Conservatives, Populists international Backlash against EVs

Investment Analysis Clubs Macro Economic Trends and Risks
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Evs (and “electrification”) are becoming more and more politically weaponized.

The article mentions politician names, but focuses on public reactions to the developing EV transition.

Teslas have been subjected to harassment and vandalism via intentional damage such as “keyed doors and panels”, dings and small dents, bumper damage, etc, and petty harassments such as “rolling coal” and brake checking.

As the current, ongoing UAW strike continues, many talking heads are predicting benefits to Tesla specifically.
This paints a target on Tesla.

I’m expecting increasing vandalism against Tesla vehicles, against OWNERS(!), Tesla infrastructure such as charging stations, other Tesla branded infrastructure such as powerwalls, etc.

The transition in early 1900s from horse/buggy to cars didn’t just crush buggy whips. It crushed the ancillary industries that supported horse/buggy/wagon.

  • Feed production, storage, delivery.
  • Street cleaning, manure handling.
  • Livery stables snd associated jobs.
  • Blacksmithing and farriers.
  • Saddlery and tack
  • more

The transition from ICE to EV will similarly disrupt the ecosystem of industries that support ICE.
LOTS of jobs will be disrupted, and workers will have to “retrain”.
I’m expecting many will give up, and drop out of the labor force, cause they ‘can’t or refuse to learn new skills’.

I’m expecting these “victims” to rebel.

{The push to move away from the internal combustion engine is becoming an election issue on two continents.}

:alien:
ralph

Rolling coal - a diesel vehicle intentionally guns the engine in a way that emits clouds of dense black exhaust.

Teslas are not the only target. Rolling coal has been around a LONG time, and is used to harass and annoy a target person or group.

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Losers anonymous! :frowning:

The Captain

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Makes sense. The attempt to convert the world’s light vehicle transport fleet from ICE to EV is a massive undertaking - which is a big part of why it’s so fascinating. Since it’s almost impossible to make big changes like that without their being some winners and losers, it’s not at all surprising that the “losers” will push back politically - especially since government resources and policy are being used to expedite the transition. Back when EV’s were still a fairly small part of the market, the economic pain being doled out to the ICE ecosystem was similarly small; but now that volumes have increased by so much, that pain will be increasingly acute and visible.

I wonder whether that will end up accelerating the phase-out of subsidies.

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It isn’t even the “losers”. A lot of people don’t like any change, because it’s change. Remember the push to build a light bulb plant in Texas, to make incandescent bulbs, because the Shinier sorts did not want to change to LED or CFL?

I was at a museum in Auburn, Indiana Saturday, and a group of people asked me to take their pic for them. They handed me a cell phone to take the pic. I warned them they need to show me how to work it as I don’t have a cell. The patriarch of the clan, probably at least as old as I am, was amazed that I still have a land line. He even took a pic of himself with me, the first person he has run into, in years, that does not have a cell.

Steve

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That was me about 4-5 years ago (no cell phone). Then Centurylink “went stupid” (actually “stupidER”. They raised the price of a landline (local service ONLY) to $45/month. I then checked Consumer Cellular. I then dropped Centurylink and got TWO cell phones (shared data) for about $50/month TOTAL. Haven’t looked back. 5G is all around me, but my phones are all 4G LTE, which is what is used most of the time anyway.

Friend has it for his family–all use cell phones AND have fiber Internet, which I can’t get because building not wired for fiber. Mgmt refuses to have the building wired for FREE.

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It’s true that a lot of people are resistant to change itself. But in this case, there are very large numbers of firms and people that will be negatively affected by a potential conversion of most of (if not nearly all of) the light vehicle fleet from ICE’s to EV’s.

Generally, subsidies (carrots) have been more politically popular than taxes or other penalties for emissions (sticks). That why the US’ IRA - our most significant climate legislation - looks the way it does: no carbon tax, lots of money to stimulate cleaner power generation and transport. Those sorts of proposals tend to look like “win-win” proposals - they encourage economic activity and investment by benefited firms and provide an economic benefit to consumers who are interested in these products.

But now that we see how the market is responding, there may indeed be “losers” as the industry is restructured. There will be workers and suppliers who lose out as the auto industry changes geographically (moving out of the midwest to other U.S. states or abroad) and technologically (EV’s require fewer and different parts and workers than ICE’s). Those are impacts that might be manageable for those affected it they played out slowly over a long period of adoption over several decades, but become much more painful if they’re implemented in the space of a few years (ie. by 2030).

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Should at least get yourself a pre-paid burner phone. It really is a safety/convenience issue.

Sure would be nice to be able to call a tow truck or your insurance company if your vehicle broke down on your way back to the 'Zoo from Auburn.

Or you are sitting at home during a bad storm with no electricity or phone service. Having a means of making a call can be a life saver.

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Thanks for posting that. It reminded me to reload my burner phone with another year of service. I just checked, and have less than a week left on the current plan.

In the case of an automobile accident, it can also be useful to take pictures of the accident scene. Even the cheap burners usually have a camera installed.

  • Pete
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The POTS system had backup generators, and batteries if the generators didn’t work, so the phones worked in a blackout. When First Energy’s Shiny maintenance practices took the entire northeast down, some 20 years ago, my POTS phone worked perfectly to call my aunt in Kazoo, verify she had power, and invite myself to pay her a visit.

My U-Verse gateway has a backup battery of limited endurance.

One of the phone company guys here commented, some years ago, about keeping the cell system running after a hurricane, as, as soon as they set up a generator at a cell tower, someone would steal it. No-one is going to walk off with a generator, driving by a honking big diesel, inside a central office.

Steve

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Sure, as long as the storm didn’t take out the lines in your neighborhood.
Of course, cell towers can go down as well, but you can roam around with your cell phone to possibly find service.
For a long time I kept my landline just as a backup, mostly. But then 5-6 year ago just shut it off.

Mike

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Same. But try as I might I couldn’t think of a reason to have a landline, so I ditched it. Never missed it.

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We converted our landline to a free google voice line. You need to do it in multiple steps, but it’s possible. Now, all calls from solicitors go to google voice. We’ve shut off the ringers on the phones, and we get translated voice messages via email / text.

When anyone asks for our number, that’s the number we give. Makes life so much quieter :wink:

'38Packard

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Ralph,

It might be somewhat true what you are saying but there was a small comment made that lit the fuse. It really is about that small comment.

“I do not actually support Trump”, Elon Musk about two weeks ago said as if neutral. Meaning he crossed a line regardless of how he meant it.

I do not know if the press took it out of context because only that quote showed up. Meaning he could have meant on X we won’t favor Trump. The press ran with just no support for Trump.

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I bought my first cell/smart phone because it had become very difficult to travel by air without one. Now I’m somewhat addicted. :frowning:

BTW, I much prefer asynchronous email to synchronous phone calls, no more playing phone tag.

The Captain

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I turned off the ringers years ago too. The answering machine takes all the calls. So, instead of picking up the telemarketing calls, I just poke the “delete” button on the machine.

Steve

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Only plane I have gone anywhere in, over the last 20 years, was this one. No cell phone required.

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Not for nothin’ but maybe you should get out a bit more often - besides fast food places :wink:

'38Packard

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There are events on nearly every weekend around here, during the summer. Last weekend, I drove to this place. There is a place I would like to go next weekend, but the weather forecast is not appealing. Then two more events the weekend after that. Then the winter lecture series in a couple different places start up.

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I was over at Greenfield Village last Sunday, to check out the Halloween decorations. Caught the guys making final adjustments to the Druids. They used to have a human to stir that pot, but she quit. So they built a robot.

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The brewers were brewing too.

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