Operation Potemkin

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9-12-23, 9:55am
LDAHL

Operation Potemkin

So the Secretary of Energy planned a four day trip in an EV car to illustrate all the great things the administration is doing in that area. Naturally, a motorcade of gasoline powered cars accompanied her. One of them was sent ahead to a gas station (will we still call them that after ICE cars get phased out?) to block a charging station to reserve it for the Secretary’s use. This incensed a family trying to charge their EV, who called the police. Turns out, it’s not illegal in the State of Georgia to block an EV charger unless it’s posted.

My takeaways?

You need to burn a lot of gas to demo an EV trip.

It helps to have an advance team to clear the peasants out of the way.

The signage industry has an opportunity here.

The administration needs to think through it’s PR stunts a little more thoroughly.
9-12-23, 10:07am
iris lilies

I like the image of the gasoline powered motorcade celebrating EV energy.

OK, I have a question about charging EV vehicles: do you have to fully charge the battery before you can takeoff again? What if I want to just partially charge it, just have enough juice to get home. Can I do that?
9-12-23, 10:31am
Teacher Terry

Yes IL you can partially charge it. I would have been furious if I was that family and probably filming the instance and putting it on social media for everyone to see.
9-12-23, 10:39am
Alan

Another takeaway is that it took 4 days to travel from Charlotte NC to Memphis TN what with all the townhalls during charging stops, and a bonus observation is that her EV caravan consisted of just about every American made EV manufacturer except Tesla because....Elon Musk.
9-12-23, 10:55am
catherine

I would agree that that PR stunt was very misguided. While we need the government leaders to advance good environmental policy, they should keep their egos and their ambitions out of it.
9-12-23, 11:21am
iris lilies

Quote:

Originally Posted by catherine

I would agree that that PR stunt was very misguided. While we need the government leaders to advance good environmental policy, they should keep their egos and their ambitions out of it.

“…Good policy… keep egos and ambitions out of it..”

listen to yourself, there girlie, we are talking about DC pols here. Not happening.
9-12-23, 11:34am
catherine

Quote:

Originally Posted by iris lilies

“…Good policy… keep egos and ambitions out of it..”

listen to yourself, there girlie, we are talking about DC pols here. Not happening.

Well, we can always dream...
9-12-23, 12:50pm
LDAHL

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan

Another takeaway is that it took 4 days to travel from Charlotte NC to Memphis TN what with all the townhalls during charging stops, and a bonus observation is that her EV caravan consisted of just about every American made EV manufacturer except Tesla because....Elon Musk.

Doesn’t Tesla outrange most is not all the competition?
9-12-23, 1:06pm
bae

Quote:

Originally Posted by LDAHL

Doesn’t Tesla outrange most is not all the competition?

2023 Lucid Air: 516 Miles
2023 Tesla Model S: 405 Miles
2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6: 361 Miles
2023 Tesla Model 3: 358 Miles
2023 Mercedes EQS Sedan: 350 Miles
2023 Tesla Model X: 348 Miles
2023 Tesla Model Y: 330 Miles
2023 GMC Hummer EV Pickup: 329 Miles
2023 Rivian R1T: 328 Miles
2023 BMW iX: 324 Miles
9-12-23, 1:26pm
LDAHL

I had never heard of Rivian or Lucid. But then again Bentley and Maserati aren’t in hot pursuit of my business either.
9-12-23, 1:46pm
Rogar

I picked up a news feed somewhere that I assume is the same incident. My take away was that the infrastructure for EVs has a ways to go if it's the way of the future. That is, if the gas station model is how charging stations will be set up. Sort of putting the horse before the cart? My wealthy neighbors took their high end Tesla from Colorado to Big Bend and seemed to get along fine, but I think took their time rather than drive straight through. They have roof top solar and can charge at home, which could make shorter trips pretty easy. I've noticed a local open space park parking lot has two charging stations, but any time I've been past, they have been empty.

I've seen a few Rivian around. They do have an appealing style and a price tag to indicate the socioeconomic status of the driver. Never seen a Lucid.
9-12-23, 3:44pm
bae

I've been using an EV for my daily driving needs since early 2020. I bought a used Fiat 500e, which is basically a clown car. Range is ~110 miles.

I drive fairly short distances, on small twisty rural roads, with lots of elevation changes. From my house to the village is about 5 miles one-way. From my house to the ferry landing on the other side of the island is about 12 miles.

