Are we still convinced that electric vehicles are the best way forward?

[teamzr1]

Electric vehicle owners are facing repair bills that are thousands of dollars higher than those for ICE vehicles.
A lack of specially-trained mechanics, extra safety measures for potentially explosive batteries and a greater need for replacement parts are to blame.

Repairing an EV after a crash cost $6,587 on average last year, 56 percent higher than the $4,215 for all vehicles, according to research from auto data company CCC Intelligent Solutions.
Electric cars are promoted as needing less maintenance than their gas-powered counterparts, with tasks such as regular oil changes no longer necessary.

But when it comes to collision repair, they need more work than regular vehicles, according to CCC Intelligent Solutions.

The report found that last year, on average, an electric car repair required roughly double the replacement parts compared to a standard gas car.

'People are used to hearing that EVs have fewer parts than a combustion vehicle, but that is not the case in collision repair,' Marc Fredman, chief strategy officer at CCC Intelligent Solutions, told The Wall Street Journal.
The way that many EV parts are welded in the vehicles, he said, means the components cannot be repaired and have to be replaced instead.

Cars containing lithium-ion batteries also need special storage as they can be a fire risk when damaged, which adds both time and cost to the repair process, Scott Benavidez, chairman of the trade group Automotive Service Association, told the outlet.

Repairs costs are also higher since the bodies of EVs also tend to be made from more expensive aluminum rather than steel.
There are also a limited number of repair shops that are able to take on this work, meaning they are able to charge a premium for services.

The CCC Intelligent Solutions report noted, however, that EVs are, on average, more than four years newer than the average vehicle.
They also tend to cost over $30,000 more - which also pushes up repair costs.

It found the need for specialist care also means customers face longer wait times for repairs.

According to the report, it takes 25 percent longer to get an EV into a body shop compared to a gas car. And once mechanics start working, it typically takes 57 days to fix, compared to 45 days for non-EVs.

There are signs that costs could come down as more independent shops become trained in EV repairs and carmakers build up a supply of spare parts.

But, in the meantime, higher repair costs are also driving up insurance premiums for EV owners.

Brent Shreve and his wife Molly told DailyMail.com earlier this year how the insurance on their Tesla Model Y was double that of the cover on their Volkswagen Atlas.

Insurer State Farm quoted the couple - who are in their mid 30s - $78 for the gas car and $140 for the electric vehicle - despite the models being almost-identical in size and costing virtually the same amount.

It comes after a separate survey found EV owners report far more problems with their cars and trucks than owners of gas-powered vehicles.

A Consumer Reports survey of more than 330,000 car owners found electric cars encountered 79 percent more problems than those with combustion engines.

The research said EV owners most frequently reported troubles with battery and charging systems, as well as flaws in body panels and the fit of interior parts.

The report noted, however, that EV manufacturers are still learning how to construct new types of vehicles, and some problems would be teething issues which would be ironed out over time.

 

[Pinhead]

Electric vehicle owners are facing repair bills that are thousands of dollars higher than those for ICE vehicles.
A lack of specially-trained mechanics, extra safety measures for potentially explosive batteries and a greater need for replacement parts are to blame.

Repairing an EV after a crash cost $6,587 on average last year, 56 percent higher than the $4,215 for all vehicles, according to research from auto data company CCC Intelligent Solutions.
Electric cars are promoted as needing less maintenance than their gas-powered counterparts, with tasks such as regular oil changes no longer necessary.

But when it comes to collision repair, they need more work than regular vehicles, according to CCC Intelligent Solutions.

The report found that last year, on average, an electric car repair required roughly double the replacement parts compared to a standard gas car.

'People are used to hearing that EVs have fewer parts than a combustion vehicle, but that is not the case in collision repair,' Marc Fredman, chief strategy officer at CCC Intelligent Solutions, told The Wall Street Journal.
The way that many EV parts are welded in the vehicles, he said, means the components cannot be repaired and have to be replaced instead.

Cars containing lithium-ion batteries also need special storage as they can be a fire risk when damaged, which adds both time and cost to the repair process, Scott Benavidez, chairman of the trade group Automotive Service Association, told the outlet.

Repairs costs are also higher since the bodies of EVs also tend to be made from more expensive aluminum rather than steel.
There are also a limited number of repair shops that are able to take on this work, meaning they are able to charge a premium for services.

The CCC Intelligent Solutions report noted, however, that EVs are, on average, more than four years newer than the average vehicle.
They also tend to cost over $30,000 more - which also pushes up repair costs.

It found the need for specialist care also means customers face longer wait times for repairs.

According to the report, it takes 25 percent longer to get an EV into a body shop compared to a gas car. And once mechanics start working, it typically takes 57 days to fix, compared to 45 days for non-EVs.

