SOURCE:
Electric vehicles touted as a panacea, despite evidence to the contrary - American Thinker
We were told by Mayor Pete, Biden, and others that the way for the poor and middle classes to address the high cost of gas is to just buy an electric car with an average price tag of around $60,000 (if you can find one). That makes sense for people living paycheck to paycheck with little to no savings, doesn’t it?
They fail to mention the fact that tires on electric cars wear out much faster, which in turn creates more waste — not very congruent with their radical “Green” positions — and expenses that exceed that of gas-engine vehicles:
Regular tires wear out roughly 20% faster on an EV than on an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. Many EVs today come with specialized tires, but even these typically need more frequent changes than traditional versions. Why is that?
EVs need special tires because they put more pressure on them than ICE vehicles. First of all, EVs are heavier. Ford’s F-150 Lightning weighs 1,600 pounds more than a similar conventional F-150. This extra weight, which comes mainly from heavy batteries, means tires have to deal with more resistance as they drive.
They don’t talk about the massive cost of the batteries if/when they go bad. If you have a gas-powered car, you can replace the battery for less than $200 in less than an hour with ease, because it weighs less than 30 pounds. With an electric car, you need heavy equipment, as it weighs more than 1,000 pounds — oh, and costs range from $3,000 to $18,000, and can even go as high as $30k.
They don’t talk about how much faster electric cars depreciate than gas-powered cars. The depreciation dwarfs the “savings” from gas. According to one of the largest providers of warranty services in the country, “Electric Vehicle owners lose.”
While the media and other Democrats are pushing for the massive use of lithium, they never talk about the great environmental harm it causes. Despite their cries that we’re facing water issues, they promote the mining of rare earth minerals; the extraction process for one ton of lithium takes roughly 500,000 gallons of water. According to EuroNews:
Lithium-ion batteries are most famous for powering electric vehicles, which are set to account for up to 60 per cent of new car sales by 2030. The battery of a Tesla Model S, for example, uses around 12 kg of lithium.
These batteries are the key to lightweight, rechargeable power. As it stands, demand for lithium is unprecedented and many say it is crucial in order to transition to renewables.
However, this doesn't come without a cost - mining the chemical element can be harmful to the environment.
If the environmentalists really cared about pollution, why would they promote the highly flammable pollutant lithium?
In the wake of Hurricane Ian, Florida fire officials were ready and anticipating EV fires:
‘A typical car fire in the past would be one tank of water from our engine and would be less than an hour job. Pretty routine,’ Hammond said. ‘And these [EVs] we’re finding take hours to cool the batteries to keep them out of a runaway situation. It just ties up resources a lot longer, and in some cases where we don’t have a water source, we have to secure the area and let them burn.’
Additional fires could be coming. Patronis Tweeted that there’s ‘a ton of EV’s disabled from Ian. As those batteries corrode, fires start.’ Flooded EVs were exposed to saltwater, which according to the National Fire Protection Association can hasten corrosion in both low- and high-voltage components.
And, stated in an earlier piece published on American Thinker:
Joe Biden and all his minions have allowed gas prices to go sky high in a fanatic quest to force Americans into electric vehicles.
One problem: They tend to explode after hurricanes.
This is all while these Democrats seek to regulate the clear, innocuous, non-pollutant CO2, the very gas that makes plants thrive and allows the world to be fed.
We are told that the reason they need to regulate and capture CO2 is because it causes warming, despite temperatures rising and falling during periods of rising CO2. When there is no correlation, there can be no causation.
Where are the tires going to come from for electric vehicles, if we are getting rid of oil?
Where is the asphalt going to come from to replace and repair roads since we no longer will use oil?
When are government agencies going to start charging electric vehicle owners for the damage they are causing to roads, since they weigh so much, and since they don’t pay a gas tax?
The rich like to buy expensive electric cars to improve their image. They go well with their gas guzzlers, mansions, yachts, and private jets. They sure don’t give a darn about their carbon footprint. Buying carbon credits and planting trees does not decrease the carbon from all their luxuries. Carbon credits are worthless pieces of paper.
The choice gets easier every day as to who we should vote for: Either the politicians for whom the media campaigns, whose policies include destroying industries that directly and indirectly employ tens of millions, industries which have greatly improved our quality and length of life. Or, the politicians that gave us energy independence, low inflation, and rapidly rising real wages.
An economy can’t thrive without reasonably priced energy.