Say, Is America Ready To Switch To Electric Vehicles?

Well, sure, if we were all rich, right? Because EVs are primarily toys for the rich

Turn off the gas: is America ready to embrace electric vehicles?

Electric vehicleIn Detroit, auto plants have for decades churned out trucks built with Motor City steel and fueled by gasoline. But this week’s rollout of the Ford F-150 Lightning electric truck offered a vision of the future in America’s automotive heartland: aluminum-clad pickups running off of electric powertrains with lithium batteries.

An electric model of the nation’s best-selling vehicle at an accessible $40,000 has the potential to shift the auto industry’s course, and do more to advance the transportation sector’s electrification than any recent development, analysts say.

“Offering a well-known vehicle at a competitive price could really help push the EV agenda in the US,” said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights at Edmunds.com.

We can all afford a $40k base model truck, right?

It’s uncharted territory, said Autotrader executive analyst Michelle Krebs. The success of the Lightning or any EV hinges on a major infrastructure build-out that’s far from certain.

Wouldn’t the success be based on consumers actually wanting them and buying them?

The Lightning feature that seems to be catching the most attention isn’t under the hood or in the cab, but on the price tag. With EV tax incentives, the truck’s base model could cost about $32,000 – less than a $37,000 gas-powered F-150 with a crew cab. By contrast, the GMC Hummer EV and Rivian R1T, are priced at $80,000 and $70,000 though they are slightly flashier.

That is a lie. You get a tax credit, not actual cash off. And that tax credit doesn’t equate to saving $7000, $7500, $10000, or whatever the credit is.

The Lightning’s range is also notable. One charge will take a base model Lightning 230 miles, or, for an additional $20,000, the extended range trim will travel 300 miles. It can haul up to 2,000lbs of payload and tow up to 10,000lbs. However, Ford doesn’t offer any data on range with a heavy payload or tow, and Car And Drive estimated it at as little as 100 miles.

Wait, $20k to go an extra 70 miles? And towing range is extraordinarily limited?

That’s the type of detail that could keep consumers away from not just the Lightning, but all electric pickups. On a 150kw DC fast charger, the extended-range trim targets up to 54 miles of range in 10 minutes, or just under an hour for a full charge.

It’s not hard to imagine a scenario in which someone who may be buying a truck to tow a camper a long distance once or twice per year opting for a gas-powered F-150 instead being inconvenienced with an hour-long stop to recharge every 100 miles or so, Caldwell said.

You can fill a regular F150 in under 10 minutes, be on your way.

Buy-in from the auto industry could help Biden push his proposal with Congress, though it’s uniformly opposed by the GOP. Republican leadership has pointed to the lack of infrastructure as a chief reason for opposing spending on the EV transition, but at the same time opposes funding an infrastructure build-out.

If the auto industry thought a lot of consumers would buy EVs they’d be making more. Even regular hybrids sell a lot less than straight gas cars (note: I’m heavily considering leasing a Honda Insight when my current one is up in February, provided the lease rates are worth it. Have to be comparable to Civics and Accords). Buy-in means nothing if consumers won’t purchase. Having a shit-ton of charging stations will mean nothing if consumers won’t buy them, if they don’t want them. If they don’t want to deal with the inconvenience, if they realize they can get a car that still gets pretty good MPG and have a lot of features vs more expensive base model EVs.

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14 Responses to “Say, Is America Ready To Switch To Electric Vehicles?”

  1. david7134 says:

    One thing I have concerns over is inappropriate battery discharge. This is common in cold environments. While in Alaska with zero degree weather, my fully charged cell phone would immediately go to nothing. I have heard of this with some of the cars. If this is true it represents a life threatening circumstance.

    • Hairy says:

      Yeah probably not so good for that tiny Arctic market
      But hey diesel gels too

      • david7134 says:

        John,
        The fossil fuel motors were working just fine at that temp. As to getting to zero, did that in Louisiana this winter, never before. But it often does that in Yankee land.

  2. Hairy says:

    Teach you failed to mention that the operating cost of electric vehicles is about 1/3 that of gas models and that the EV pickup wi probably have much more horsepower and also probably better crash protection than the gas model
    Every major car manufacturer is heading towards EVs
    Lol
    And now even Teach is considering a hybrid even the base model is faster than ANY factory Firebird
    Try the model 3 tesla

    • A MODEL 3 is around $38000 with a fast charger. I can get an Accord Touring Hybrid for less than that. Can refuel in 10 minutes. It has way more features.

