(04-16-2024, 08:17 PM)HereOnThePrimalEdge Wrote: BOOOOOO!
I think most people who have a negative view of EV cars and how they operate are people who don’t own an EV car. They don’t understand the features built in to the vehicle. They’re against EV’s on general principle because it’s become a political talking point on broadcasts they watch or listen to. And most of those talking points are utter nonsense.
Years ago when incandescent light bulbs were being phased out, these same political networks claimed The Librals was behind it!!! Taking away their freedom to buy dim bulbs that were good enough for Edison who invented lectricity. My dad bought a cart full of incandescents based on this terrible affront to his human, god given rights. When I saw the closet stuffed full of the waning technology I asked him, what’s this? After he explained I sat down and talked with him about watts & lumens etc. I asked whether his sources ever explained that part to him. Nope. He died with more worthless bulbs than he could have used in 30 or 40 years. They went in the garbage.
I have an EV. I can program charging. I charge during the day from rooftop solar panels. For free. Which is a pretty good non political talking point.
I'm not against owning an EV, but from the practical side of things, their batteries are generally warrantied for 8 years (I believe that's a federal law to qualify for subsidies). I've never owned a car that was only 8 years old. The last vehicle I sold was almost 30 years old, which is about 3 EV car lifetimes. But I understand that the technology is getting better all the time. So is ICE technology. I'd love to read a story about a 30 year old EV running with 99% original components, including the batteries. Otherwise, any EV vs ICE comparisons are just nonsense.
I'm not sure I understand the LED comparison. The original hesitance was based on price, one could buy a 4-pack of incandescent bulbs for 49 cents and LED bulbs were about $30 each when they first came out. Now that the price of LEDs have dropped at least 90% the only complaints I've heard are people in various artistic fields that need the type of light that incandescents create. And these seem like the type of people who are most likely to drive EVs, so their complaints are just a whimper. LED bulbs generate pretty good light nowadays, compared to that weird unhealthy blueish hue they had 10ish years ago. They still flicker, which gives some people headaches, but there are no long term studies if the flickering is a health problem. Most people can't consciously perceive the flicker unless the light is reflected off a moving object (like falling snow). (One of the reasons why they are so energy efficient is that they aren't actually producing light all the time... but just like film tricks the brain at 24 frames per second, most people can't consciously perceive the flickering of LED lights).
The only way you're charging your EV for free with rooftop solar is if the solar power system was free. And even then, the power isn't "free", it was only free to you. I'm sure the kids working in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, or Shandong can attest to that. I crunched the numbers to see if I could build a DIY solar power system to charge an EV, and it's possible for about $3000.00+, but it being based on a 120v system could only add about 16-20 miles of charge per day that the sun was mostly out. On some days (in East Hawaii) the amount of miles charged would be insignificant. That might be enough for some people, like 15 miles would get one to Hilo, and if there was a "free" EV port available while one is shopping, it could give one enough "free" carbon-tainted juice to get home, making the round trip essentially "free" once one has recouped the cost of the solar setup.
A few years ago I was talking to an old friend in Alaska. One of the most politically conservative individuals I've ever met. He was telling me about the EV he bought. Of course we know that EVs deliver their poorest performance in the cold, so I was really surprised, and I asked him about his decision. He had a lot of great points, the most important being that it was his third terrestrial vehicle he owned, so he had ICE options when the EV made no sense, then he put the icing on the cake by adding, "Of course, I put an NRA sticker on the bumper."