There is nothing under $40K on the AWD electric list! Including the Hyundai and VW.
The only car on the list that comes close the range of our car is the Lucid which cost more than our first two homes ; )
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That’s great it works for her, and maybe if it catches on here it’ll work. But we only have 6 viable places in town. Two at car dealerships. Two are far out of the way. Two are downtown which might be doable for some, but a pain for everyday use I would think.
I also think we have the only sheetz without a charging station. And they completely demolished and rebuilt it a couple of years ago.
I don’t know if there are any good ICE AWDs out there under $40K either unless we are talking used. 
Which brings up the point: used vehicle market keeps new vehicle market pricing in check… very few used plug in cars are available yet.
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I just can’t wrap my head around as to why people seem to feel so afraid of EVs. No one is prying the steering wheels of their ICE cars out of their hands. And no one will. Just look at all the jalopies still on the road. Speaking of which, the one tech I’m very skeptical about is self-driving tech. Even the best AI can’t predict what the cowboy in that beat up Chevy next to you will do next. 
A human brain will make a note, “Keep ample distance and be prepared to stop fast!”
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I am really glad you love your EV and that it is working out well for you. You having no issues that bother you does not make you an expert on the situation either. And it is not “misinformation” to have genuine concerns about some of the potential pitfalls of owning an EV. We all have different living situations, different driving habits and different needs when it comes to our vehicles. Why does it appear that there is an all or nothing situation. Let people continue to make decisions based on personal circumstances and let the conversion to EV happen naturally and over time as the grids are being upgraded.
I have a family member who is CFO of a powers plant and good friend who is CEO of the power plant. Does that count as “professional expertise”? Both say the grids are NOT ready for all electric vehicles.
The experts (politicians) decided they needed to shut down two of the coal fired stacks even though this power plant has extremely up to date scrubbers. The CFO and CEO asked to keep them online but not running in case of emergency and the “experts” said no, they are going away from coal. So they were shut down. A few weeks ago our “experts”(politicians) came back begging them to fire up the two stacks. It was then explained to them that it’s not a light switch. They can not be turned back on because the “experts” would not let them keep them online and ready to go. So now what? Yep you guessed it! We are on rolling black out schedules. We have always had plenty of power with no danger of coming up short until the “experts” got involved.
So you will have to excuse me if I don’t trust one random stranger on the internet saying he has “professional expertise” and that there is no issue with the grid.
I will not be getting an EV any time soon.
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Aren’t pretty much every Subaru AWD?
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Perhaps someone can clarify something for me. The point of EV is to lower emissions and the use of fossil fuels. 60% of electric power however is derived from fossil fuel combustion and another 20% from nuclear.
As EV use goes up where will the incremental need for electricity by derived from? Also how environmentally friendly and how are old EV batteries disposed of?
Thanks in advance.
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Getting an EV will require me to change my habits, which I’m not opposed to. My current car only has 160k miles on it. I figure I’ll get another 2-3 years before it dies. I always drive my cars until they die. By then, hopefully my concerns will have largely been addressed. If I had to buy now, it would be a hybrid. In a few years, an EV make sense for me, and if so, I’ll get it. It’s the same thing with solar panels. While I think they are great, they aren’t great for me, as running the numbers, it would take 40-50 years for me to break even, and I’ll likely be dead by then.
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Nuclear obviously does not emit like fossil fuels.
Also, the portion of electricity production from fossil fuels is not tied to one particular type (petroleum) that most transportation is tied to. Diversifying sources can be helpful in some ways.
EV batteries that are worn out get recycled to mine their valuable materials.
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But as a country we are not expanding our nuclear capacity so won’t the incremental electric demand be a combination of coal and natural gas? I have seen several studies that suggest the growth in renewables would be far out paced by the near universal EV usage.
I am entirely supportive of the ambition however as a matter of public policy I think we should have the solution and knock on implications contemplated and solved in advance of it being imposed.
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Speaking of metals, guess who the world leaders in palladium (think your ICE cats) mining are? Not us.
California unveils proposal to ban new gas-fueled cars by 2035
They may not be attempting yet. But this type of law might do the trick. Granted it’s only proposed at this point.
Emissions are lowered because vehicles will switch from gasoline or diesel to electricity which has more pollution controls. Remember EVs are not just passenger cars. The plan is also to eventually convert trucks and buses. How many times have you been beside a truck belching black smoke? Further, the plan is to convert the grid to renewables as much as possible. We can’t go 100% renewable due to need for ramping capability, quick start reserves, etc, but the plan is to greatly scale back the amount of fossil fuels used.
Note that much of this varies depending on where in the country you are. Here is the northeast we use virtually no coal and very little oil. That’s not the same everywhere. Some posters are writing about rolling blackouts. I don’t think that’s happened in New England since the 1980’s. The Texas grid is a mess for a variety of reasons and I wonder if that’s where some these posters are from.
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Several years ago, AAA announced they had several “mobile charging trucks” I think they were called, in anticipation of having to help EVs that had run out of battery roadside. Last I heard those trucks were not getting much use if any, but they exist.
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It is a proposal. I highly doubt it will pass. As I said, no one will come to seize your ICE car out of your garage. I think plug in hybrids and hybrids will be the transition link between ICE and EV techs.
Understood so wouldn’t it make sense from a public policy standpoint to improve the efficacy of the supply of energy before economically or legislatively increasing (or mandating) the demand for electric energy?
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GM’s Super Cruise (hands off driving on highways) is glorious. As a road trip person, every time I turn it on, I am incredulous as to how well it works. The new Lyriq EV will have it - my order is already in. Not necessarily as our road trip car (it’s way too small like all EVs for that), but as an “around town” car or maybe short trips back and forth to my daughter’s school).
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I am one who wrote about rolling blackouts. I am not in Texas and we have NEVER had rolling blackouts. We have been self sufficient with power and have sold power to supplement other grids. We have been great until the “experts” (politicians) got involved and now we are on a rolling blackout situation with the heat. So it’s not just in Texas.
You make a great point about the snow. In areas of the country that get snow/ice, the lighter electric and hybrid vehicles can be more dangerous and have a tendency to go off the road more easily. This is what deterred me initially. Also, did the cost analysis and it wasn’t there yet to actually provide savings once added cost of vehicle, service, battery replacement etc are factored in to the equation. Environmentally I also feel no benefit as you have to dispose/produce the batteries (even worse for environment), the generation of electricity has to occur somehow (fossil fuel most often -sometimes nuclear).
Why can’t you do both at the same time?
To be clear on where I am coming from- I believe we all will be driving EVs someday. Adoption of EVs is currently slower than policy makers are hoping for. It’s a bit of chicken and egg problem. Nobody want to spend a lot of money on infrastructure until the cars are there, and people aren’t buying the cars because of lack of infrastructure. I actually would love to own an electric car, but for my type of driving, and the places I go it just doesn’t make sense yet. The key word is yet. My current car is only three years old -still seems brand new. By the time I’m ready to replace it, maybe the infrastructure will be improved enough that I’ll buy one.
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