There are signs that costs could come down as more independent shops become trained in EV repairs and carmakers build up a supply of spare parts.

But, in the meantime, higher repair costs are also driving up insurance premiums for EV owners.

Brent Shreve and his wife Molly told DailyMail.com earlier this year how the insurance on their Tesla Model Y was double that of the cover on their Volkswagen Atlas.

Insurer State Farm quoted the couple - who are in their mid 30s - $78 for the gas car and $140 for the electric vehicle - despite the models being almost-identical in size and costing virtually the same amount.

It comes after a separate survey found EV owners report far more problems with their cars and trucks than owners of gas-powered vehicles.

A Consumer Reports survey of more than 330,000 car owners found electric cars encountered 79 percent more problems than those with combustion engines.

The research said EV owners most frequently reported troubles with battery and charging systems, as well as flaws in body panels and the fit of interior parts.

The report noted, however, that EV manufacturers are still learning how to construct new types of vehicles, and some problems would be teething issues which would be ironed out over time.

Some of this is correct
On average the repair costs from collision are higher this is definitely true the costs have gone crazy to repair most modern cars unfortunately and the fact that EV,s are all relatively new will not help
Yes some extra training is needed To deal with damaged HV systems but generally if the accident was bad enough to structurally damage the pack a heavily protected part the car will be written off

The research said EV owners most frequently reported troubles with battery and charging systems, as well as flaws in body panels and the fit of interior parts.

So this is as I said before not really major issues fit and finish and I think this mainly comes from spending so much on a car you expect better
Charging issues
These usually fall in to 2 categories
Faulty public chargers are incredibly common
And then nearly every new owner that joins the tesla group with a new car asks why they only get 250 Mile's and not the advertised 320 or whatever
And the reason is the dash shows a realistic figure but the government test cycle is pretty unachievable but must be used for official information and advertising a lot like hiw most ICE cars do not acheave the official MPG
I very rarely see posts about my car won't charge they do pop up now and then but that side just seems to work

 

[teamzr1]

Another reason Americans feel this whole electric crap is a path to crooks, con artists & scams

In 2021, the Democrat-controlled Congress gave Joe Biden $7.5 billion to install electric vehicle chargers all over the country,
but two years later, not one charger has been installed, and the money is nowhere in sight

According to a 2021 analysis from the New York Times,
$1.2 trillion of the ‘Infrastructure’ bill would be spent over 8 years and $550 billion will go to roads, bridges, rail lines, electric vehicles, water systems and other programs.
Biden promised to use billions of dollars to build hundreds of thousands of EV chargers, however not one charger has been installed as his Regime works to ban gas-powered vehicles.
Congress at the urging of the Biden administration agreed in 2021 to spend $7.5 billion to build tens of thousands of electric vehicle chargers across the country, aiming to appease anxious drivers while tackling climate change.

States and the charger industry blame the delays mostly on the labyrinth of new contracting and performance requirements they have to navigate to receive federal funds.
While federal officials have authorized more than $2 billion of the funds to be sent to states,
fewer than half of states have even started to take bids from contractors to build the chargers, let alone begin construction.

Getting chargers up and running across the country is essential to reaching President Joe Biden’s goal of having half the vehicles sold in the United States be electric by the end of the decade, a key cog of his climate agenda.
Americans consistently say the lack of charging infrastructure is one of the top reasons they won’t buy an electric car.

Electric vehicle charging stations are scarce.
The infrastructure doesn’t exist, but Joe Biden and the Democrats are going forward with a gas vehicle ban.
Things are so bad that Biden’s own Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm had trouble charging her electric vehicle during a 4-day electric vehicle road trip over the summer.

Energy Department staffers pulled over to charge their fleet when they realized there weren’t enough available fast-charging plugs to juice up their vehicles. One of the four chargers was broken, and the other plugs were in use.

An Energy Department staffer was so desperate to reserve one of the fast-charging plugs for Granholm’s approaching EV that he boxed in a poor family with a baby in the car on a sweltering hot day with his gas-powered vehicle.
The family was so angry that they called the police on Granholm’s staffer.

What happened to the $7.5 billion set aside for EV chargers?

 

[teamzr1]

Cost of Replacing EV Batteries

The cost of replacing an electric car battery varies depending on the make and model of the EV. Here are some examples of the cost of replacing different EV batteries:

• Tesla Model S: A new battery for the Tesla Model S costs around $15,000 to $20,000.
• Nissan Leaf: Replacing the battery of the Nissan Leaf costs between $5,500 and $8,500, depending on whether you want a new or a refurbished battery.
• Chevy Bolt: The cost of replacing the battery of a Chevy Bolt ranges from $9,000 to $11,000.