For my use case, this is sufficient range. I didn't even bother to install a charger in my garage, simply plugging into a regular wall socket suffices. I generate more power than this little car uses from my own solar array. The total lack of fuss and bother with this vehicle is refreshing.

If I still lived in Silicon Valley, this would have been a fine car for my daily ~20 mile commute.

I suspect most people have fantasies of driving across the county on The Great American Road Trip with 2 kids, a dog, kayaks on top, and camping gear, but I also suspect that is not their main use case.

I also suspect people are "overbuying" the range for their electric vehicle. Which results in a much heavier, more expensive vehicle, that requires more energy to move around, and more raw materials to be mined and refined to produce the "excess" batteries they are carrying around to drive to the grocery store. (Much like they drive their Ford Excursions to pick up a quart of milk, or to drop the kids off at school.)

(There are a fair number of Rivians around here - they are a pickup truck, which is handy, and the Ford F150 electric pickup has been slow to ship in numbers that allow end-users to actually procure one.)
9-12-23, 3:53pm
jp1

Rivians are pretty popular here too. They aren't seemingly every fifth vehicle like Tesla's are, but I see at least one every time I go out. I've only ever seen one Lucid in the wild. The videos of them are quite impressive but I'm not going to spend that kind of money on a car, especially from a manufacturer that may not exist in a few years.
9-12-23, 3:59pm
bae

The Korean auto manufacturers have been producing some very interesting models.

And they are concentrating a lot of R&D effort into fast-charging technologies, rather than pure long-range. I suspect there is probably a sweet spot of recharging speed/range/cost to be exploited. Americans may just buy whichever electric pickup truck has the most range/horsepower, and the best-looking front bumper, but....
9-12-23, 9:04pm
ApatheticNoMore

There are obvious advantages to fast charging and range, my partner was looking at electric cars, and the situation is nowhere to charge it at home (street parking not near apt building), and so how much time does one want to spend weekly at charging stations (so obviously fast charging and range maters). Of course the prices were also high, at that point the Nissan Leaf was one of the few relatively affordable ones, the situation has not really improved it seems, with Chevy Bolts now out of the market. But apparently noone is interested in making affordable cars, well the Chinese are maybe, but those don't really seem available.
9-13-23, 1:04pm
Rogar

I had to do a memory refresh since it's not been in the news for a while, but Amazon has apparently partnered with Rivian for 100,000 vehicles as delivery vans. The details seemed a little squishy to me and the timeline a little liberal, but it sounds like it's still on.
9-13-23, 1:55pm
Tradd

I see some of the electric Amazon delivery vans in my area. I also have been seeing Rivian pickups the last couple of months. Teslas are VERY popular here.
9-13-23, 3:00pm
Rogar

I see as many Rivian SUVs as their pickups. I'm not sure if I would recognize the Ford f-150 EV. Rumors are that Tesla will be shipping out the new Cybertruck this fall, although it's been promised for many months. That's an interesting looking truck.
9-13-23, 3:25pm
Tradd

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rogar

I see as many Rivian SUVs as their pickups. I'm not sure if I would recognize the Ford f-150 EV. Rumors are that Tesla will be shipping out the new Cybertruck this fall, although it's been promised for many months. That's an interesting looking truck.

I believe the Lightning actually says so somewhere on it.
9-13-23, 3:27pm
bae

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tradd

I believe the Lightning actually says so somewhere on it.

It basically looks like an F-150. I was strongly considering getting one this year to reduce my overall fleet size, but they are very hard to get your hands on, so I figured I'd wait a year or so.

https://www.ford.com/cmslibs/content...1280.1280.jpeg
9-14-23, 6:19am
ToomuchStuff

The day the family with the sleeping infant being out of charge made the news, this popped up on my Youtube feeds, and gave me a chuckle.
http://youtube.com/shorts/_si36bGHnb...sfWlm9UjIluLEs
9-15-23, 11:06am
LDAHL

I see they’ve discovered a massive lithium deposit In Nevada. Will that be a boon to American EV manufacturers? I’ve read some groups are already rising in opposition to mining it.
9-15-23, 11:51am
iris lilies

Quote:

Originally Posted by ToomuchStuff

The day the family with the sleeping infant being out of charge made the news, this popped up on my Youtube feeds, and gave me a chuckle.
http://youtube.com/shorts/_si36bGHnb...sfWlm9UjIluLEs

I enjoyed that.