Interesting article in the UK’s Daily Telegraph:
Behind a paywall for some so here’s a good summary of the article:
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“Electric cars are up to twice as expensive as petrol or diesel vehicles to run, new figures have suggested…”
For normal use an EV is much cheaper. Normal use being charge at home, commute and run errands within the range of the car.
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Hi Adrian
German car production has been in decline for a while and I’m not sure how much of the drop in EVs sales has been caught up in this:
‘We are currently experiencing a crash in new passenger car registrations,’ said German Central Association for Motor Trades (ZDK) vice president Thomas Peckruhn. ‘The decline in registrations of battery-electric cars is dramatic.’
I’ve traveled quite a bit in both Russia and China and did notice the large number of German cars in both countries. For different reasons they are not so popular now.
VW seems to have been badly hit and has lost about a third of its value in the last couple of years:
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Cutting subsidies does that!
Who would have thought?
The Captain
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If the EVs were that good then they wouldn’t need a subsidy would they!
There is quite a bit in the press over this. This article suggests that it is the initial price of EVs that is putting people off:
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Oil has subsidies for many decades. If ICE was that good, why would it need subsidies ?
Add to that the $Trillions spent on war in the gulf for oil .
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Wow. Let’s buy the most expensive electrons we can find and then conclude that EV’s are more expensive than ICE. Great journalism.
Home charging my Acura is costing me 3.2 cents per mile. My Accord used to run me 16 cents per mile for gasoline. Not counting oil changes, transmission service, etc. etc. etc. I’ll take my EV for the win!
Not all is doom and gloom either.
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Higher interest rates matter more.
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Only in another world where all consumers are rational and understand that they have a higher upfront cost but lower maintenance and refueling (overall). And that there is a real cost (not included) for fouling the air near where we breath with smog. And not to mention the long term effects of CO2 which some may believe or not as well.
And using electricity instead of oil means that virtually all the fuel (in the US at least) is domestic and not part of a world market that is often manipulated by OPEC and the easily upset by wars, invasions etc (Russia).
In the real world where we live, most consumers need a nudge (subsidies) to change to something new.
Mike
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I’ve just found another reason why I won’t buy an EV:
Considering what the Israelis did with pagers I wonder what someone could do with EVs.
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Those pagers were purposefully modified with explosives. For crying out loud…
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If Elon can switch off an EV that is thousands of miles away what else could he or someone else do? It’s an area that I’ve not thought about before. The insurance industry is looking at this:
Not for me thanks!
[quote=“Divitias, post:12, topic:108956”]
If Elon can switch off an EV that is thousands of miles away what else could he or someone else do? It’s an area that I’ve not thought about before. [/quote]
Why do you think this feature would be unique to EVs? GM’s OnStar has had the ability to remotely disable vehicles for well over a decade. It is used all the time on stolen vehicles.
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That’s what Elon Musk has been saying, EVs don’t need subsidies.
There is way too much government interference in too many things.
The Captain
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It’s been discussed by the United Kingdom’s Parliament’s National Security Strategy committee - stealing data, bringing cities to a standstill:
Professor Jim Saker, president of the Motor Industry, told MPs that electric vehicles 'flooding into Britain could be ‘the most effective Trojan Horse’ at the Chinese Communist Party’s disposal…
…‘We know that at the moment connected vehicles can be stopped remotely,’ he wrote in a submission reported by The Times.
'If this happened on a motorway at 70mph and the automatic braking system was applied to a vehicle the traffic would simply pile in the back. If this occurred at strategic points it could gridlock cities.”
Wow!
LOL, hey buddy, that article has nothing to do with whether the car is an EV or not. It has to do with whether or not the car can receive OTAs - and many ICE vehicles can do that.
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Of course, I know it talks about remote connection. Can ICE cars have their braking systems interfered with from thousands of miles away? I’ve not seen any articles about ICE cars being national security risks. It has dawned on the USA as well:
President Biden has specifically addressed the national security risks posed by the development and sale of internet-connected EVs. These vehicles are connected to and share data with mobile devices, navigation systems, and, crucially, the EV manufacturers. President Biden has expressed concern that connected vehicles from China could collect sensitive data about our citizens and our infrastructure and send this data back to the People’s Republic of China. These vehicles could be remotely accessed or disabled.”
Yes. As previously pointed out to you up thread. GM’s Onstar can remotely disable a vehicle.
Because we don’t buy any Chinese cars these days - and reporters are sometimes just as naively confused as their audience as to the real risk (OTA vs EV). You will note that the quote specifically states, “internet-connected,” that is the issue, not what makes the car go.
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If the car has OnStar it can be remotely disabled as part of theft recovery features. Its been this way for over a decade.
Hyundai Bluelink can do the same. It can immobilize the car so law enforcement can seize it back from those who stole it. Also probably for a decade or so now.
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