The Climate Change Hoax Is Dying - So Are EVs
Americans are finally realizing that the climate change hoax is dying and along with it, so are the electric vehicles it spawned.
Don’t get me wrong, Elon Musk is a very smart man and a great American. It’s just that his cars and trucks don’t work as well as fossil-fuel cars – and they can be dangerous. Not to mention E-Bikes and E-Scooters.
EVs In Winter and Emergencies
The Obama/Biden administration’s “Climate Change” plans of having only electric vehicles (EVs) on our highways by 2050 is rapidly failing. Let’s start with how EVs fared in Chicago last month when temperatures dropped to 23 degrees below zero and wind chills went down to 50 below.
It was a disaster. The cold meant that EV charging stations were unable to work at fast charge rates and they became jammed with abandoned EVs when their batteries also refused to be charged. Desperate EV drivers tried to get rides from folks driving in gas-fueled cars. It seems EV batteries must be “preconditioned” to an optimal temperature before they will fast charge. Temperatures of 20 below are not optimal.
On the other hand, Sweden is accustomed to cold temperatures. In January they had some very cold temperatures, like 57.5 degrees below zero, and cities cancelled bus services because their buses were EVs. The bus batteries could not heat the bus interiors and still hope to complete their routes.
Then there are those evacuations for floods and hurricanes where highways get jammed with cars and trucks in gridlock. Thousands of EVs will run out of power and be abandoned by drivers and families who will expect to be rescued by the drivers of fossil-fueled vehicles. If the evacuation is also in cold weather, AAA has advised that low temperatures will reduce an EV’s range by 40%, especially if you use the batteries to stay warm.
As you might suspect, used car buyers were aware of these problems and other shortcomings when Hertz tried to sell their EV fleet, as we’ll see below.
Fires And Explosions Of EVs
Besides EVs being inoperable in cold weather, they cost much more to maintain and repair. Replacing batteries comes at a horrendous price. Because of their batteries, EVs are significantly heavier than gasoline or diesel vehicles. There are growing concerns that guardrails and the floors of underground garages may not be able to handle that additional weight.
EVs have limited range. The time for an EV to reach a distant destination is adversely affected by charging time, lack of battery charging facilities, and lines at charging facilities you might find. Then there is the cost. If you’re on the road to a distant destination, you will likely want fast charging. That will cost you about what gasoline would cost.
On top of all that, your EV might catch fire and explode.
Before we look at what might happen to your Tesla, go to your browser and type in “E-Bike Fires.” You’ll find something like this:
In August of last year the New York Fire Department (FDNY) reported that so far in 2023, there were 108 lithium-ion battery fires in the city that injured 66 people and killed 13. FDNY commissioner Kavanagh said “There is not a small amount of fire, it (the vehicle) literally explodes.” The resulting fire is “very difficult to extinguish and so it is particularly dangerous.”
The FDNY also reported that in the last three years fires from lithium-ion batteries surpassed those from cooking and smoking as the most common cause of fatal fires. It is not just New York, it is happening all over the United States. Batteries in EVs, E-bikes and E-scooters are blowing up on roads, in driveways, in garages and in homes. What is causing all those fires and explosions?
EV Lithium-ion Batteries And Thermal Runaway
Dragonflyenergy.com describes a thermal runaway in a lithium-ion battery as: “In thermal runaway, the battery cell temperature rises incredibly fast (milliseconds). The energy stored in that battery is released very suddenly. This chain reaction creates extremely high temperatures (around 752 degrees Fahrenheit / 400 degrees Celsius). These temperatures can cause gassing of the battery and a fire that is so hot it can be nearly impossible to extinguish.”
Here is what an EV that had a thermal runaway looks like.
In February 2022 the car transporter ship Felicity Ace caught fire. It was carrying almost 4,000 vehicles, including many EVs. The UK’s Daily Mail newspaper reported the ship’s captain, Joao Mendes Cabecas, said that the batteries in the EVs he had on board caused the fire. On March 1st the ship sank.
Still, despite sensational reports of fires and explosions of EV cars, bikes, and scooters, they are not causing a disastrous death toll. EVs are generally as safe as gasoline and diesel cars. What is of concern are the costs driven by climate change regulations that impact owning and manufacturing EVs.
