ValnaoUS interest in electric vehicles surges as gas prices jump amid Iran war
Seriously, I never understood why conservatives who are genuinely concerned about national security issues haven’t been more open to moving to an electrified transportation system. We don’t have a ton of oil here. Its extraction is costly and dangerous, so we’re largely reliant upon foreign oil. That means we’re vulnerable to exploitation by oil producing countries. We keep shooting ourselves in the foot… and we keep insisting on using a shotgun.
Captain AggravatedThe US does have a ton of oil, Alaska is full of it.
In Rural areas, EVs are less practical.
Republicans like what Fox News tells them to like and the fossil fuel industry owns Fox News.
And yet, we export a lot of it as crude. Our own refineries are tooled up for sour crude, yet our fracking technology produces sweet crude, which we export raw. We import and refine sour crude. We are, and have been for most of my life, a net exporter of refined petroleum products. We’re also tied for the world’s largest exporter of LNG with Australia, though we have SIGNIFICANTLY larger natural gas reserves. Australia went big into LNG propulsion, I think it would work better in the US.
It is much bigger than an infrastructure issue. That’s a common handwave you’ll hear out of this crowd, I think because it would address your OWN inconveniences, that charging stations are often broken or malfunctioning, that, because they were invented in the 21st century they can’t take cash or card, each one has to have its own fuckpuke smartphone app. Improve that, and something something electrical grid something something handle the load and bam, ICE powered vehicles go extinct. It’s not that simple. The US power grid absolutely needs work, charging stations need to get themselves unfucked, YES. But that won’t fix the fact that the F-150 Lightning is buttgarbage for towing in the cold, the range hit from cold batteries, cabin heat and towing combine to deliver a range best measured in yards.
Then there’s the folks whose job or hobby requires going far from infrastructure. Folks who work or play out in the interior need to be able to do things like refuel a 4x4 from a jerry can. I am unaware of any portable electricity storage tech that can match the energy density per unit weight, volume or cost of a 5 gallon jerry can full of gasoline. There isn’t an EV currently or soon to be on the market that can do the job of a 4Runner with two jerry cans strapped to the tailgate. “I want or need to go deep in the wilderness, off the paved roads and away from gas stations and power lines. An EV can’t take me there and back and you’re telling me that’s an infrastructure issue?”
Hell, I’m a woodworker. I make monthly trips over an hour each way to lumber yards, because there’s like five places in the state that sell black walnut or mahogany. My favorite is about an hour and a half by interstate, one way, a round trip of about 170 miles. My S10’s 20mpg highway economy and 18 gallon gas tank makes that trip no problem even hauling a half ton of lumber for half the distance. I’m looking at a Slate pickup, the closest thing to an honest small work truck anyone has tried to make in the last 20 years, and it straight-up isn’t as capable a truck as my S10. Tow rating is hilariously low, even the extended range battery is a mere 240 miles, and the bed is 5 feet long rather than 6.
Now, this being Lemmy, I know folks are already cued up to tell me I’m wrong for needing or wanting what I need or want. People who don’t know what a board foot is will tell me I should order my lumber delivered rather than go to the lumber yard myself, or rent a truck every time instead of outright owning it, or whatever other stupid thing they come up with by trying to safety pin the one use case I’ve told them I have for my truck into their own lives. Not all the use cases I do have for it, only the one I’ve mentioned. I just know I’ll be told pickup trucks are American and thus evil, I should want a van instead or some other dumbass eurodrivel.
Your infrastructure point is well received. But in the end every point you made was related to infrastructure. And in no way do I think fossil fuels should be abandoned wholesale. At least not where it’s still the best solution. Electrification when it makes sense. I very much appreciate that there is nuance involved… I just don’t know all of them. My original point stands, however… our outrageous demand for fossil fuels is a national security concern.
I like how you let my third point stand, lol
Huh, weird. I drive my EV in rural areas occasionally and it works just fine.
On a more serious note, a level 2 charger (which is basically a dryer outlet) can get you up to 60mph of charging. Some back of the napkin math says my car would do ~40mph. Assuming you sleep about 8hrs a night, you’re looking at 320 miles of range every night. Imagine waking up to a full tank of gas in your car every day, and that whole tank cost like 10 bucks?
Unless you are away out in the West, an EV would do fine.
HanrahanIn Rural areas, EVs are less practical.
id say more practical, you can use solar panels on your roof and charge in your garage. Here in Australia that’s what I do in my rural location.
We have also used V2L to run our refrigerator, freezer,router, charge devices and a couple lights at night in a recent power outage, no. oise pissing off neighbors as well, rural areas tend to suffer power outages more because of the transmission line damage from storms.etc and ev’s add some resilience
EVs are problematic in condos for charging but all cars in cities are shitty anyway