I recently read a book titled something like “The story of Charlie” , recently published, sort of a biography about a man who lived to 109 in the USA, and quite healthy most of those years. Died not to long ago. He grew up in the era of the first Ford model T. When he & his buddies graduated from high school they decided they were going to see if they could drive a used MT from Kansas City to Los Angeles. Fun story, involved lots of pushing the car, and incredible on-the-road-repairs. But they made it. They decided the car was in such a state by then it would never make it back to Kansas City, so they rode the rails from LA to KC as railroad tramps instead … lol …
We’re all relaxed. You’re the one that’s all worked up @bing.
Both of those are changing quickly. An EV works for me and a lot of my neighbors, and that’s what I care about.
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We have two tiers. Off peak runs from 9pm to 6am. I charged again last night, from 80% to 100%. The car temperature was 47F in my garage when I started and it finished before I unplugged about 8am, about 12 hours after starting. Don’t forget the flat extra fees not included in the marginal usage rate.
Given gas prices of about $3.00, the break-even point for EVs is about $0.40 a kW-hr. Over that, the gas engine car is cheaper to run. This assumes 20% fuel to wheels efficiency for the ICE car and 90% for the EV in reasonable weather.
In cold or very hot weather, the range decreases so that 90% efficiency drops. The EV efficiency drops for the entire trip. ICE’s lose efficiency, too, but mostly in short trips. Less for longer trips.
If you rarely travel beyond half the range of your EV and recharge at home, you save money on fuel. EV America and Tesla’s own network chargers cost more than $0.40 per kW-hr. Travelling with an EV is more expensive than in an equivalent ICE car.
https://www.edmunds.com/electric-car/articles/how-much-does-cost-charge-electric-car.html#tesla
It’s mainly about money. 5% of the population has money. 65% have credit but no money. 30% have no money or credit. A $25,000 EV would sell, regardless of disadvantages. It would have to come from China or India, maybe Vietnam. No way the big three or the dealers or the UAW will let inexpensive EVs into the country.
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Toyota, Ford,GM?
Stellantis, IMO, in spite of their 14 or so, different brands does not qualify as one of the “big three”.
UAW? Though I gave up researching how many auto workers are in union vs non union jobs, nor could I find the number of union vs non union plants exist, my wild donkey guess, is that only about 1/2 the workers are UAW members. Many states are hostile to unions.
If an electric vehicle meets American safety standards, it can be imported. The only barrier is developing a dealership network and whether quality reputation can be established.
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Chevrolet sells the Bolt for as little as $26,500 MSRP. The Tesla Model 3 can approach $25,000 with tax incentives included. Tesla is rumored to introduce a $25,000 car before incentives are included. They aren’t building this new car for the US market so much as overseas markets to compete with Chinese EVs.
I’m not sure money is the issue. People tend to fund their priorities. I think outside of the major metro centers, the limitations are more the consideration.
I expect there are considerably less expensive EV’s than that currently sold in other countries, esp China, India.
The biggest cost of an EV is the battery. But battery prices have been coming down.
I’ve stated many times on this forum that I won’t be buying an EV anytime soon. I personally know of 3 new battery projects being developed in MA. And that’s only the ones I know about. I’m sure there are countless more all over the world. Investors are investing BILLIONS every year into these projects because they know it could be a game changer.
Here’s just one that’s becoming a reality and could be a game changer.
Here’s a better video - MIT reveal Lamborghini battery with 500 kw charging & 765 Wh energy density - YouTube
Yes all this may be true but the bigger question is why? Our pastor today managed to link mt. St Helen’s eruption with climate change. So it just doesn’t stop. I was there in 83, collected samples from a relatives yard, and they never once consider the cause a change in the climate. Volcanos have a habit of erupting. Wait for Yellowstone. So buy what you want, just don’t tell me what I want, and don’t forget where the batteries come from.
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I am amazea at the number of Americans that act like Henry Ford started US auto production with the Model T. There were almost 200,000 cars registered in the US before the Model T was produced. Henry Ford had already gone bankrupt twice and no bank would loan him the money to build the Model T. The dodge brothers stepped in and loaned him the money he needed, spent 4 times that to boil;d their own plant to supply parts and until 1913 when Ford and Dodge went separate ways, Dodge produced more of the Model T than Ford did.
Also, Henry Fords original design had a fatal flaw, a very fragile rear axle and differential, Dodge replaced it with a more robust one.
The real secret to the model T,s success was its lightweight design and how cheaply it could be built and sold.
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I hear those dodge boys were pretty rough fellas. I knew they did engines for ford but didn’t know the other stuff. But yeah mainly a production guy with standardization and then found a market. I don’t hold failure against
Him though. Lots of folks fail and keep trying.
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I have actually heard people say that Henry Ford “invented the automobile”.
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Our school’s first auto shop teacher claimed to have known the Dodge Brothers. While he had been in the automotive industry since his youth, and while he was old enough to have known them, I don’t know whether he was being truthful, or just spinning tales. In any event, he used to refer to them as “alcoholic bums”.
I do not doubt that if you asked him if he invented the automobile he would probably say he did and all the others are just “horseless carriages…” L o L . . .
I’ve read he was among other things both good and bad, he was very arrogant… He did extraordinary things, he held more than 150 patents that revolutionized industrial manufacturing and production. Perhaps if his ego had not gotten in the way and if he did not consider himself the smartest person in the room, so many more things could be attributed to him…
Didn’t he come up with the idea of assembly line?
No, Ransom Olds did much of the initial development of the assembly line. Ford took the ideas and mega sized them.
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He had to standardize parts first, then the work could be done on a line instead of a work station. I don’t think he was the first to do this though. I think gun manufacturers were doing this since the civil war, but he put it all together and flooded the market with cheap cars. My history is a little foggy on this though.
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