BMW i3: A new battery for BMW i3 costs around $16,000.

Electric vehicle owners are limited in where they can get batteries, with most being forced to go through the manufacturer.
Used EV batteries are hard to come by, and they usually come secondhand from a wrecked EV. (Third-party manufacturing doesn’t really exist at the time of publishing.)

US Federal law requires manufacturers to warranty EV and hybrid batteries for at least eight years or 100,000 miles

The price of electric vehicles is still the biggest hurdle to most consumers considering a switch from gas-powered cars, and they might not even be factoring in some of the hidden costs associated with them.

A man in Scotland was recently shocked by a £17,374 ($21,000) bill to fix his Tesla after rain damaged the battery.

"I thought we would get a bill for £500 or £1,000," Johnny Bacigalupo told Edinburgh Live. "When they said over 17 grand, it's absolutely obscene. My heart missed a beat, honestly."

While government tax credits can help with the initial vehicle purchase, EVs are still more expensive than gas cars, mainly because it costs a lot to make them. While there have been price cuts, automakers ramped up production, causing the demand and prices for parts to skyrocket, especially batteries.
The cost of the parts leads to issues that could make the cars much more expensive than the sales tag in the long run.

EV batteries are costly to repair and replace

Recurrent, a firm that studies battery health, surveyed 15,000 EV drivers in March and found that 3.5% needed battery replacements, which range between $5,000 and $20,000.
The cars surveyed go back to 2011, but a vast majority were six years old or younger.

However, in some cases, it can cost even more.
Last year, a Tesla owner in Canada shared on TikTok that the company told him that a replacement battery would cost $26,000 when it died.

The batteries are easy to damage, difficult to repair, or even assess.
Tesla's Model Y battery has "zero repairability" after a collision, according to auto expert Sandy Munro.
Replacing a battery is so costly, that it can often be more than the car is worth, forcing insurance companies to write them off.

Insurance is more expensive for EVs
Easy write-offs from insurance companies lead to higher premiums.
According to Bankrate, the average cost to insure a Tesla ranges from $2,503 annually to $4,066, depending on the model. Meanwhile, the US average for all cars is about $2,148.

Those premiums are driven by higher repair costs. While EVs need to be fixed less often than gas cars, those repairs are more expensive.
According to Mitchell, a collision repair software company, the average repair cost for a non-Tesla EV is $269 higher than the average for all vehicles. For Teslas, each repair is $1,347 more than average.
There is also specialized labor required.
"Those parts can be pricey," according to insurance provider Progressive. "If the battery pack is damaged, certain safety protocols are often necessary, adding more to the repair bill. Plus, there aren't as many shops with technicians trained to fix electric vehicles versus traditional vehicles."

Charging may require more than just a plug

Electricity prices can fluctuate greatly by state and time of year, but there are other less obvious costs associated with charging EVs.
According to a study from Anderson Economic Group, if other factors are considered, such as installing a charger and EV registration fees, most cars cost more to charge than to fuel with gas.

Most EV owners charge their cars at home, and most vehicles come with a charger that can plug into a standard 110-volt home outlet. However, a long charge with this type of outlet may not be enough for some journeys: One driver of a Ford Mustang Mach-E told Insider they only got about 36 miles of range from an overnight charge.

To up the charging capacity, an owner needs access to a 240-volt outlet for a Level 2 charger, or can install one at home. They can purchase a Level 2 charger for between $200 to $1,000, depending on the features included. The installation adds about $1,000 to the total, according to Edmunds.
"If you don't have a Level 2, it's almost impossible," Bloomberg automotive analyst Kevin Tynan, who researches EVs, told Insider when asked about getting sufficient charge into an EV.
And if you do have a Level 2 charger at home, you might have to declare it on your home insurance policy, which could increase that premium.

Other factors to consider

Another issue with EV batteries is that nobody knows their lifespan. If people interested in used EVs are worried about replacing an expensive battery, the resale value will take a big hit.

Lifespan is also a factor with tires. Because the batteries on EVs are so heavy, the cars are heavier than comparable gas vehicles.
As a result, the cars require more expensive tires and those tires have to be replaced sooner than traditional car tires.
There are also indirect costs, such as time.
There is a good chance an owner will be forced to go to a dealer for repairs due to the complexity. This has led to long wait times, a lack of competitive pricing, and poor replacement parts inventory.

The cost differences between EVs and other cars will improve. The sticker prices will continue to come down, and smaller EVs are expected to have the same initial cost as their gas equivalents by 2025.

In the meantime, many EV owners are switching back to gas-powered cars.

According to a University of California-Davis study of 4,167 people, about 30% of EV owners purchased a gas car the next time, with most citing charging headaches. Of those who switched, 70% did not have a Level 2 charger at home.

