Funding Will Retrofit America's Existing Automotive Manufacturing Facilities, Expand & Retain High-Paying Auto Manufacturing Jobs, & Bolster Domestic Supply Chains, Part of the Investing in America Agenda to Create Not Just More Jobs But Good Jobs
They’re working on improving range, it just isn’t there yet. Recharge overnight at home if you have a garage and it will likely never be a problem, in the vent you don’t have a place to charge slowly overnight or need a charge up on a trip then super chargers are being added all over the place daily, with government investment helping that as well. The maintenance routine is nothing, you need a new battery after nearly a decade, most people are getting a new car on that schedule, even if you plan to keep a car for decades you’ll have major repairs/replacements on a ice vehicle just as much if not more than electric.
Swapping ice to electric isn’t that difficult, ford even sells a crate electric motor and the tools/instructions to replace a gas engine with it in nearly any vehicle.
I fully agree that the government needs to set guidelines, controls, and a series of deep audits over several decades to ensure this money is being spent appropriately. Too often they just hand out cash to corps with no follow up to make sure it didn’t get spent on bonuses
My ice vehicle is nigh 2 decades old and besides wear parts my total investment on repairs is under $500. I’m still getting 30 mpg and although I’m not anti electric 15 years of no car payment is hard to beat.
I specifically excluded wear parts. At 300k miles I’ve replaced the tires about 4 times (they wear in the front but i move them to the back and they seem to last forever), the brakes & pads/drums & fluids twice although the second time was due to an error in installation on my part, belts once, headlamps once, spark plugs twice, and wiper blades bi-yearly. The alternator was my only non-wear repair and that came in around $300. Also note i do all my own work which i have no confidence for in an electric vehicle although i have to claim complete ignorance, some systems may be identical…
People really overstate the maintenance difference. It’s basically oil changes, which with synthetic oils are a 2-3 times per year thing depending on driving amounts. In electrics, you have a massive battery that’s going to dictate the value of the car at around the ten year mark, an ice car can be 7-10k, but electric is either 0 or pay 15k to have a car maybe worth that much or slightly more.
Are your tires and brake pads bald as fuck? Neither of those are cheap and have to be done every few years on ICE vehicles.
You are horribly underestimating battery lifespan. They are warrantied for 10 years. They average about 300k miles before dropping to 80% of their original charge. If you are fine with that, many are fine to go longer.
Tires wear the same on battery cars. Brakes are similar, though they were less due to regenerative braking, they also need to be bigger for the heavier weight.
Brakes wear way way less on EVs. You basically never use the brakes. Yes, the EV is heavier, but the regen is strong enough to slow down a car in all but the hardest of braking circumstances.
There are also timing belts, engine seals, coolant flush and fills (there’s a debate on whether that is worth it), transmission fluid, oil filters, air filters, spark plugs, and the lead acid battery. None of those are really a thing on EVs except the battery, but it’s much smaller and cheaper.
I would 2-3 times a year. And when I did it would be probably 3 charges in each direction, maybe 4 considering heat and a/c and several suitcases of weight. Enough that it wouldn’t be convenient, but that’s why we’ll keep an ICE van around for a while yet.
So you choose to inconvenience yourself 2-3 times a month because of something you only do 2-3 times a year? I get people who complain about range when they take road trips every month or live in very cold climates or have long commutes, but 2-3 times a year you can rent a car for the money you would save on gas and maintenance.
No idea what you’re talking about, but it’s our second vehicle. Primary is a Volt, so PHEV with the longest range. Most days we use no gas because I work from home and we only use the van a couple times a week when the kids need to be in different places at the same time.
Every time I go home to see my family, I’d have to stop halfway and sit at a charger for a bit. That’s why I own a hybrid now since electric doesn’t meet my needs and EVs are still so damned expensive
No airport in villages in the middle of nowhere my dude. Nearest airport I could get a flight into is an hour+ away and I’d have to drive at least 45 minutes to an airport small enough to fly into it. The only real feasible way to get there is drive since America refuses to build non-freight trains
Welp, sounds like you drive waaaaaaaaay more than the average. You live in the middle of the wilderness and frequently drive 500 miles each way. You’re an edge case so it’s gonna be a while before a solution is developed for you.
Fortunately, there’s few enough people in your position that if only the people who drive such an extraordinary amount use ICE vehicles, it will be a tiny contribution to climate change.
If your daily driving is <50 miles or so, a plug-in hybrid is a good option. That way you only burn gas on those long trips.
For much of the Midwest it’s like this, younger generations move to the cities but our parents/grandparents are out in the wilderness still. Yea I have to drive 300 miles to get to them, but that’s far from unique for millennials in the cities
300 miles is almost the entire length of Kansas. And to make that trip often enough that stopping at a supercharger is a hassle? Yeah, that’s abnormal.
Idk what to say, these trips aren’t thought of as much by midwesterners that didn’t grow up in the cities. There are half a dozen from my graduating class of 70 that also came to the same city as me and make similar trips at least once a month back home, you’ve got holidays, births, weddings, funerals, all of those are a 300 mile each way trip. Hybrid is the best kid tof us can do right now, America refuses to build trains and airplanes can’t be expected to have flights to the middle of nowhere
Charging needs a huge overhaul and standardization at a minimum. Being able to charge at home helps, but that’s 50% or less of people can do it. The big problem is travel, there’s way to many different apps, broken chargers, and not actually fast chargers. Especially outside Tesla’s super chargers.
