This sort of not-quite misinformation, not quite telling the whole story pervade media opinion pages, and ultimately leak over to consumer-grade news reporting since reporters rarely have the time or deep understanding of an issue they report on.
Example 1: Heavy Duty Trucking
Electric Mandates Have California Truckers Charging Overtime
appeared as an op-ed in the WSJ a couple of weeks ago. The synopsis is that there’s some heavy-truck, short-haul deliveries in/out of Port of Los Angeles. These runs can’t carry as much weight as diesel powered tractors, and they (lack of existing) charging infrastructure means the process is less efficient from a cost/time basis. The conclusion the author wants the reader to draw is that EV is bad for everybody concerned: the drivers, and the general public. Just bad. No redeeming qualities.
Revealing is what’s not mentioned — that heavy diesel trucking is particularly polluting; that the Los Angeles basin has a particularly bad air quality problem; the Port of Los Angeles area has an even worse air quality problem; and that the amount of toxic air pollutants emitted from even a “dirty” power plant is a much better deal for air quality.
A more balanced reading is that EV in this instance (short-haul, heavy-diesel replacing, in a a particularly bad air quality location) is particularly well-suited, and that the better revelation is suitable charging infrastructure needs to be built-out.
Example 2
The author of this piece, Bryce Chinault of the Yankee Institute, a right/libertarian think tank.
Connecticut Hits a ‘Speed Bump’ on the Race to Mandate EVs
“Electric vehicles are heavier than regular cars and trucks… Heavier cars are more dangerous—they increase accident fatality rates”
The irony here is the right wing think tank guys were 20 or 30 years ago telling us that CAFE standards were killing us for exactly the opposite reason [1] — that in order to meet CAFE (fuel efficiency), automakers were forced to make cars lighter and thus were obviously less safe. If Chinault was really concerned about heavy/heavier vehicles & safety, he would be concerned about the 10’s of millions of “full sized” Pickups and SUVs that have been churned out over the past 30 or 40 years; and whose design (front end design and height) is particularly bad in pedestrian crashes.
What one suspects in all of this is the petroleum industry is supporting these ideas EV is bad, burning fossil fuels is good — that heavy-diesel (or any ICE) is good and not to even think about the inevitable toxic emissions. Just burn more petroleum.
Example 3: Range Anxiety & EV prices
Although range anxiety (like any anxiety) is real, is more about expectations than reality. Pricing scares are a similar issue… quoting (I assume accurate) average selling prices of ~ $60,000 for EV vs. ~ 40,000 for other. But then we have this story appearing in the moderately right-wing Washington Examiner:
‘It was very difficult’: Electric vehicle owner took 15 hours to drive 178 miles
It revolves around an anecdote where some guy took 15 hours to drive the 178 miles from Cheyenne and Casper, WY in his EV, a Nissan Leaf. I found the specifics hard to follow, but also being an owner of a Nissan Leaf I can tell you a couple of things: they cost about $30K new, they lack “fast charging” (sometimes called Level 3) infra due to Nissan’s chosen technology back in ~ 2010 (“Chademo”, vs. tesla’s NACS or the CCS). To give an example, ANY Tesla, including a base Model 3 (price something like $40K) can make that trip on a charge.. and if not, Tesla has a built-out network of fast charging infrastructure in place.
Short answer about “range anxiety”; yes, if you’re planning on road-tripping in an EV you’re going to have to do some planning compared to ICE.
[1] this is just an example, there are many: Auto Cafe Standards: Unsafe and Unwise at Any Level. Heritage Foundation. “… the 500-pound decrease in vehicle weight caused by the current CAFE standard of 27.5 mpg already has increased the number of occupant fatalities”
Someone asks
“Does a pickup truck cause more harm to the roadbed than a heavy EV?”
Around here (Phoenix metro, exceedingly few farmers!), large (the industry calls them “full size”) pickups dominate the market, e.g. Ford F-series. They are used both by tradespeople, as well as, more and more, general purpose transportation
the LIGHTEST Ford F-150 is ~ 4,440 pounds, and in many trims (which seem very common: crew cab, king cab, etc, 4×4, etc) are heavier. F-250 and F-350 series are heavier still. The F-series is, IIRC, sells the most units in US; or have the most units on the road, or some such.
The pickup lines from GM and Ram are similarly popular and common.
My old leaf was like 3,400 pounds, my new car, a Chevy Bolt is 3,700 pounds.
I mention this because I see more and more — what seem to me to be distortions — in the press that EVs are “heavy”. Without mentioning it more depends on what type of vehicle, and not whether it’s EV or ICE.