 

[Vetteheadracer]

My opinion is electric cars are not the planet saviours they are being sold as. As soon as they reach a critical mass governments will come after them for the same levels of tax that they apply to petrol / diesel cars. I am sure that if you live in a city or do few miles per trip then they are definitely a good idea. If like me you need to shift a cubic metre of wood about 6 times a year plus transport lots of stuff backwards and forwards over 400 miles on about a two dozen days a year then an electric car is definitely not for me.
I am fine with people buying and using them What I am absolutely against is someone (aka Government) telling me I can't drive my petrol pickup truck where and when I want to, or indeed my Corvette.
Hydrogen cars or indeed petrol developed from sustainable resources are probably a much more environmentally friendly option. The FIA WEC already uses completely bio developed petrol for all of the race cars that race in the 7 rounds around the world.

 

[Roscobbc]

quote
A man in Scotland was recently shocked by a £17,374 ($21,000) bill to fix his Tesla after rain damaged the battery.
"I thought we would get a bill for £500 or £1,000," Johnny Bacigalupo told Edinburgh Live. "When they said over 17 grand, it's absolutely obscene. My heart missed a beat, honestly."

Has anyone noticed only a few years how, when manufacturers first began marketing 'full' electric vehicles (rather than hybrids) typical charging costs were always readily and glibly quoted as was the fact that all emissions/pollutants were at the generating source (although less revealing about it coming from fossil fueled generating stations, backed-up by the UK ever dwindling Nuclear stations, wind turbine power only when we have some wind and of course the 'inported' power from France and of cause at the manufacturing and mining sources)
That information all seem to have gone now and replaced with the 'soft' zero emission vehicle 'sell'. With last years dramatic rise for consumer, domestic (and commercial) energy costs the implications of 'cheap' electric charging vs petrol/derv has swung considerably out of favour for electric vehicles.
If one accepts the useful working life of a car has gone from perhaps a maximum of 8/10 years 20/30 years ago to currently at least 15 to 20 years it will be interesting in just a few years to see what happens out in the marketplace when perfectly servicable cars will be suffering from significantly depleted range as the batteries reach the end of thier useful lives and the vehicles made worthless due to the high cost of replacement batteries.
The current all common spectre of 'tea leaves' nicking high end Range Rovers and other high-end cars either for shipping to Eastern European and African markets or stripping for valuable parts will surely be replaced by the same people stealing lower mileage electric vehicles to order for their batteries.

 

[teamzr1]

Gee,
If I had one of those, what the hell would I do with the countless tools I have going back 55 years ;-(
Sounds like they want all of us to be waxers !

 

[teamzr1]

Electric cars from Tesla, Ford, Nissan and Volkswagen could cost an extra $7,500 from January as tax credits are removed.
Officials want US automakers to source batteries from companies based in America, or those with which it has a free trade deal.

This means any that contain materials from China -the leader in EV battery production - will no longer be eligible for the $7,500 credit from January 1, according to new guidelines from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The tax credit is a key element of the Biden Administration's Inflation Reduction Act - BS green legislation designed to accelerate the shift to electric cars.

Given EVs are pricier than gas models, the incentive is a key driver for many swapping to an electric car.
Ford sent out a notice to dealers that the Ford Mustang Mach-E, one of the most popular electric cars in the US, was 'unlikely' to qualify for the tax credit from January 1, according to Cars Direct.

Tesla also warned customers that certain versions of the Model 3 would only be eligible for half of the $7,500 subsidy next year.
Under the current rules, ten models - including plug-in hybrid cars - are eligible for the full sum of money, while a further seven entitle buyers to $3,750.

According to the company's website, the Model 3 Rear-Wheel Drive and the Model 3 Long Range will see their credits halved next year. And according to reports, the Nissan Leaf and Volkswagen ID.4 could also be impacted.
The changes could prove problematic for carmakers and shoppers, as some drivers have been waiting until next year to buy an EV following the announcement earlier this year of a simpler claiming process for tax credits.

In October, the IRS announced that motorists would be able to take the tax credit off the sticker price of a new car, rather than having to wait to claim the subsidy in their tax return.
In the latest announcement, the IRS, the Treasury and the Department of Energy stated that EVs with battery materials sourced from 'foreign entities of concern' would be ineligible for the credit.

This refers to companies based in China, Russia, North Korea or Iran, or firms with at least 25 percent voting interest, board membership or ownership by a government of one of those countries.
These new regulations could reshape automakers' supply chains, and General Motors and Hyundai have announced plans to build EV plants in the US.

 

[teamzr1]

Ford is halving production of its fully electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck due to falling demand for EVs.

