OT: Electric Vehicles--anyone driving them or seriously looked at them?

[jm714]

Originally Posted by saab2000

That rude and illegal behavior is hardly unique to Tesla drivers. Hardly anyone in the US seems to get that the left lane is for passing, not for cruising. Not many HOV lanes where I live. I own a Tesla and try hard to be a normal, courteous driver.

I drive a Mach E so I get the whole I’m going to drive in manner that gives me the best range. However, in California and Southern California in particular where Tesla’s are quite plentiful I find them to be a$$hats for the most part on the road. One reason why I bought my Mach E was to use the HOV as a single occupant on my 56 mile commute. It’s not uncommon to get stuck behind one in the HOV lane going slower than the next two lanes to the right. And the other thing, no other driver hates to be passed by another EV except for Tesla drivers. When I had a Bolt it was the same as in my Mach E, Tesla drivers hate being passed and it seems they purposefully speed up to show they have a better car. They also want to race me more off the line at stop lights. Yes I know these are generalizations about Tesla drivers and maybe it is more of a California thing.

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by jm714

I drive a Mach E so I get the whole I’m going to drive in manner that gives me the best range. However, in California and Southern California in particular where Tesla’s are quite plentiful I find them to be a$$hats for the most part on the road. One reason why I bought my Mach E was to use the HOV as a single occupant on my 56 mile commute. It’s not uncommon to get stuck behind one in the HOV lane going slower than the next two lanes to the right. And the other thing, no other driver hates to be passed by another EV except for Tesla drivers. When I had a Bolt it was the same as in my Mach E, Tesla drivers hate being passed and it seems they purposefully speed up to show they have a better car. They also want to race me more off the line at stop lights. Yes I know these are generalizations about Tesla drivers and maybe it is more of a California thing.

I think it’s a California thing because I don’t notice this in Chicagoland. And lots of EVs where I live. The smartest of them are Chevy Bolt drivers. Very economical vehicles from what I understand.

[fijichf]

Originally Posted by benb

Meanwhile of course no one really bothers to talk much about the annual $20 billion in subsidies we still give to the fossil fuel industry. We'll need a couple hundred years of EV, Solar, Wind, etc.. subsidies at the current rate to ever catch up to what we gifted fossil fuel companies. All these comparisons even, they ignore we're all subsidising the cost of gas, cost of natural gas to heat your house, etc..

We’ll need to subsidize another government in the DRC if we’re going to compete with China to have access to cobalt and The Rocky Mountain Institute has published an informative piece about the EV battery supply chain, that I found to be quite interesting. Excerpt from the piece below.

https://rmi.org/the-ev-battery-supply-chain-explained/


What is the “upstream” portion of the EV battery supply chain? In the upstream portion of the supply chain, mines extract raw materials; for batteries, these raw materials typically contain lithium, cobalt, manganese, nickel, and graphite.

Because of the energy required to extract and refine these battery minerals, EV production generally emits more greenhouse gases per car than cars powered by fossil fuels. However, the average EV makes up for this difference in less than two years. Over a typical vehicle’s lifetime, EVs produce significantly less emissions than traditional vehicles, making them an essential tool to combat climate change.

Lithium-ion batteries, the kind that power almost all EVs, use five “critical minerals”: lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and graphite. The Energy Act of 2020 defines critical minerals as a “non-fuel mineral or mineral material essential to the economic or national security of the U.S. and which has a supply chain vulnerable to disruption.” There are around 35 minerals categorized as critical.

Critical minerals are found across the world, but most economically viable deposits are found in only a few places. For instance, much of the world’s cobalt is located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo while lithium is concentrated in South America and Australia. As a result of this geographic diversity, the supply chain for electric vehicles is truly global.

[rounder]

I believe that some day, I may go electric because it is probably the future. Right now though, I am happy with my current gas car (premium) which is paid for and have no current plans to change. Every year, I drive from Maryland to Maine on one tank of gas. When I am driving, my thoughts are on traffic and going the right way. No thoughts on where will I be getting my next charge or what would happen if I run out of electricity. I drive a lot of miles and an electric car is not for me.