My Take on eVehicles of 2022

10-3-2022

My Take on eVehicles of 2022

I’m not the only one to notice that the push to eLectrify America and the world beyond had to have been in full swing for quite a number of years. Remember when the Chevy Volt and a few others hit the streets? They were just fantasy vehicles that were never going to amount to anything right, just like the first horseless carriage?

So what happened?

Tesla introduced the world to one of the first (if not the first) fully electric vehicle and we started seeing Tesla charging stations springing up across the country. To cement their enticement reeling in new buyers they offered “free lifetime charging” on select models.

A friend bought his Tesla in 2019 and has traveled from the Rocky Mountain state of Colorado to the Los Angeles, California on West Coast and back without incident. In fact his car is virtually the same as when he brought it home (except at times it needs a wash job and occasionally new tires). Other than the cost of labor and parts (mainly batteries) if or when needed, the car is almost completely expense free.

I don’t know the finer details of how Tesla vehicles work. I’ve seen that it takes 400 amp/kilowatts to charge. It’s encouraging to know that a simple 120 volt cable seems to be adequate for overnight charging at home.

I’m wondering if Tesla/non-Tesla eVehicles are able to use compatible charging stations, but since I’m still stuck on fossil fuels I may never know.

Let’s move along now.

Automotive safety standards in the USA are quite rigid compared to many foreign countries. In fact trying to import a car from overseas may require major adjustments and expense in order to bring it up to US safety standards. Some individual states have even tighter standards than those of the federal government.

California seems to lead the way to tougher and tighter control over what vehicles are allowed on their highways by recently enacting a requirement that new trucks be non-fossil fuel powered (or some such thing), meaning new gas or diesel powered trucks can’t be sold or registered at all. What does this do to California truck drivers? How does it translate down to the family level?

California is transitioning over to cars next. By 2035 no new gas or diesel powered cars will be allowed to be sold in California. I suspect they won’t allow registration of those vehicles in case someone goes outside the state to purchase their new vehicle. What is to stop the trend of not allowing ANY gasoline or diesel powered vehicles to be sold or registered in the entire state, as a next step?

I’ve been told that gasoline lawnmowers have been outlawed in California already.

An important item that must be considered with all these eVehicles coming on the market is how the power grid needs to be upgraded BEFORE introducing eVehicles on a massive scale. There are a number of states utilizing rolling blackouts which turn off all electricity in select areas for hours at a time causing home owners to resort to generators to power their necessary appliances during these blackouts. But if those generators are not electric will they too be banned from being sold in California?

What happens when this mindless mindset spreads to other states and countries across the globe?

Now let me throw out other factors in this eVehicle craze that will hit American shores sooner or later – the all new and totally eVehicle coming out of France of all places called the Oli from Citroen. It is advertised as the Wacky new eVehicle with a cardboard body.

I kid you not!

Many of Oli’s body components are made out of cardboard. My first thought is what happens when it rains? Can you even take it to a carwash or use a garden hose on it? The starting price seems to be the equivalent of $37,000 (or so they say).

How does cardboard figure into US safety standards?

So we’ve gone from steel to aluminum to composite fiberglass and now to cardboard. It appears that without competent adult supervision the technological revolution is headed back into the dark ages at lightning fast speed.

What will they think of next – a car that runs on water?

Oh wait, a man in Japan has invented an engine that actually runs on pure water (not steam). I suspect that if he gets his vehicle to mass production the earth’s most precious resource H2O will soon be obsolete or priced so high that there will be tax meters on rain barrels. But what do I know? –

RTM