The company's Michigan plant will produce 1,600 a week, half its 3,200 capacity from January.
The price of the truck was cut by around $10,000 in the summer and can now be bought for between around $50,000 and just under $100,000.
The decision to limit production, leaked in a memo to dealers, comes despite Ford claiming the Lightning is selling faster than ever before.

CEO Jim Farley said earlier this month that in November the company sold 4,393, a record for a single month.
That is also more than it sold in the entire third quarter, according to company filings.

Ford has sold only 20,365 Lightnings for all of 2023, but that is still up from 13,258 in 2022.

Based on 1,600 units a week, analysis shows the company will still be producing around 6,950 trucks a month, well above even its current record-breaking sales.
Ford may be taking into account the widely held theory about electric vehicle sales that they will dip once the few people that want them have bought them.

The automaker's memo to dealers indicated the updated target was spurred by 'changing market demand'.
'There are early adopters, and the early adopters have adopted,' Joe McCabe, president and CEO of automotive consultancy AutoForecast Solutions.
Various automakers have announced in the second half of the year that they are looking to reduce spending on EV projects.

Thanks in part to billions in taxpayer subsidies enacted by Ahole Biden, automakers launched ambitious projects to capture the market. Recently, poor EV sales despite those subsidies have forced carmakers to reconsider.

Ford is not the only automaker to be experiencing issues with meeting electric vehicle sales targets.
It was reported earlier this week that Tesla is slashing the price of some of its best-selling vehicles in a last-minute push to boost sales before the end of the year.

 

[teamzr1]

Almost half of Buick dealers across the United States have opted to take buyouts from General Motors (GM) to avoid having to sell Electric Vehicles (EVs) at a time when consumer reports show Americans are increasingly turned off by the cars.

According to GM, almost 1,000 of its nearly 2,000 Buick dealerships across the U.S. chose to take buyouts from the parent company rather than investing potentially millions into retooling and prepping dealers to service and sell EVs.

The buyouts mean that GM will now have just about 1,000 Buick dealerships across the nation as the automaker moves forward with adhering to President Joe Biden’s green energy agenda.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Dealers who are taking the buyout would give up the Buick franchise and no longer sell the brand, he said.
The dealer can continue to sell other GM models, such as Chevrolet or GMC, that often account for a higher percentage of sales. [Emphasis added]

The Journal reported in late 2022 that the automaker planned to offer buyouts to its U.S. Buick dealer network. The move came after the Detroit automaker gave them a choice: Invest at least $300,000 to sell and service EVs, or exit the Buick franchise. The investments would cover electric-vehicle chargers and worker training, among other initiatives. [Emphasis added]

The move comes as U.S. car dealers are so concerned with EV sales that they are urging Biden to abandon his EV mandates and carbon emission regulations that would effectively force all-electric cars on consumers.

“The reality, however, is that electric vehicle demand today is not keeping up with the large influx of [EVs] arriving at our dealerships prompted by the current regulations. [EVs] are stacking up on our lots,” the car dealers write:

With each passing day, it becomes more apparent that this attempted electric vehicle mandate is unrealistic based on current and forecasted customer demand. Already, electric vehicles are stacking up on our lots, which is our best indicator of customer demand in the marketplace. [Emphasis added]

At the same time, a bombshell Consumer Reports survey recently revealed that EVs spur nearly 80 percent more problems for car owners than gas-powered cars using traditional combustion engines.

 

[teamzr1]

We had the Boston Tea Party and now reported in the USA today :

The British EV Party

Leave it to the British to take a potentially good idea and turn it into yet another tyrannical system against its own population.
For instance, it is indeed a good idea to cut down pollution in urban centers, no one would dispute that. But how?

So Britain created the ULEZ an ‘Ultra Low Emission Zone’ in London, where ‘an emissions standard based charge’ is applied to ‘non-compliant road vehicles’.

A network of cameras is checking traffic to make drivers pay every time they enter the zone with their ‘non-compliant’ cars.
Over time, it became an extremely unpopular solution, especially after leftist London Mayor Sadiq Khan greatly expanded the ULEZ.

A phenomenon emerged in which disgruntled citizens started taking out their frustration on the ‘spying cameras’ about a thousand cameras have been damaged or stolen over the last year alone.

That should give the authorities pause and make them rethink the strategy, but have they? NO.

It arises now that London Mayor Khan has hired a ‘goon squad of thugs aggressive men dressed in black, with face tattoos and wearing skeleton balaclavas – to oppress the citizens in order to allegedly protect his hated ULEZ cameras while filming everything with body cameras.

The Transit for London agency (TfL) claims that the guards are held to ‘high standards of professionalism’ and that they were necessary to protect ULEZ cameras from the so-called ‘Blade Runners’.

