Interestingly, the LA Times editorial board fails to mention if they have replaced their own fossil fueled vehicles with EVs. Also, a pretty big admission
Editorial: Replacing the Chevy Bolt with electric SUVs would be a climate tragedy
Can we pour one out for the Chevy Bolt?
When the small electric hatchback came onto the market six years ago, it was a game changer: The relatively affordable battery-powered vehicle with 238 miles of range on a single charge demonstrated the mass-market potential for EVs.
The Bolt has only grown in popularity, as its range improved, gas prices spiked and sticker price cuts made it one of the cheapest electric vehicles on the market. If you can find one for the suggested retail price of $26,500, you could get it for less than $20,000 dollars, after the $7,500 federal tax credit.
But last week, General Motors CEO Mary Barra announced the company will end production of the Bolt at the end of the year as it reconfigures the Michigan plant where it is made to build large battery-powered pickup trucks. Not only does it echo GM’s decision a generation ago to kill off the EV1, its first fully electric vehicle, but the Bolt’s demise is a disappointment for consumers and a step backward in the fight against climate change, including President Biden’s goal of cutting the nation’s air pollution in half by 2030.
Would this be the same Biden who takes a huge amount of fossil fueled travel weekly, and doesn’t travel in an EV?
Discontinuing a small, lower-cost EV like the Bolt to make room for bigger, more expensive models will make it harder for Americans to afford to go electric. This the wrong direction to be heading when the U.S. needs to replace polluting gas- and diesel-powered cars and trucks with clean, zero-emissions vehicles quickly.
In other words, the LATEB is telling us that EVs are mostly too expensive for most people to afford, unless you get a tiny vehicle (the Bolt is 163 inches long with an interior space of 67 cubic feet. The Honda Civic sedan is 169 inches, with 99 cubic feet) with a small combined range of 259 miles. When completely optimal. And it slow charges.
“The industry has decided that if they’re going to have to make EVs, they might as well make the same gigantic behemoths that they’ve been making before,” said Dan Becker, who directs the Center for Biological Diversity’s Safe Climate Transport Campaign.
As far as SUVs go, that’s what people want. Most do not want sedans. I personally think it is a mistake ending the Bolt. Maybe redesign it, make it a bit bigger. The Bolt is the size of a subcompact, which most manufacturers have stopped making in the US due to low sales.
That’s not too reassuring. Consumer groups are right to be worried that discontinuing lower-priced models like the Bolt will reduce options and shut out an entire segment of drivers who want to buy electric cars but won’t be able to afford them.
So what can be done to push back against ballooning sizes and price tags?
Obviously, more government!
That makes it more important than ever that California continue to modernize and streamline its clean vehicle rebate programs, which have been hampered by long waiting lists, inconsistent and insufficient funding that have prevented people from buying electric cars. The state recently increased incentives for low and moderate-income Californians to buy zero-emission vehicles, allowing them to apply for rebates of up to $7,500. But more can be done to smooth out these programs, such as making them redeemable at the dealership or point of sale rather than forcing car buyers with limited incomes to wait months for reimbursement.
Nice to know that the EB doesn’t understand how tax incentives work. Most will not get $7,500 in cash. Does anyone think the dealers want to take what are essentially vouchers, knowing that it will take months for them to get reimbursed? And where is all this cash coming from?
I’m old enough that I can say without a doubt that I will NEVER own an electric car. That being said, the RIGHT potential market for EVs, MIGHT be as very basic, affordable commuter cars. No huge range is needed, no bells or whistles either. But NOBODY has any intention of ever building anything like that or allowing Americans to buy it. GM has been a failure for decades. Nothing shocking about this. In the future, only the filthy rich will be allowed to venture beyond the 15-minute city border. Might just as well only make vehicles they can afford.
General Motors is moving toward what management believe will be the larger and more profitable seller. They may be right — that’s certainly the case now — or they may be wrong; those are the kinds of decisions that corporate management have to take.
The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board? Let’s face it, they’re like the rest of the left: pro-choice on exactly one thing.
Our entire economy has been built on the freedom of people to choose what they want to buy. Now suddenly radical communists want that to turn around and have the gov. dictate our economy. We have seen how that works out.
Our country developed into the most powerful and productive economy in history because the govmint was not in charge, rather the people were. With the gov working around the edges to keep things fair and safe we succeeded. Now the democommies think they can reinvent economics just like they think they can reinvent climate. They are wrong on both counts.
It is true what Chesterton said: “When man stops believing in God, he doesn’t believe in nothing, he believes in anything”. Dowd is the living proof Chesterton was a prophet.
Yes L.G. Brandon, your world is falling apart right before your aging eyes. Trying desperately to hold onto your younger past, but seeing that things are not going to stop changing. This change is a constant reminder that there is an endpoint for all. L.G. don’t worry this is all part of God’s plan, as envisioned by SOROS
You ass. We expect things to change but not for the worse!
BTW, I don’t know how old you are but I’m 42. I suspect you’re a boomer since only they could be as full of commie puss as you are. You and dowd. Two morons. Always projecting on us your fears, your shortfalls, your failures. This is you:
https://youtu.be/KmHy0AjTzas
L.G.,
Thanks for the tranny outrage video. Any normal person watching that would be totally transphobic after.
Geez, what a nut job.
BTW, johnnie boy claims to be mid to late 70s.
#TrannysAreTerrorists
Bwaha! Lolgf
We thought you were never going to interact.
Why are things worse now? Why is there a chasm between left and right, rural and urban, red and blue, black and white, wealthy and poor like never before?
Liberals blame the conservatives who blame the liberals. We elect leaders who are nothing more than slick bullshit artists. Conservatives hate and oppose any idea from the liberals and the liberals hate and oppose any idea from the conservatives.
Will we come to our senses and stop this or keep circling the drain?
The groups seeking a middle ground are opposed by both Dems and Reps.
The chasm is the objective, but who’s behind it? Who benefits from the gradual involution of America, the greatest nation in the history of nations. The only nation ever founded on freedom, equality, tolerance, individuality but social consciousness.
Who benefits? China, Russia, all autocratic nations, global billionaires and corporations.
Who doesn’t? The rest of the world’s peoples. Freedom. Democracy.
Don’t get me wrong. The American right has drifted toward autocracy and Trump is a symptom not the cause.
What does the American right want for America?
In the first quarter of 2023 SOROS and a tyrannical Biden successfully framed down the throats of Americans 85000 Tesla Mod Ys. This made the Mod Y the largest selling passenger car model in the USA.
It was necessary to cram them down the throats of Americans because no one wants to buy an EV.
EVs get better every month. Longer range and faster charging. Tesla’s new battery gives 395 mile range and a further 275 miles in 40 minutes. Not sure but I would guess that amongst most posters, their bladders would be screaming for a stop after 6 or 7 hours and a test stop would be mandatory. How many posters regularly need often need more range than 395 miles ? How many willingly pay the gasoline price which is set by the Russians and Saudis? Has anyone noticed that although we are pumping more oil domestically now than the average pumped under Trump, our prices are like 1/3 higher?