My thoughts have been why don’t they install EV chargers at every gas station on the interstate. That’s where you’d expect to find them. But they’re not typically even near them. Where I live in California there’s quite a few but that still doesn’t help having to break up your trip and waiting to get to your destination because you have to charge. You absolutely right. EVs won’t catch on until this gets a lot better.
And also until they get cheap enough that 80% of American families who can't afford one new now will be able to get one that is both cheap and reliable and good performance - which isn't going to be the case with any Detroit product now that they convinced Joe to give them the 100% tariff on the people who will eat their lunch faster than the Japanese did over the quality issue in the 70s-80s. The climate crisis isn't going to be solved by the upper middle class/upper class white liberals of California adopting Elmo's tinny toys as the State Car For Lib'ruls. (Throw a stick in any direction in Los Angeles and it will bounce off ten of the damn things)
I agree with you about affordability. It was funny yesterday morning I noticed a Kia Niro and how nice it was. Then later that morning I read tpm morning memo and he raves about it. So I decided to look it up and was really pleased to see that the 2024 base model is under $30,000. This is exactly what we need. And with the electric car rebate or refund or whatever it is that will also bring it lower. I really dislike Tesla and hope that we get more of these on the road.
You might want to go read the Road & Track article by the reporters who visited the Beijing Auto Show and discovered that (once again) Detroit would get its lunch money stolen and be stuffed in its locker, but for convincing Joe to give them the 100% tariff that allows them to continue their bullshit ways.
"With a reliable charging network, I’d have been fine. But the charger situation has muted even my enthusiasm for EVs."
Even for an admitted early adopter, the charging network situation is definitely intolerable. One temporary solution for some may be what my wife and I have done: purchase a hybrid EV, in our case a Toyota Prius Prime. The storage battery has a range of about 30 miles, easily enough for our daily local errands, and even without a high-voltage plug it recharges in less than 4 hours; we plug it in overnight. We hope that the day will come when battery technology and an expanded charging station network make 500-mile EV trips more convenient. Even if that takes a good number of years, our hybrid will still retain most of its original value.
A recent poll from online auto marketplace Edmunds found that 47 percent of potential EV buyers want to spend $40,000 or less on an electric vehicle, a standard not many EVs in the United States meet.
The charging situation with EVs is pathetic everywhere. Here in Los Angeles, according to friends who hve EVs, public charging stations with working chargers are few and far between. Most of them have gotten the adapter to use the Tesla stations, which work, paying the fee to Elmo.
Couple this with the news from the Beijing Car Show, attended by several American car reporters, who got to try the Chinese EVs, which they found to uniformly outperform American and European EVs (including Tesla, which is why Elmo's taking a beating over there), to be better equipped, and to be uniformly cheaper. No wonder the MBA numbnuts running Detroit begged Biden for a 100% tariff - this is a bigger threat to their stupidity than back in the 70s-80s when the Japanese nailed their fat asses to the door over the quality issue (note: I haven't owned an American car since 1972).
More proof that American capitalism is crony capitalism run by the people who should be the ones in prison - and not in some "Club Fed."
I bought my Hyundai last November. I too love the way it drives. I have a charger in my garage, so public charger shortage (and speed) have not been a problem, since I have yet to travel. Your post is spot on.
Is the Brian Greer link broken?
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/18/opinion/judge-cannon-trump-documents-case.html
The "real housewives..." cartoon just nails it. No other commentary necessary.
My thoughts have been why don’t they install EV chargers at every gas station on the interstate. That’s where you’d expect to find them. But they’re not typically even near them. Where I live in California there’s quite a few but that still doesn’t help having to break up your trip and waiting to get to your destination because you have to charge. You absolutely right. EVs won’t catch on until this gets a lot better.
And also until they get cheap enough that 80% of American families who can't afford one new now will be able to get one that is both cheap and reliable and good performance - which isn't going to be the case with any Detroit product now that they convinced Joe to give them the 100% tariff on the people who will eat their lunch faster than the Japanese did over the quality issue in the 70s-80s. The climate crisis isn't going to be solved by the upper middle class/upper class white liberals of California adopting Elmo's tinny toys as the State Car For Lib'ruls. (Throw a stick in any direction in Los Angeles and it will bounce off ten of the damn things)
I agree with you about affordability. It was funny yesterday morning I noticed a Kia Niro and how nice it was. Then later that morning I read tpm morning memo and he raves about it. So I decided to look it up and was really pleased to see that the 2024 base model is under $30,000. This is exactly what we need. And with the electric car rebate or refund or whatever it is that will also bring it lower. I really dislike Tesla and hope that we get more of these on the road.
That is good news.
The EV revolution is in the Model T stage of evolution. The good news is the revolution will mature way faster.
You might want to go read the Road & Track article by the reporters who visited the Beijing Auto Show and discovered that (once again) Detroit would get its lunch money stolen and be stuffed in its locker, but for convincing Joe to give them the 100% tariff that allows them to continue their bullshit ways.
Just read this today. More charging stations are very much needed.
https://calmatters.org/environment/2024/05/electric-car-chargers-california-imperial-county/
"With a reliable charging network, I’d have been fine. But the charger situation has muted even my enthusiasm for EVs."
Even for an admitted early adopter, the charging network situation is definitely intolerable. One temporary solution for some may be what my wife and I have done: purchase a hybrid EV, in our case a Toyota Prius Prime. The storage battery has a range of about 30 miles, easily enough for our daily local errands, and even without a high-voltage plug it recharges in less than 4 hours; we plug it in overnight. We hope that the day will come when battery technology and an expanded charging station network make 500-mile EV trips more convenient. Even if that takes a good number of years, our hybrid will still retain most of its original value.
A recent poll from online auto marketplace Edmunds found that 47 percent of potential EV buyers want to spend $40,000 or less on an electric vehicle, a standard not many EVs in the United States meet.
The charging situation with EVs is pathetic everywhere. Here in Los Angeles, according to friends who hve EVs, public charging stations with working chargers are few and far between. Most of them have gotten the adapter to use the Tesla stations, which work, paying the fee to Elmo.
Couple this with the news from the Beijing Car Show, attended by several American car reporters, who got to try the Chinese EVs, which they found to uniformly outperform American and European EVs (including Tesla, which is why Elmo's taking a beating over there), to be better equipped, and to be uniformly cheaper. No wonder the MBA numbnuts running Detroit begged Biden for a 100% tariff - this is a bigger threat to their stupidity than back in the 70s-80s when the Japanese nailed their fat asses to the door over the quality issue (note: I haven't owned an American car since 1972).
More proof that American capitalism is crony capitalism run by the people who should be the ones in prison - and not in some "Club Fed."
Re: EVs - how to structure usage taxes so road infrastructure that EVs use is properly funded?
Love your morning memo but please proofread more carefully.
I bought my Hyundai last November. I too love the way it drives. I have a charger in my garage, so public charger shortage (and speed) have not been a problem, since I have yet to travel. Your post is spot on.