Closely examined, the true cost of an EV is much more than a gas or diesel vehicle. EVs are the creation of government and other proponents of the global warming hoax who point to the EV’s lack of a “carbon footprint” and its low cost of charging. At the same time they ignore the shortcomings of EVs, the cost of tax breaks given to a buyer, and the huge subsidies paid to EV manufacturers. Those breaks and subsidies are ultimately shouldered by taxpayers and amount to tens of thousands of dollars over the life of an EV. Despite all that support, auto manufacturers, car dealers, and car rental companies are losing billions by building, selling, and renting EVs. It makes no sense to produce a product that medium income buyers do not want.
Forbes reports yet another cost to our auto industry: “… a traditional automaker who may believe EVs are commercially unviable is forced to make them anyway. Under current regulations, automakers are pushed to produce more EVs than there is demand for. For example, the ZEV program requires at least 15.4 percent of an automaker’s fleet sales to be EVs or hydrogen vehicles by 2025. If consumer demand for EVs is not there by 2025, those vehicles will have to be sold at a loss.” Unfortunately, that’s already happening.
Hertz and Ford Give Up On EVs
Major car dealerships are beginning to refuse to sell new EVs, and they are also finding that EVs are the hardest used cars to sell. All that impacts on the costs of automotive manufacturing. Energy expert Robert Bryce noted that that Ford Motor Company had a loss on its EV business in 2023 that was greater than its total profits for the year. Ford lost $64,731 on every EV it sold.
Then there is Hertz, the giant rental car company. Hertz initially supported Biden’s climate change plan to have 50% of all new car sales to be EVs by 2030. The White House announced Hertz was “committing to substantially increase its electric vehicle rentals this year forecasting nearly two million EV rentals in 2023.”
Last month Hertz announced it was selling 20,000 EVs in its fleet in favor of buying gasoline-powered cars, citing collision and damage costs of EVs. When the resale price of those 20,000 used cars collapsed, Hertz canceled plans to buy 65,000 Polestar EVs. The Polestar is made by Volvo’s Chinese owner Geely and is manufactured in China. By the way, China also controls our EV battery, wind turbine, and solar panel industries.
Our EVs And Wind Turbines Depend on China
China controls the minerals essential to manufacture of all EV batteries. In congressional hearings last year, Ryan Zinke, a Montana congressman, asked Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg “Are you aware that to meet the demands (of the White House plan to increase EVs by 2032) that the U.S. would have to increase mining by 2,000 percent for 20 years?” Buttigieg admitted the United States is unable to produce its own supply of EV batteries and that the administration is trying to reduce its dependence on China for the supply of critical battery minerals.
I urge you to read “Grassley v. The Grid” on energybadboys.substack.com by Isaac Orr and Mitch Rolling. They explain how “Wind subsidies are undermining grid reliability, increasing costs, and making the U.S. more dependent on China for its energy.” They also explain that the wind farm business only benefits billionaires who build them. As Warren Buffett said, “We get a tax credit if we build a lot of wind farms. That's the only reason to build them. They don't make sense without the tax credit.” Who pays for all those subsidies? We do.
Not only have those subsidies become an existential threat to the reliability of the grid, they have raised electricity costs for all Americans. Worse, they have undermined our national security because China completely controls rare earth magnets, an essential part of wind turbines. China manufactures 92% of all rare earth magnets used in Warren Buffett’s wind turbines. China also controls 80% of the components for their solar panels, many of which are made with forced labor.
We now know that “climate change” is a hoax, but that hoax is causing us to shut down our reliable coal, gas, and nuclear power plants. In contrast, China is building more than 3,000 coal-fired power plants. We can now see it coming. When China decides it is politically expedient, and when we are critically reliant on wind and solar energy, Beijing can stop providing rare earth magnets and solar panels. Our grid will then slowly collapse into rolling blackouts.
You may have bought your EV before you knew climate change was a hoax, thinking you were helping to stop global warming. But now, after the deadly Texas power crisis in 2021 and last month’s EV disaster in Chicago, you know that wind farms, solar panels and EV batteries don’t work when it’s very cold. So when you drive your EV this winter, always travel with extra clothes, boots, blankets and gloves.
Or you might just sell your EV before the crash of used electric car prices gets even worse.
Excellent article and very informative. Thank you Chet.
Great article. Fortunately I had/have the instinct to know electric vehicles are a boondoggle, that green energy is a scam, and spotted owl extinction was not because of forest harvesting. In spite of the increasing facts, Oregon is debating removing more hydroelectric dams and building windmills off the coast. And closing more forests to harvesting. Life isn't easy when governed by ideological idiots.