Self-proclaimed ‘freedom fighters’, the ‘Blade Runners’ have channeled the widespread hatred for the expanded ULEZ, and have been successfully targeting the cameras, gaining something of a folk hero status by a sympathetic population.

In the run-up to London’s mayoral election in May, the Conservative opposition leaders have slammed Khan’s goons as ‘intimidation,’ promising to scrap the ULEZ expansion if elected.

“Mother-of-five Claire Dyer, 47, from Biggin Hill in Bromley, claimed concerned residents lived in fear of the ULEZ protection gang. […]
You have thuggish security, they don’t need to be behaving the way that they are. […] All you can see is their eyes.
They are wearing masks and balaclavas even that might have skeletons on them. […] They seem to be above the law.”

The ‘gang’ presents itself as TfL representatives, but they are, in fact, outside contractors.

“Why are they trying to harass people?
We are not aggressive or violent, just every day people. We are not hardened criminals. […] It feels like there has been a direct order to get us accused of something we haven’t done. […] We are not inner city London. We have elderly [people] who live in the area who now can’t leave their homes.”

“Conservative mayoral candidate [for London] Susan Hall said: ‘Sadiq Khan’s masked ULEZ enforcers intimidating and scaring locals is outrageous. Londoners deserve respect, not fear. I will put an end to this intimidation by scrapping the ULEZ expansion on day one if elected in May’.”
A TfL spokesperson said ‘security workers’ can wear face coverings only if they feel threatened by being closely filmed.

They added:

“We have hired a small number of qualified security staff who are suitably licensed. They are held to high standards of professionalism.
Unfortunately, our contractors have been subjected to threats and abuse while carrying out their duties so they are advised to record any issues on body-worn cameras to deescalate conflict and if necessary, record evidence for police investigations.

Vandalism is unacceptable and all incidents on our network are reported to the police for investigation.
‘Criminal damage to ULEZ cameras or vehicles puts the perpetrators at risk of prosecution and injury, while simultaneously risking the safety of the public.”

The vandalism against the cameras will not stop the Ultra Low Emissions Zone, TfL insists.
All targeted cameras are repaired or replaced as soon as possible.

 

[Roscobbc]

We had the Boston Tea Party and now reported in the USA today :

The British EV Party

Leave it to the British to take a potentially good idea and turn it into yet another tyrannical system against its own population.
For instance, it is indeed a good idea to cut down pollution in urban centers, no one would dispute that. But how?

So Britain created the ULEZ an ‘Ultra Low Emission Zone’ in London, where ‘an emissions standard based charge’ is applied to ‘non-compliant road vehicles’.

A network of cameras is checking traffic to make drivers pay every time they enter the zone with their ‘non-compliant’ cars.
Over time, it became an extremely unpopular solution, especially after leftist London Mayor Sadiq Khan greatly expanded the ULEZ.

A phenomenon emerged in which disgruntled citizens started taking out their frustration on the ‘spying cameras’ about a thousand cameras have been damaged or stolen over the last year alone.

That should give the authorities pause and make them rethink the strategy, but have they? NO.

It arises now that London Mayor Khan has hired a ‘goon squad of thugs aggressive men dressed in black, with face tattoos and wearing skeleton balaclavas – to oppress the citizens in order to allegedly protect his hated ULEZ cameras while filming everything with body cameras.

The Transit for London agency (TfL) claims that the guards are held to ‘high standards of professionalism’ and that they were necessary to protect ULEZ cameras from the so-called ‘Blade Runners’.

Self-proclaimed ‘freedom fighters’, the ‘Blade Runners’ have channeled the widespread hatred for the expanded ULEZ, and have been successfully targeting the cameras, gaining something of a folk hero status by a sympathetic population.

In the run-up to London’s mayoral election in May, the Conservative opposition leaders have slammed Khan’s goons as ‘intimidation,’ promising to scrap the ULEZ expansion if elected.

“Mother-of-five Claire Dyer, 47, from Biggin Hill in Bromley, claimed concerned residents lived in fear of the ULEZ protection gang. […]
You have thuggish security, they don’t need to be behaving the way that they are. […] All you can see is their eyes.
They are wearing masks and balaclavas even that might have skeletons on them. […] They seem to be above the law.”

The ‘gang’ presents itself as TfL representatives, but they are, in fact, outside contractors.

“Why are they trying to harass people?
We are not aggressive or violent, just every day people. We are not hardened criminals. […] It feels like there has been a direct order to get us accused of something we haven’t done. […] We are not inner city London. We have elderly [people] who live in the area who now can’t leave their homes.”

