Also, I will get to all of the "Shouldn't we focus on better public transit instead of remaining fixated on personal car ownership?" questions in the post I'm writing for tomorrow.
The short answer is, yes, decarbonize everywhere, but also go after the biggest sources of emissions soonest and fastest. That means powerplants and cars and trucks, while the other stuff is built out to make cities with very few cars possible. And hooray, people are working on all of it!
Also too the crappy design of our cities is geared to personal transport, so even if we got more public transport the life of a pedestrian is going to be tough going anyway.
It will take decades of thoughtful redesign to fix the scars upon our country that car-centric design have wrought.
At some point, Americans have to realize that they must be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. There is zero evidence that money not spent on decarbonization the automobile sector would be spent on transportation infrastructure. Viewing everything as a zero sum game simply plays into the false narrative propagated by the billionaire capitalists.
Here in Thailand, EVs are the fastest growing segment. Most of the cars are built here. They are even starting to put electric baht busses on route. Electric motorbikes hopefully will be here soon.
Bangkok will start using congestion pricing for access next year. The biggest sources in pollution are the burning of crops up north, and in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. Can't do much about that because the small farms have no other way, and the large company owned farms won't spend the money. But they are definitely working towards electric.
I read that there’s enough straw burned in California every here sufficient to solve the homelessness problem in the entire country if it was baled and used for straw bale building.
I know there's a right wing reaction in the States in particular to fifteen minute cities, and I have a really hard time understanding why they are so opposed to it- except for their fever dreams of them becoming locked in open air prison camps, which they seem to imagine is always right round the corner in any Democratic administration.
In Rome, one of the most expensive areas is EUR, which is the closest thing I think I've ever seen to what I imagine is a US suburb. It's leafy and green and all very pleasant, but compared to anywhere else in the city it feels dead, and soulless. Though there are things there, there's no feeling that there's things there, and the reason is that it seems to have been planned out, unlike other areas of the city, for people to use cars in. The things that are there are all really spaced out, so I can't really imagine there ever being people around, or the atmosphere of other parts of the city which are vibrant and alive.
The irony, given the antipathy to fifteen minute cities, is that this area was literally designed and built by the Fascists.
Congrats on the new car! I'd love to go EV but I live super rural and in a cold climate. I just don't think it's practical for me. I am in the market for my last car. I'm a youngish old (over 55 but under 65) and my current car will be 20 years old on New Year's so I am currently researching best options for something else that might last 20 years even though I don't think I'll last that long!
I live in Maine and have a 80 mile one-way commute. I got a used Hyundai EV, and it's great even in winter. Range isn't an issue even if I couldn't charge at work.
There truly may be EV options that work for you. I got a portable Level 2 charger, which comes with 4 plug adapters so it can be used at a bunch of different outlet types.
We will be towing a small boat with the EV, and carry canoes and a ski box on top. Of course that reduces range, but it's truly not a problem.
A plug-in hybrid might fit the bill; most have 30-50 miles on a charge and then they operate like a regular hybrid. EVs and the necessary infrastructure will eventually meet just about everyone's needs, but we aren't there yet. Keep in mind that there's also a $4,000 tax credit for most used EVs, not subject to the US-content restrictions, but they have to be purchased from a participating dealer. It applies to many PHEVs too; I think it depends on battery size but don't quote me on that.
The used EV tax credit has a limit on MSRP and model year. I couldn't find what I wanted in that sector, so I bought the used EV I wanted and didn't get the tax credit.
If someone just needed a town car, the availability of used Leaf (Leaves?) and Bolts is really good, and at great prices. I was just in Tucson and I can't understand why there aren't more of those cars on the road in a city like that.
My 22-year-old car is still chugging along, but I am also starting to think that maybe it’s time for a new one. Or new to me. I keep thinking I’m gonna retire, and that I can, baby this one along until the end of my contract year, and then I keep not retiring.
I don’t know if I’m going to relocate or not. If I move to a climate where an EV is practical, I would like to go that route, with a charger and a solar array.
I've responded to others to say that I live in Maine, ski a lot, and bought a used EV. No issues at all with winter climate and EV. Ours has a heat pump, which I would recommend.
Like you hope to, we charge from our rooftop solar array.
Sunrise sunset taken out of the same window last January. We had a month where it was 35 below or colder, with several dips down to the 50s. I could see EV working as a second vehicle, with a heated garage with a 220 circuit, if a person had the luxury of just staying home when the first vehicle wouldn’t run.
I currently have a Honda CRV. So ofcourse my first choice is another but it is so much more than I need. They have a smaller version called HRV but all wheel drive is an option not a feature like it is on a CRV. Then I get I to the weeds loo,ing at Subaru, everybody seems to be a fan. So I'm looking at the workhorse Outback but I love the look of a Crosstrek. All, if you go base model are in my price range. The only requirement I have is all wheel drive. Front wheel drive may have been a revolution when it was introduced but all wheel drive is where it's at in snowy cIimes.
See Forester is not even on my radar as its a larger vehicle than I need.. My most favorite car I ever owned was was a 05 Chevy Aveo, I lived in North Carolina when I owned it. Find me an Aveo sized car with all wheel drive and I might die of happiness! I don't even think k they make cars that small anymore.
