EV are they worth it?

[RandomGrinch]

Of course, in reality, frogs aren't as stupid as we are!

...and they've even been known to levitate!

 

[Odds]

Scientists say the record-breaking extremes of 2023 serve as a sobering warning of what is to come if society does not curtail its use of coal, oil and gas. "As long as greenhouse gas concentrations keep rising, we can't expect different outcomes from those seen [in 2023],” C3S director Carlo Buontempo said.

Go Green @ Al Jazeera

In other news...

Elon Musk’s Tesla has been overtaken by its Chinese rival, BYD, as the world’s top selling electric carmaker. BYD, which has been backed by the US investment billionaire Warren Buffett since 2008, has beaten Tesla’s production for a second consecutive year. BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, said it produced 3.02m new energy vehicles in 2023. The American multinational Tesla announced on Tuesday that it made 1.84m cars. However, BYD’s sales figures include 1.6m battery-only cars, and 1.4m hybrids, which means Tesla is still the leader in the production of electric battery-only cars.

Chinese electric carmakers such as BYD and Nio have set their sights on becoming major players in international markets, with a particular focus on Europe. In December, BYD, which sells five models in Europe and has plans to launch three more this year, announced plans to build a new factory in Hungary. Last year, the company said it did not consider building its first European factory in the UK because of the impact of Brexit. BYD said the UK had not even made a top 10 list of possible locations to build its first European car plant.

The Gruandia.co.uk

 

[Avocet]

Yes, I think that's about the size of it. I am, of course, depressed at the idea of being swamped with Chinese imports. In the 1950s, it was our motorcycle industry - world-leading, but complacent and resistant to change. In the '60s and '70s, the Japanese wiped out our car industry for much the same reasons. The writing is on the wall for European car manufacturers now, with the Chinese invasion just waiting on the beaches...

 

[Odds]

The closed shop and insular management killed the UK car industry, as much as Japanese imports.
I, for one, welcome our Chinese overlords. Build Your own Dream. Sounds delightful.

 

[ReganAndCarter]

After a Tesla caught fire, the electrically operated doors, windows and locks failed to operate - requiring the driver to break a window to get out. If they were elderly or disabled they would literally have been toast. Maybe the lack of mechanically operated systems isn't unique to electric cars, but over reliance on electrics is a big mistake.

 

[flameport]

After a Tesla caught fire, the electrically operated doors, windows and locks failed to operate - requiring the driver to break a window to get out. I

All Tesla vehicles have manual door opening levers. Located on the inside of the door where you would expect to find them.

 

[securespark]

Smart meters moderate the amount that EVs take when charging.

I can confirm that our EV locks the charging lead into the port while charging.

 

[securespark]

There seems to be a heck of a lot of fear-mongering here and generally in the media.

EVs catch fire at the drop.of a hat!

If you're in an EV and it catches fire, you can't get out!

People seem absolutely terrified.

But in reality,

A. Things are not as bad as they are made out to be.

B. Supporters of ICEs are instilling massive uncertainty in people.

I wonder why that could be?

 

[Avocet]

After a Tesla caught fire, the electrically operated doors, windows and locks failed to operate - requiring the driver to break a window to get out. If they were elderly or disabled they would literally have been toast. Maybe the lack of mechanically operated systems isn't unique to electric cars, but over reliance on electrics is a big mistake.

As Flameport says, I find that one a bit hard to swallow. (Also the bit about kicking the side window out. That's actually quite hard with toughened glass)! I once saw some anti-EV YouTube video where someone's Porsche Taycan 12V battery had gone flat, so the guy used the mechanical emergency key to get in, but must have deadlocked the car when he parked it, because he was then unable to get out from the inside.

Of course, all this was painted as a dreadful shortcoming of EVs, with out any mention of the fact that the same thing could just as easily happen in an ICE!

 

[Avocet]

There seems to be a heck of a lot of fear-mongering here and generally in the media.

EVs catch fire at the drop.of a hat!

If you're in an EV and it catches fire, you can't get out!

People seem absolutely terrified.

But in reality,

A. Things are not as bad as they are made out to be.

B. Supporters of ICEs are instilling massive uncertainty in people.

I wonder why that could be?

I suspect that there are very powerful and wealthy interests in Big Oil, who can see the writing on the wall, and are bankrolling "influencers" to spread anti-EV stories. These fall on fertile ground with libertarians.

As an aside, I saw this the other day, which made me laugh...

 

[flameport]

The fire in that tesla vehicle: https://bc.ctvnews.ca/fire-that-tra...d-by-car-s-battery-transport-canada-1.6252467
which wasn't related to the traction battery.

Driver claimed that the manual door release was 'not entirely intuitive and can be difficult to figure out'.
Video on the news site above shows a demonstration of the door release at 1:30

The door release as described in the Tesla owners manual:

source: https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/modely/en_us/GUID-7A32EC01-A17E-42CC-A15B-2E0A39FD07AB.html

 

[ReganAndCarter]

There seems to be a heck of a lot of fear-mongering here and generally in the media.

EVs catch fire at the drop.of a hat!

If you're in an EV and it catches fire, you can't get out!

People seem absolutely terrified.

But in reality,

A. Things are not as bad as they are made out to be.

B. Supporters of ICEs are instilling massive uncertainty in people.

I wonder why that could be?

Have you invested in EV yet?

 

[securespark]

Yup.

Does it show?

 

[securespark]

We decided to pension off the Honda FRV Diesel at 175K and lease an EV.

 

[Brigadier]

We decided to pension off the Honda FRV Diesel at 175K

Throwing money away!

You've changed............