“Conservative mayoral candidate [for London] Susan Hall said: ‘Sadiq Khan’s masked ULEZ enforcers intimidating and scaring locals is outrageous. Londoners deserve respect, not fear. I will put an end to this intimidation by scrapping the ULEZ expansion on day one if elected in May’.”
A TfL spokesperson said ‘security workers’ can wear face coverings only if they feel threatened by being closely filmed.

They added:

“We have hired a small number of qualified security staff who are suitably licensed. They are held to high standards of professionalism.
Unfortunately, our contractors have been subjected to threats and abuse while carrying out their duties so they are advised to record any issues on body-worn cameras to deescalate conflict and if necessary, record evidence for police investigations.

Vandalism is unacceptable and all incidents on our network are reported to the police for investigation.
‘Criminal damage to ULEZ cameras or vehicles puts the perpetrators at risk of prosecution and injury, while simultaneously risking the safety of the public.”

The vandalism against the cameras will not stop the Ultra Low Emissions Zone, TfL insists.
All targeted cameras are repaired or replaced as soon as possible.

Amazing that it takes someone thousands of miles away (CCCUK's good friend Jon) to realise what is happening in London and other cities (and what if left unchecked and un-opposed will eventually spread to all populated corners of the UK.
Khan's recent ULEZ expansion received a higher percentage of votes against it - yet Khan still carried it through. The so named 'Blade Runners' are regarded in London and surrounding areas as modern day hero's taking-on risks of detroying ULEZ cameras for a scheme that so few people wanted.
The 2024 Tory candidate for London's mayor Susan Hall has promised to take-down the expanded ULEZ zone. Unfortunately she hasn't gone as far as to tell us what use the cameras will be put to afterwards - not any mention of removal of the original ULEZ network.
Its interesting also that Tory lead central government has made no real comment on Susan Halls plans - what would happen if she was voted-in her promises were 'blocked' by senior Tory officials?
TFL is bankrupt - (remember its not just the road network - its also Underground trains and the London bus network) since Covid with so many people now working from home their revenues have significantly reduced.......the government have 'bailed' them out financially several times. TFL's management organisation ius top heavy with grossly overpaid 'executives'.

 

[Nassau65]

VERY grossly overpaid managers/executives.

 

[Nassau65]

Many people have had to sell or scrap perfectly good cars because they do not meet the ULEZ standard. Such a shame.

 

[CaptainK]

Many people have had to sell or scrap perfectly good cars because they do not meet the ULEZ standard. Such a shame.

Indeed. In the FTO club I'm a member of, because they were made from 1994 - 2001, a lot of members have had to get rid of their beloved cars that some have owned for 20 years (like me in 2024). I'd be well peeved if that happened to me - I keep the car mostly for its sentimental value now, with all those memories it has.

I read an article yesterday that made me laugh - some "top people" had done some analysis and claimed that the London ULEZ (all of it) since started has saved more pollution than that of the planes from airports in London, or the equivalent of the rail and other transport divisions. I've forgotten it now as it was just too amusing - somewhere in it really low down they basically said they were mostly just guessing as its hard to read the actual pollution levels.

 

[Chevrolet]

Haven't been following/reading this thread in detail, but did read the news recently about EG Group (owners of Asda) going to buy/install all those "fast" Tesla chargers.
Asda Owner EG Group Orders Tesla EV Superchargers | Silicon

 

[teamzr1]

An owner of a caddy EV goes on a trip for these holidays
First day not enough battery for his evening stay over so he tried like 5 places to charge battery and either the charger
had the wrong wiring connector, was the wrong type of charger, chargers that were broken or long lines of others waiting to get charged

Finally, he gets a turn with long lines of vehicles behind him so he decided to only charge enough so he could get to the hotel he was booked
in for that night

Took him 2 hours just to get 20 minutes of charge, looked to see the charger charged him $40 !
He gets to that hotel, where they had chargers, plugs on and goes to his room
Hour later gets a cellphone call from On-Star saying the charging was interrupted
He looks out the window and can see his car and all looks OK

Alert happens again 2 more times so he has to get dressed, go to the car to find some Ahole with a ricer
Yanked the charge connector out of the caddy EV and plugged it into the ricer and locked it so it cannot be taken out !
He talks to the management of the hotel, and they say they do not know who owns the ricers
Guy finally goes to bed and in the morning finds the ricer gone and caddy stills needs charging and lost of time waiting for a full charge

Moral of this is those charger connectors have a hole in them, that is for you to carry a lock to use when charging like this

On another note, like fourth in the last year a large cargo ship full of EV batteries coming from Vietnam heading to southern Ca
catches fire near Alaska, smoke and pollution so bad Alaska tells that ship to stay like 2 miles from land
Has been burning for like 4 days now

 

[teamzr1]

General Motors claimed that it is “all-in on electric vehicles” for years, but today backtracked,
CEO Mary Barra confirmed that the automaker is changing strategy and going back to plug-in hybrids amid setback in its electric car plans.
In 2019, GM killed the Chevy Volt, its popular plug-in hybrid vehicle, and announced plans to focus on all-electric vehicles.