They’re working on improving range, it just isn’t there yet. Recharge overnight at home if you have a garage and it will likely never be a problem, in the vent you don’t have a place to charge slowly overnight or need a charge up on a trip then super chargers are being added all over the place daily, with government investment helping that as well. The maintenance routine is nothing, you need a new battery after nearly a decade, most people are getting a new car on that schedule, even if you plan to keep a car for decades you’ll have major repairs/replacements on a ice vehicle just as much if not more than electric.
Swapping ice to electric isn’t that difficult, ford even sells a crate electric motor and the tools/instructions to replace a gas engine with it in nearly any vehicle.
I fully agree that the government needs to set guidelines, controls, and a series of deep audits over several decades to ensure this money is being spent appropriately. Too often they just hand out cash to corps with no follow up to make sure it didn’t get spent on bonuses
My ice vehicle is nigh 2 decades old and besides wear parts my total investment on repairs is under $500. I’m still getting 30 mpg and although I’m not anti electric 15 years of no car payment is hard to beat.
How is that possible? Tires alone will be that cost. Oil changes over 20 years? Even if you only changed oil annually for 20 years for $20 thats $400.
Not that you should ditch your car. I have a 12 year old with similar performance.
I specifically excluded wear parts. At 300k miles I’ve replaced the tires about 4 times (they wear in the front but i move them to the back and they seem to last forever), the brakes & pads/drums & fluids twice although the second time was due to an error in installation on my part, belts once, headlamps once, spark plugs twice, and wiper blades bi-yearly. The alternator was my only non-wear repair and that came in around $300. Also note i do all my own work which i have no confidence for in an electric vehicle although i have to claim complete ignorance, some systems may be identical…
People really overstate the maintenance difference. It’s basically oil changes, which with synthetic oils are a 2-3 times per year thing depending on driving amounts. In electrics, you have a massive battery that’s going to dictate the value of the car at around the ten year mark, an ice car can be 7-10k, but electric is either 0 or pay 15k to have a car maybe worth that much or slightly more.
Are your tires and brake pads bald as fuck? Neither of those are cheap and have to be done every few years on ICE vehicles.
You are horribly underestimating battery lifespan. They are warrantied for 10 years. They average about 300k miles before dropping to 80% of their original charge. If you are fine with that, many are fine to go longer.
Tires wear the same on battery cars. Brakes are similar, though they were less due to regenerative braking, they also need to be bigger for the heavier weight.
Significantly less for brakes. That regenerative braking does the vast majority of the work unless you are slamming on the brakes often.
Brakes wear way way less on EVs. You basically never use the brakes. Yes, the EV is heavier, but the regen is strong enough to slow down a car in all but the hardest of braking circumstances.
There are also timing belts, engine seals, coolant flush and fills (there’s a debate on whether that is worth it), transmission fluid, oil filters, air filters, spark plugs, and the lead acid battery. None of those are really a thing on EVs except the battery, but it’s much smaller and cheaper.
What do you mean the range isn’t there yet? How often do you travel 300+ miles between a charge?
I would 2-3 times a year. And when I did it would be probably 3 charges in each direction, maybe 4 considering heat and a/c and several suitcases of weight. Enough that it wouldn’t be convenient, but that’s why we’ll keep an ICE van around for a while yet.
So you choose to inconvenience yourself 2-3 times a month because of something you only do 2-3 times a year? I get people who complain about range when they take road trips every month or live in very cold climates or have long commutes, but 2-3 times a year you can rent a car for the money you would save on gas and maintenance.
No idea what you’re talking about, but it’s our second vehicle. Primary is a Volt, so PHEV with the longest range. Most days we use no gas because I work from home and we only use the van a couple times a week when the kids need to be in different places at the same time.
Why not use the Volt for the long trips? It uses gas.
Too small. I mean it holds an impressive amount, but I can’t take my wife, a 13 year old, and an 11 year old on a week vacation in it.
Every time I go home to see my family, I’d have to stop halfway and sit at a charger for a bit. That’s why I own a hybrid now since electric doesn’t meet my needs and EVs are still so damned expensive
Why don’t you just fly?
No airport in villages in the middle of nowhere my dude. Nearest airport I could get a flight into is an hour+ away and I’d have to drive at least 45 minutes to an airport small enough to fly into it. The only real feasible way to get there is drive since America refuses to build non-freight trains
Welp, sounds like you drive waaaaaaaaay more than the average. You live in the middle of the wilderness and frequently drive 500 miles each way. You’re an edge case so it’s gonna be a while before a solution is developed for you.
Fortunately, there’s few enough people in your position that if only the people who drive such an extraordinary amount use ICE vehicles, it will be a tiny contribution to climate change.
If your daily driving is <50 miles or so, a plug-in hybrid is a good option. That way you only burn gas on those long trips.
For much of the Midwest it’s like this, younger generations move to the cities but our parents/grandparents are out in the wilderness still. Yea I have to drive 300 miles to get to them, but that’s far from unique for millennials in the cities
300 miles is almost the entire length of Kansas. And to make that trip often enough that stopping at a supercharger is a hassle? Yeah, that’s abnormal.
Idk what to say, these trips aren’t thought of as much by midwesterners that didn’t grow up in the cities. There are half a dozen from my graduating class of 70 that also came to the same city as me and make similar trips at least once a month back home, you’ve got holidays, births, weddings, funerals, all of those are a 300 mile each way trip. Hybrid is the best kid tof us can do right now, America refuses to build trains and airplanes can’t be expected to have flights to the middle of nowhere
Charging needs a huge overhaul and standardization at a minimum. Being able to charge at home helps, but that’s 50% or less of people can do it. The big problem is travel, there’s way to many different apps, broken chargers, and not actually fast chargers. Especially outside Tesla’s super chargers.