The debate over electric vehicles has turned into two distinct opposite camps — both of which have ramped up the rhetoric to shrill levels plunging the humble, yet technologically advanced, EV into a tug of war. Along with it has come a string of suspicious news items that simply are not factual.
One viral news story recently warned potential buyers that they may purchase an EV and find out later that the battery powering the vehicle costs more than the car itself should a replacement be necessary.
Spoiler alert: The story takes the facts and twists them like taffy.
On the other side, out-of-touch pols, such as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg argue that artificially high gas prices are a good thing because people will move to EVs as a measure to “save the planet.”
First, the argument that EV’s are going to “save the planet” is nonsense on its face. Jet planes, volcanos, cars, cows, humans and even whales all spew carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, coal burning plants that provide heat to the coldest regions of the planet far outpace that of personal combustion-driven vehicles that have many failsteps to lower emissions to a fraction of what they once were.
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Unlike cars and jet planes, coal burning is necessary for modern human survival in certain areas unless those people agree to go back to burning logs in the fireplace for heat, which also will spew carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and reduce the number of trees that breathe carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen.
With volcanos, well, there is not much anyone can do about them, they erupt when they want to on their own time.
Naturally, in cities such as Atlanta or Los Angeles, more EVs will cut carbon emissions even though they will do nothing to help with the massive traffic jams epidemic in those cities. However, in places like New York City, where most people take the electric subway, it won’t make much of a difference at all.
The trains in the Big Apple are electric, but the electricity comes mainly from coal plants.
One way to dramatically reduce carbon in the atmosphere caused by humans would be to grow more hemp, a plant that takes far less time to grow than a tree, less acreage for fiber quantity and would leave much more forestry in place which, again, acts as the lungs of the planet.
The so-called “greens” not only have their propaganda, those tagged as being on the right also like to spin false narratives.
Recently a story went viral about a family who bought a used 2014 Ford Focus EV with 60,000 miles on it and suddenly needed to replace the battery and found the replacement battery cost more than the car was worth.
The story tugged at the reader’s heartstrings at how this family has faced multiple tragedies before, only to suddenly be struck with no transportation because they had bought an electric car.
On its face, the story is true. Ford produced that particular Focus model for one year and then discontinued it as well as the battery that powered the vehicle.
However, the affordably-priced economy car had already depreciated to a degree that its value was in the dumpster no matter the operational state of the battery.
This entire scenario is an outlier, and it is the only example we could find on EVs sold in America. Ford made a cheap car with a cheap battery, and when the battery failed some years later, the car was junk. The Focus was still better than the 1972 Pinto that had a tendency to explode in a rear-end collision because Ford decided to cut corners over a $2 part.
Virtually every other model of EV made today has a battery rated for a minimum of eight years and technology continues to advance to make the batteries cheaper and lighter as well as interchangeable even between brands.
Also, eventually, the aftermarket always catches up and provides low cost replacements for aged automobiles, whether gas or electric powered.
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Cars of old such as Edsels, Imperials, Continentals and even Duesenburgs were hideously expensive to maintain after they were discontinued models until people began collecting them and aftermarket brands stepped up and began producing parts that made them far less expensive to maintain.
Despite what people are led to believe, all batteries, whether standard or lithium based, are recyclable.
Really, the future of the car market should not be a political argument, it should be up to the market to decide.
Some people like the feel of being one with a machine and will go to their grave driving a stick shift. Other drivers like the fact that EVs have far less moving parts to service and have the torque of a rocket ship.
Throughout automotive history, every time issues have become politicized, the results have been disastrous.
Seatbelts were not made mandatory equipment in the United States until 1968 because of a political campaign against them and other safety equipment. Even Preston Tucker took seat belts out of his otherwise futuristically safe 1947 prototype vehicle and instead installed a breakaway windshield allowing the ejection of the unrestrained occupants and that was due to political pressure of the times.
The pendulum swung in the far opposite direction when activists such as Ralph Nader demanded the public accept massive government regulations which did not make cars any safer or more fuel efficient. Instead, it did the exact opposite and that is why we motorheads call the 1970s, the “Malaise Era.”
Automotive manufacturers, for the large part, want to give the public what it wants, so let the public decide and ignore the spin from both sides of the political spectrum.
We’ll see you on the road!
Scott Hudson is the senior reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com. Augusta Technical College automotive instructor Taylor Bryant contributed to this article.