Here’s and example, an editorial from the WSJ, which i would classify idealogically as mainstream, right-leaning, pro-business:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/electric-cars-emit-more-soot-california-ban-gas-powered-vehicles-521b29e3
“Electric Cars Emit More Particulate Pollution: They have greater tire wear, the source of most particulate matter”
This is paywalled but you get the idea: EVs are bad, ICE is good (or at least okay).
https://mynissanleaf.com/threads/really-200-gas-tax.35305/page-9#post-644881
The anti-EV drumbeat in the right-leaning press continues to be deafening.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/young-voters-no-longer-get-a-charge-out-of-the-biden-presidency-565e6241?st=jbm9nddnhqpqpry
Young Voters No Longer Get a Charge Out of the Biden Presidency
Most can’t afford a home, and many are struggling to find work. They can’t even sell their used EVs.
Allysia Finley
June 23, 2024 1:29 pm ET
What does President Biden have in common with an electric car? For one, neither can go very far without a rest. But also, young people are increasingly disillusioned with both.
A new survey by consulting firm McKinsey & Co. finds that 57% of American millennial electric-vehicle owners say they are likely to switch back to a gasoline-powered car. Top reasons include inability to charge EVs at home, difficulties doing so on the road, and the high cost of ownership.
Those with children were especially likely to express regret about their EV purchases. Older EV owners were less so. Perhaps young people didn’t fully consider the costs and complications of owning an EV, any more than they thought through the policy consequences of a Biden presidency. More so than seniors they feel the effects of both.
Consider: Insuring an EV costs on average $44 more a month than insuring a gas-powered car. Higher repair and component costs are partially to blame. Rising electric rates over the past few years—thanks, Mr. Biden—have negated expected fuel savings. An Anderson Economic Group study found it’s cheaper to fuel most gas-powered cars than it is to power EVs.
If you own a home, you may be surprised to learn that upgrading the electric wiring to accommodate an already pricey charger costs several thousand dollars. If you don’t own a home, you’ll be stuck charging at commercial stations, where rates are higher. Finding an available one that works can also be tough.
It can take more than 10 hours to charge a battery fully (though charging it above 80% of its capacity causes it to degrade more quickly). Not exactly convenient when you’re ferrying kids between activities. Charging is less troublesome for seniors who own homes and have fewer demands on their time.
Then there’s this: EVs lose their resale value more quickly than gas-powered cars, partly because their batteries are more easily damaged and degraded. Batteries alone can cost tens of thousands of dollars to replace. In addition, a glut of used and new EVs on the market has recently caused their resale values to plunge.
Over the past year, prices for used EVs have fallen by 30% to 39%—about 10 times as much as used gas-powered cars. A young investment banker boasted to me a couple of years ago that his recent Tesla purchase was a smart investment because inflation would only cause it to increase in value. Not a savvy bet.
“It’s clear used-car shoppers will no longer pay a premium for electric vehicles and, in fact, consider electric powertrains a detractor, making them less desirable—and less valuable—than traditional models,” reports analyst Karl Brauer of iSeeCars, an online car marketplace.
Mr. Biden claims credit for reducing inflation. That’s dubious, but his administration’s de facto EV mandate may have caused prices to fall by creating excess supply. Rapid EV depreciation has driven down used-car prices this year, which in turn has lowered the headline inflation rate.
Declining EV resale values are less of a concern for seniors who are happier with their cars, just as they are happy with Mr. Biden and his policies. According to a Fox News poll last week, 60% of voters under 35 disapprove of Mr. Biden compared with 45% of those over 65.
A majority of young voters said Donald Trump would better manage the economy, better handle the war between Israel and Hamas, show more mental soundness, and return normalcy and stability. Mr. Trump may not be stable, but there’s no denying prices were more stable—and there was less social and global unrest—during his presidency.
Seniors, on the other hand, favored Mr. Biden on every issue and attribute. What explains this disparity? Older people may simply find Mr. Trump’s boorishness more off-putting. But they have also benefited more from the rapid appreciation in prices of homes and other assets during the Biden presidency, while fewer have suffered the decline in real wages caused by inflation. Many are enjoying their golden years traveling while young people feel stuck in place.
Most young Americans can’t afford to buy a home, and many are struggling to find work. The employment-to-population ratio for 20- to 24-year-olds is 65.3%, a sharp drop from 68.2% before the pandemic. Unemployment among college grads between 22 and 27 was 4.7% in March—about the same as in autumn 2008—compared with 3.7% for all workers.
This is a historical aberration. Only in the past two years has unemployment among young grads been consistently higher than for the rest of the workforce. Meantime, serious auto and credit-card delinquencies among those 18 to 39 are approaching rates last seen during the 2008-09 recession.
Young people are finding the Biden presidency more costly for their finances and futures than they expected. Any surprise many want to switch back to Mr. Trump?