abundantly clear they are using these to condition people to paying electronically, by regularly not accepting cash, even though the machine is capable of accepting it).
Most of these machines only accept cards now…no cash….during covid this happened…scared of a deadly germ…lol…it was never changed back…but….so far no app needed to buy food….EV fuel first….apps to buy food next…..
apps to buy food…total control of the slaves….digitally herding them…then physically into 15 min city/prison camps to be dealt with…..a slave revolt is needed
use cash where possible or try to transact with goldbacks…..
Similarly, all the utilities (water, electricity, cable) stopped allowing anyone to pay in person during coronahoax. As far as I know, they never re-opened the pay-in-person windows.
One exception is the local propane supplier. While they did have to close in-person during the hoax, they did reopen. I prepay the winter gas with cash every year now.
>Most of these machines only accept cards now
Walmart self checkout machines accept cash where I live (ZIP Code 92882), and I expect they will continue to do for the foreseeable future. Shop at a grocery store where the predominant language is Spanish, and watch the rolls of Benjamins come out.
Pedro and Maria get paid in cash (bajo la mesa, a.k.a. bajo del agua) because their “employers,” Todd and Jennifer, ain’t gonna pay workers comp, FICA, etc. for their domestic help, and neither are “bandit” contractors of various types, from tree trimming to drywall.
The local farmers’ market, as well as local farmers who sell at their own property, are pretty much cash businesses. I do not expect this to change either.
Most of the walmarts I’ve seen ….the machines don’t take cash….but there is one employee there that will take cash….for someone who didn’t realize…cards only….or for the few….no cards…..
……………..Todd and Jennifer, ain’t gonna pay workers comp, FICA, etc. for their domestic help, and neither are “bandit” contractors of various types, from tree trimming to drywall……
if/when cash is banned and CBDC only….that will be difficult….the tax slave’s worst sin/law to break….not paying taxes……the pirate slave owners want to stop that……
That used to really annoy me (I was blind) cheating “my” government, out of income. But (now I see) and I cheer them on. Anything, no matter how small, to reduce revenue to this authoritarian government is a plus in my opinion.
The CBDC’s and EVs scare the bleep outta me. With any nail salon or hot dog vendor able to easily accept credit cards with a simple square card reader the fact that EV chargers do jot is a HUGE tell. Obviously we here will al resist as long as we can. I do predict the black market alt bitcoin like currencies and and bartering will become much more prevalent when CBDCs are forced. There will be so many workarounds to everything it will make your head spin.
You can also buy gas in containers and store it yourself, especially non-ethanol. And, what about someone you share a ride with? They want to pay for you “fuel” but, also would not be able to use their credit card thus being thrust into the world of this electronic dungeon.
On the flip side, I’m seeing more and more places that charge 3% or more to use plastic thus pushing cash payments. I try to pay cash whenever possible, especially when leaving tips for servers.
Probably the reason they brought out ethanol ruined gas…..it degrades after 1 month….no long term storage…..the new low sulfur diesel too….degrades after 6 months….
the walls closing in on mobility….the water temperature rising for the frog in the pot….lol
Man, talk about EVIL, DIABOLICAL SOBs! They really piss me off. I try to use cash often. That’s how we stop this: using cash as often as we can.
Oh, and we can PUSH BACK against this BS! The Nigerian gov’t tried to impose a CBDC, but they people resisted; the gov’t there relented. IIRC, the people of Japan put the brakes on their nascent CBDC also.
The Nigerian gov’t tried to impose a CBDC, but they people resisted….something like 50% used bitcoin or other crypto instead…..
Now, a year after its launch, the adoption of the eNaira is not going quite as the government had planned as only 0.5% of Nigeria’s 217 million citizens are using the central bank issued digital currency, according to a report from Bloomberg.
the Nigerian government doubled down and moved to more drastic measures by restricting cash itself. In December the Central Bank of Nigeria began restricting cash withdrawals to 100,000 naira (US$225) per week for individuals and 500,000 naira ($1,123) for businesses.
Nigerians took to the streets to protest the restrictions and cash shortage.
Nigeria began restricting cash withdrawals to 100,000 naira (US$225) per week for individuals and 500,000 naira ($1,123) for businesses.
coming here soon…….
If recharging an EV was not about control you should be able to pay cash at the “gas” station and get a pin number like you do at some gas stations to use at the car wash, these pin numbers good for about 90 days or so.
But as you point out Eric it’s more about control now than building a relationship with the customer which will span decades. I know people who buy Chevy’s because Dad did. What will these people do when they realize today’s vehicles are no different from another than one brand of canned peas from another? It will get even worse once they realize the manufactures don’t give a damn. Mugged by Mister Bad Wrench lately?
Available from https://archive.org/details/muggedbymrbadwre0000fari