It continued selling some plug-in hybrids in other markets, but not in North America, which it saw going all-electric.

The automaker was expected to ride the success of the Chevy Bolt EV, its first all-electric vehicle, but it has had issues executing on its plan.

GM built its new Ultium EV platform, but the first few EVs it launched using the platform have yet to achieve significant production and delivery volumes while the Bolt EV/EUV, the only one with significant volumes, have been retired – for now at least.

Over the last few months, the automaker announced delays of several of its important new EV programs that should bring more volumes.
Now, CEO Mary Barra is even announcing that GM plans to bring back plug-in hybrid options.
She announced on GM’s latest earnings call today:

Our forward plans include bringing our plug-in hybrid technology to select vehicles in North America. Let me be clear, GM remains committed to eliminating tailpipe emissions from our light-duty vehicles by 2035. But in the interim, deploying plug-in technology in strategic segments will deliver some of the environmental benefits of EVs as the nation continues to build its charging infrastructure.
We are timing the launches to help us comply with the more stringent fuel economy and tailpipe emission standards that are being proposed.

She didn’t elaborate on the plan in terms of volumes or specific model to receive a plug-in option, but her comment about the technology existing on specific programs in other markets, especially China, could point to using the same models.

In the end she has blown billions of taxpayer and shareholders money and failed BIGLY

 

[teamzr1]

You would have thought this would have been tested many years ago
Imagine having to replace all guardrails in every country that forces an end to fuel based engines

Under an overcast sky last fall, engineers with a University of Nebraska road safety facility watched as an electric-powered pickup truck hurtled toward a guardrail installed on the facility's testing ground on the edge of the local municipal airport.

The test crash was to see how the guardrail, the same type found along tens of thousands of miles of roadway in the United States, would hold up against electric vehicles that can weigh thousands of pounds more than the average gas-powered sedan.

It came as little surprise when the nearly 4-ton 2022 Rivian R1T tore through the metal guardrail and hardly slowed until hitting a concrete barrier yards away on the other side.
“We knew it was going to be an extremely demanding test of the roadside safety system," said Cody Stolle with the university's Midwest Roadside Safety Facility. “The system was not made to handle vehicles greater than 5,000 pounds.”

The university released the results of the crash test Wednesday. The concern comes as the rising popularity of electric vehicles has led transportation officials to sound the alarm over the weight disparity of the new battery-powered vehicles and lighter gas-powered ones. Last year, the National Transportation Safety Board expressed concern about the safety risks heavy electric vehicles pose if they collide with lighter vehicles.

The entire purpose of guardrails is to help keep passenger vehicles from leaving the roadway, said Michael Brooks, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety. Guardrails are intended to keep cars from careening off the road at critical areas, such as over bridges and waterways, near the edges of cliffs and ravines and over rocky terrain, where injury and death in an off-the-road crash is much more likely.

“Guardrails are kind of a safety feature of last resort,” Brooks said. “I think what you're seeing here is the real concern with EVs their weight. There are a lot of new vehicles in this larger-size range coming out in that 7,000-pound range. And that's a concern.”

The preliminary crash test sponsored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Research and Development Center also crashed a Tesla sedan into a guardrail, in which the sedan lifted the guardrail and passed under it.
The tests showed the barrier system is likely to be overmatched by heavier electric vehicles, officials said.

The extra weight of electric vehicles comes from their outsized batteries, needed to achieve a travel range of about 300 miles (480 kilometers) per charge. The batteries themselves can weigh almost as much as a small gas-powered car.
Electric vehicles typically weigh 20% to 50% more than gas-powered vehicles and have lower centers of gravity.

“So far, we don’t see good vehicle to guardrail compatibility with electric vehicles,” Stolle said.
More testing, involving computer simulations and test crashes of more electric vehicles, is planned, he said, and will be needed to determine how to engineer roadside barriers that minimize the effects of crashes for both lighter gas-powered vehicles and heavier electric vehicles.

"It could be concrete barriers. It could be something else,” he said. “The scope of what we have to change and update still remains to be determined.”

The concern over the weight of electric vehicles stretches beyond vehicle-to-vehicle crashes and compatibility with guardrails, Brooks said.
The extra weight will affect everything from faster wear on residential streets and driveways to vehicle tires and infrastructure like parking garages.

 

[Chuffer]

The headlong rush by politicians and `Greenies` to have us all driving EV`s in double quick time have totally ignored the physics of kinetic energy. Am I surprised ? NO !!!