4 ms·
I can get from one gas station to another on a tank. Barely sometimes, but I can make it. There's stretches I used to drive on a regular basis where the only
by msrenee 5y ago
I can get from one gas station to another on a tank. Barely sometimes, but I can make it. There's stretches I used to drive on a regular basis where the only gas station within 60 miles closed at 5pm. You think Thedford is going to be able to install chargers that won't take 8 hours to fill a battery? That and Stapleton are the big towns in the area and neither is much more than a gas station between cornfields. I worked for the government doing aquatic ecology surveys. We'd drive over 300 miles just to get to the hotel we were based out of for those sampling locations. Is there a vehicle out there with the storage space of an F150 with a covered bed that can make that trip and be ready to bounce around the middle of nowhere 8 hours later?
You work out those tax credits and let me know. That's going to cost the government a lot of money they're not going to part with easily.
Electric vehicles don't need headlights changed? Oil? Alternator? I'll give you that I'm 99.9% sure they don't have spark plugs. How about the windows? Automatic door locks? How much will a new key cost me? The 2008 Subaru cost $150 per key. Not even the fob, just the key. My truck keys costs $3 at the hardware store. Is it going to have one of those frustrating touch screens that I can't see during the day? How about when it does need maintenance that I can't do? How much does that cost? Labor's already 75% of the repair cost. What's it going to be when it's the labor of someone willing to mess with the sort of batteries that are used in electric cars?
>All the EV trucks coming on the market will tow a heck of a lot more than gasoline trucks will.
When they come on the market. How much will they cost? I paid 10k for my F250 diesel. 2004, 170k miles on it. 5 years ago in a market that had an abundance of rust-free trucks. How many decades is it going to be before I can get an electric truck in that range? I can't afford last year's F150. Shoot, I was trying to buy an F150 under 10 years old when I found the diesel. There wasn't one in decent shape under 15k. How am I supposed to buy a brand new, new tech, electric truck?
And how far will they tow this weight? Please map me a reasonable route from Flagstaff Arizona to Witchita Kansas where you think there will ostensibly be charging stations in the next 15 years. Add to that the fact that a horse should not be left in a trailer for more than 8 hours. Pretty much every stop to charge at that point will have to be an overnight stay somewhere the animal can move freely and lie down. We made it a 2 day trip with the diesel. We pushed my mare up towards 10 hours and had to pull over before we got to our stopping point to rest her because she was struggling. How about paying for a transport? Joke's on me, transports on that route cost $2-3k if and only if you can even find someone willing to go that way.
Short haul delivery? I've driven box trucks. The small ones have 100 gallon tanks. We filled them about every other day. Are you telling me we already have the technology to charge those in the 10-12 hours they're not in use?
Yes, electric vehicles are torquey. I'd love to have one. I'm a sucker for zippy little cars. But I even ignoring the cost, I could not buy one because they are not at all reasonable for my usage. I miss my grand prix. That car was a hoot. I would kill for a Tesla to zip around town in. But I can't afford to buy one even for 20k and I would have to have a second vehicle which costs money in taxes and upkeep that I don't have.
- msrenee 5y agoIf it puts anything in perspective, it's about $250 a year to register a vehicle in my state under 14 years old. So consider however much the new vehicle costs, plus sales tax, plus registration on 2 vehicles every year, plus fees on 2 vehicles, plus maintenance. And add $15 for my crappy old trailer which is a joke after I've paid for vehicle reg.
- TheSpiceIsLife 5y agoYou got down voted a bit for this, but it's pretty much the exact rant I wanted to make in response to the earlier comment. I'm in Launceston, Tasmania, and half the people I work with are in your situation or similar. An electric vehicle sold new today, bought second have in 10 to 15 years is not going to work for your situation and plenty of others like you.
- msrenee 5y agoThanks. I really couldn't care about the votes. Either people understand where I'm coming from or they don't. I'm not in the middle of nowhere. I'm on the outskirts of a decent sized city. I've never lived in that city and I have no idea what it's like to live on the coasts in the US. I have lived in a number of places, a little bigger and much smaller, have drive commercially, and think I have a pretty good feel for the logistics of the policies that are being proposed. I'm concerned that lot of people who are pushing for electric vehicles either don't know the reality of living in a rural area or are too well paid to realize that the cost of any new vehicle and especially one full of new tech is prohibitive to those in our situations.
- HeyLaughingBoy 5y agoI agree completely. Most of the EV proponents (and I am one of them!) live in densely populated areas that work well for EVs. I live in a rural area. Sure, I could charge an EV at home, but every where else it would be a hassle. Saying things like "EVs are great for towing because torque" completely misses the point that you need to get that torque to the road through the drivetrain and to tow the vehicle through a chassis that can take the load. You're not towing a two-horse slant with a Model S, no matter how much torque it has. Until that's possible, we just keep buying used pick up trucks.