EVS ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH REALITY

EVS ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH REALITY

BY JOHN HINDERAKER IN ELECTRIC VEHICLES, ENERGY POLICY

The alleged transition to “green” energy is destined to crash and burn. A modern society can’t meet its needs for electricity with wind and solar sources that produce nothing a large majority of the time, supplemented by wholly notional “batteries.” The race to disaster is being accelerated by government-mandated use of electric vehicles, which will put impossible burdens on an already-inadequate grid. So it becomes a question of where the “green” dream will break down first.

EVs may turn out to be the green Waterloo. Numerous jurisdictions around the world have purported to ban gasoline-powered vehicles by some date in the not-far-off future, a dictate that cannot and will not be met. Rather than flying off dealers’ car lots, EVs are accumulating there in growing numbers. At Heartland, Ronald Stein explains some of the reasons why. Stein itemizes the numerous factors that cause buyers to be wary of EVs, and adds this:

Another problem for the automobile industry is convincing the buyers that its ethical, moral, and socially responsible to buy an EV, especially since most of the exotic mineral and metal supplies to build the batteries are being mined in developing countries with limited environmental regulation nor labor regulations.

EVs are terrible for the environment, and their supply chains raise serious moral issues. But probably most consumers have more personal concerns:

The problem is that manufacturers are loading up the “supply chain” with EV’s on dealer lots, but they’re not seeing the “demand” for EV’s coming from the public. The current EV ownership profiles of the elite owners are that they are:

* highly educated.
* highly compensated.
* multi-car families.
* low mileage requirements for the families’ second car, i.e., the EV.

Current EV owners are dramatically different from most of the vehicle owners.

Something else that I hadn’t previously focused on is the used car market, which is vast:

Historically, internal combustion engine (ICE) car sales in America are upwards of 55 million annually with about 15 million or 27 percent being new and 40 million or 73 percent being used car sales.

That is astonishing! 73% of auto sales are used cars. And yet:

To date, the EV industry has virtually no used car market! In addition to the constant EV charging challenges, who wants a used EV that may soon need an expensive battery replacement?

With about 73 percent of all car sales being that of used combustion engine cars, the lack of a resale market for EV’s may be a major problem for the auto industry.

Another thing that is different about EV drivers is that they largely–40% of them–live in California:

Since most states lack the year-round temperate climate that Californians enjoy, the distribution of EV ownership throughout the nation should be a concern to the auto industry. With 40 percent of the EV’s in America being in California, that leaves the other 60 percent being among the other 49 States, or approximately 1+ percent per State.

So, how does California supply the electricity to charge all of those EVs?

1. To support the State’s EV growth, California imports more electricity than any other US state, more than twice the amount of Virginia, the second largest importer of electricity. California typically receives between one-fifth and one-third of its electricity supply from outside of the state.

2. The other 49 states have virtually non-existent EV charging infrastructures, and a few of them may be exporting their electricity to California!

So where does the electricity come from if all 50 states are requiring use of EVs?

There is no place on Earth–not even a demonstration project, not even a village–where energy needs are met entirely through “green” sources. This is not coincidental. The U.K. is ahead of the U.S. in trying to drive usage of EVs, so their experience is revealing:

With the supply of electricity not keeping abreast of the growing demand, the UK is ahead of most of the world, protecting its grid with Smart Chargers, and setting up Separate Meters for the EV charging users to pay for a new grid!

* As of May 30, 2022, in the UK, new home and workplace chargers being installed must be “smart chargers” connected to the internet and able to employ pre-sets limiting their ability to function from 8 am to 11 am and 4 pm to 10 pm.

* In addition to the nine hours a day of downtime, authorities will be able to impose a “randomized delay” of 30 minutes on individual chargers in certain areas to prevent grid spikes at other times.

* The UK Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021 came into force on June 30, 2022. All home installed electric vehicle chargers are required to be separately metered and send information to the Smart meter data communications network. Potentially this legislation allows the electricity used for charging EVs to be charged and taxed at a higher rate than domestic electricity. The technology enacted also enables the rationing of electricity for EV charging because the government can decide when and if an EV can be charged, plus it also allows the EV battery to be drained into the grid if required.

Will any of this be acceptable to freedom-loving Americans? Well, after the covid shutdowns, maybe Americans aren’t as freedom-loving as we thought. Too, we already have “smart meters” for electricity in many American homes. How are they smart? Much like the “smart chargers” for EVs in the U.K., they allow the utility to control your thermostat to reduce demand for electricity.

It is impossible to overstate the damage that has been done, and will be done, by the crazed drive toward “green” energy that has gripped Western elites.

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/08/evs-on-a-collision-course-with-reality.php