      BTW, wash your mouth out about the Firebird. Trans Am model only.

    • david7134 says:

      Jeff,
      Does the operating cost include a new battery every 5 years. That was the claim of the Tesla guy I talked to. Oh, and the electric vehicles I have seen on the road are often charged at a hotel is on a road trip or a business if in town, so sponging off others, you are good at that.

      • Elwood P. Dowd says:

        Doogie hoser,

        Not sure who you directed your shitty mouth at this time, but I have a job and pay lots of taxes that are used to support sponging takers such as you. You’re welcome.

        Maybe you can some scum sucker like insane MTG or that pedophile Gaetz to get my tax returns from the IRS.

        • david7134 says:

          My goodness Jeff. That is some vomit of hate for just making a statement about a battery.

          Pups and I have told you that you are coming apart. Do you realize that the audits are confirming the steal and that the election will be reversed?

  3. Dana says:

    The Ford F-150 Lightning will only be offered as a super cab, meaning four doors, full back seat, and a 5½ foot bed. As soon as I read that, I knew: it was going to be marketed to the people who wanted to look tough but were really just suburbanites who would carry nothing in the bed other than groceries.

    And beer.

    I have a 2010 F-150, and it’s a work truck. It’s a little on the beat up side, with a bit of rust — thanks, Pennsylvania road salt! — some wear in the bed, a gash in the tailgate where I misunderestimated how far I was cutting with a circular saw, and I carry wood and tools and stone and paint, and wherever else is needed. It’s an extended cab, 7½ foot bed, four wheel drive because I needed it in the Pennsylvania snow, and still use it in the farm fields in Kentucky.

    Just yesterday I had my sliding compound miter saw on the tailgate, cutting some stakes, because I prefer to do work like that outside when the weather is decent.

    • Elwood P. Dowd says:

      The judgmental Mx Dana rejects the notion that people should buy the vehicles they desire. If your member, er your pickup bed, is only 5.5 long you’re not as manly as he is!! Most of the conservatives with pickups around these parts have them for show anyway. Small men need biggggger trucks! Dress tough, carry a gun and drive a pick ’em up truck. In the Missouri hinterlands a big ol’ neckbeard and mullet is optional.

      But really, will nothing but groceries fit in a 5.5 ft bed? Firewood would fit. Furniture would. Lawn mowers, weed whackers and hedge trimmers would. Tool boxes, mulch, tackle boxes, gun cases, dog kennels… all kinds of things. My good friend and colleague has a real man’s truck – an F-350 diesel – that he needs for towing. I bought his wimp-ass F-150 and gave it to my grandson for his nascent business.

      We get it. You’re a “real” man. Do you feel insecure?

      • Dana says:

        LOL! The esteemed Mr Dowd says that “Firewood would fit” in a 5½ foot bed, as would a few other things, but that it could be used that way ignored the fact that most aren’t.

        While I hadn’t really planned on towing much with my “wimp-ass” F-150, 4.2 liter V-8, it did, quite successfully tow several loads from Jim Thorpe to the farm, 624 miles one way, and that meant Interstate 68 through Maryland and West Virginia, as well as Interstate 79 in West Virginia.

        But I’m glad to see that you agree “that people should buy the vehicles they desire.” As our esteemed host has pointed out, those seem to be fossil fueled vehicles!

  4. Dana says:

    Our esteemed host concluded:

    Buy-in means nothing if consumers won’t purchase. Having a shit-ton of charging stations will mean nothing if consumers won’t buy them, if they don’t want them. If they don’t want to deal with the inconvenience, if they realize they can get a car that still gets pretty good MPG and have a lot of features vs more expensive base model EVs.

    But that’s just it: under our current socialist regime, buyers will have no choice! The Democrats’ plan is to require all new personal vehicles sold in the United States to be zero-emissions by 2035.

  5. Whiskey1Bravo says:

    Hell no, wouldn’t buy one if its sold for a $1,000.00 dollars. Not reliable, terrible in a Emergency’s situation. Waiting a hour or two a day or spending almost a day or two a week charging is a waste of my valuable time. Its all part of the get rid of fossil fuel fake climate change scam anyway.

  6. MrToad says:

    Don’t forget that car pool access. In California, electric vehicle single rider access to the car pool lane is gold Jerry! Gold!

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