The Morning Rant: Unintentionally Hilarious News About Electric Vehicles

EV Range Anxiety Solved By Two (2) Fast Chargers Along Alabama Interstate

Huge news. If you were thinking about taking your Electric Vehicle on a road trip through Alabama for a Gulf Coast vacation, but you suffer from EV range-anxiety, there are now two “fast charging” EV car chargers in Fort Payne, Alabama.

Two.

And each of these “fast chargers” can only get you up to 80% of battery capacity before it becomes a slow-charger. To “fill up” from 20% charged to 80% charged takes about 30 minutes. Therefore, these two chargers can provide up to four EVs per hour a whopping 60% charge.

By contrast, just one typical highway travel center can provide over 100 cars an hour a complete tankful of gas.

Fort Payne, Alabama, launches first of 80 rapid rechargers planned in the Tennessee Valley

The rapid rechargers can boost most electric vehicle batteries from 20% to 80% power within 30 minutes and are being built within 50 miles of one another across most highways in TVA's seven-state region as part of TVA's Fast Charge Network.

"These chargers will not only help bring people here, but it will help relieve people's range anxiety by ensuring motorists have a place along this I-59 corridor to rapidly recharge their electric vehicles," Jeanette Mills, executive vice president of TVA, said during Tuesday's ribbon-cutting event.

Two fast-chargers along a busy interstate are as worthless as two bottles of water in the middle of the desert. If there were an actual need, they would be woefully insufficient.

For a Tesla X, your 30-minute charge-up in Fort Payne will get you about 200 more miles of range, after which you will still be 150 miles away from the beach.

And what if there are already cars at those two charging stations? Let’s say there are four cars already there, two cars charging and two more waiting, you’ll be looking at an average 45-minute wait before it’s your turn, plus another 30 minutes to charge your car, plus the disconnect and paying time of each car. So, with only four cars at the charging station, you’re looking at about a 90-minute re-charging stop, for a 60% charge-up. Meanwhile the neighboring travel center could have provided 150 vehicles a full fill-up of gasoline.

Further, you and your Tesla still have to factor in another 90-minute charging stop in 200 miles, if you can find another fast-charger, so that you’ll be able to make the final push for the beach.

There is nothing that can be done to make an EV a long-distance vehicle. The Tennessee Valley Authority is planning on installing a whopping 80 fast chargers across its seven state network. Those 80 chargers are a statistical blip against the number of gasoline pumps in those states.

The highest purpose of an EV is to serve as a status symbol for the wealthy, and also to allow greens to flaunt their eco-conscious conspicuous consumption.

The second highest purpose of an EV is as a city-car that can be recharged every day.

Close to zero people who need to use their car for an out-of-town road trip will ever rely on an EV for that purpose. They might have an EV as a toy or as a second car, but they’ll use a gas-powered car for their road trips.

GM Sold A Total Of 26 Electric Vehicles In Q4 2021

Speaking of EVs, guess how many electric vehicles General Motors sold in the 4th quarter of 2021.

Twenty-six. Not 26,000. GM sold 26 EVs between October 1 and December 31, 2021.

GM Sold Just 26 EVs Including 1 Hummer In Q4 ’21

According to figures released by the automaker, during the fourth quarter of 2021 it delivered a grand total of 26 electric vehicles. These consisted of 25 Bolt EV and Bolt EUV models and a single GMC Hummer EV pickup.

That is really extraordinary, in the sense that the Hindenburg explosion was also extraordinary. Was it due to supply chain problems? No. It’s because GM was dealing with the crisis of its existing EVs spontaneously bursting into flames.

What’s not mentioned is that GM also went through a huge battery recall of the Bolt EV and EUV which forced the company to suspend production.

So how big was the recall? Every single Chevy Bolt - which is GM’s flagship EV - was recalled.

“The company recalled all 141,000 Chevy Bolts, later confirming that 16 cars had caught fire.” (11/15/2021)

What were Bolt owners supposed to do with their four-wheeled bombs until they could get them in to be repaired?

“General Motors on Wednesday recommended that Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle owners parking in decks do so on the top floor or on an open level, at least 50 feet away from other vehicles, citing potential fire risks.” (9/15/2021)

Wow, good thing that EVs are just a niche vehicle for GM. Oh wait…

GM to go all electric by 2035, phase out gas and diesel engines (01/28/2021)

Unless all freedom has been lost in this country thanks to green communists, gas and diesel powered vehicles will still rule the roads in 2035. If GM does go all-electric, it will simply become a small niche vehicle manufacturer. But at this point, another bankruptcy seems more likely.

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

posted by Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM

| Access Comments