The 2002 Forester is a whole another kettle of fish compared to the new ones. I have a friend who had one that was probably about it 2012. She’s had so much trouble with it, and she finally ditched it.
She was in my car once, and I filled it up, and wrote down the amount of gas I’d gotten and just kind of muttered to myself as I mathed up the mileage. She overheard me and said, what? Get out of here. That can’t be right. And I handed her a little notebook where I wrote all my stuff down. My old beater with a heater got substantially better mileage than her shiny new all the bells and whistles car.
More significant to me is how well it handles on ice and snow. I am super super happy with this car.
PAB plans to open up public lands out in the western states to build massive housing developments, which will need maga-infrastructure. The road(s) to hell, paved with bad intentions... will be west of the grain belt.
This is the one disagreement I have with liberalism- this notion that car owners are evil. I like driving my car. Maybe I'm MAGA and don't know it. But I'd rather live in a rural place than have a hateful next door neighbor just one sheet of drywall away from me.
We live very close to a light rail station and we like using it. We also have an SUV, because we need to haul stuff to a parade site for 9 or 10 people on Sat. The people will use light rail to get to the parade, we get to drive all the chairs, blankets, coolers, etc.
My best friend is forever trying to get me to use Lyft and/or Uber. But all those horror stories scare me too much. So for now it's the city bus (which so far works pretty well) and occasionally dealing with the local transport van when I have to go to an appointment.
Oh 100%! A couple of years ago (circa 2021 I think) the local bus system decided to do away with all day passes (For about $3 you could ride the bus all day. Reduced fare was $1.50) supposedly because they weren't making enough money. Personally I think it's because when COVID hit, the bus system cancelled all fares and you could ride for free, and the people in the ritzier neighborhoods complained that homeless people were hanging around. But your idea would help a lot I think.
America is the Land of the Free and the Home of the Two Car Garage. We have Ford and the rest to thank for turning buses, trolleys and trains into the suckfest they have become. They will fight mass transit to the last redoubt to preserve their monopoly on transport.
Plus, the US has been built SO HEAVILY in favor of cars, it's going to take a LOT of work to fix that. I am a Denver native, and we once had one of the best public transit systems on the planet - then the oil and car companies bought it out and deliberately destroyed it. We weren't the only place things like that happened. Getting more cars to be EVs is a very good way to start here.
Chattanooga, TN, being the home of the Tennessee Valley Authority, is fairly well loaded with ev infrastructure. I've seen chargers all over town, and the downtown buses looping around the city's center are all ev and have been for a long while.
The entire US market, ever since we built interstates instead of trains in the 50’s, is built for personalized individual transport. Yes mass transit would be better, but joining the good team means there will be another consumer on the road looking for electric charging. This will only further incentivize the building of the infrastructure to make more electric car chargers. This will help others get over fears of range anxiety.
Bought our KIA EV6 in Feb of ‘22. At the time that dealer refused to allow us the option of $7500 off when leasing. So we bought it instead and got personal tax break instead. 🤷🏻♂️
We love our EV6. Surprised by it’s power. Encouraged by the extremely low cost of home charging. $ 1.50 to $ 5.00 of course depending on how low the charge in the EV 6 is when re charged.
The feeling that I have some control over the cost and convenience of re fueling is game changing.
I got an EV6 in October. I don't know whose idea it was, but between the factory and the fed, I got a 15,000 cash rebate against my lease on the spot, no applications, no questions. I know, but that's not a typo. It's a ridiculous deal on a car I would've wanted without the rebate.
Just a little shillin' for my fave new car. And the rear hatch on mine even opens and closes with the key fob so I'm never humiliated in the Walmart parking lot well sometimes I am but not by my hatch.
Congrats, Dok. And why no, I'm not jealous at all, not even a little bit. (I'm a demon. I lied). Alas, my major expenditure right now is House, which doesn't leave the option of adding Car to the list; at least not unless/until I can get these freeloading kiddos to start chipping in on the reg. Plus my little Chevy wagon still has roughly 100k miles before it's like to need serious work - tho I do hope to trade it in on something less fossil fuel dependent well before I hit that mark.
Damn! Misread the headline. Thought you said "Electric Guitar". Which would have been far more interesting. I have a Strat - and would definitely recommend. It's very environmentally friendly - on account of there's no driving involved; needs a lot less energy to manufacture; and isn't using up (very much of) the planet's finite resources. It's also a lot cheaper than a car - and more fun.
EVs isn't the answer. "No cars" is the answer. And we will get there - when we run out of the raw materials needed to make them.
At $35 per a kilowatt hour Sodium-Ion batteries should be almost free. They are not quite as strong as lithium-Ion, but if the price is low enough, the deal becomes too good to pass up.
"Trump will certainly be hearing from Republican legislators and governors who don’t want the jobs to go away." But will he listen to them, or to the Kremlin operatives surrounding him that would like for the jobs to go away? Also, I have an 2024 EV6, it's real nice. I also liked my more sedan style all-electric 2023 Nissan Ariya, but it got totaled by a hailstorm.
We gave up our car in January. I've had to resort to Zipcar a couple of times in the meanwhile (they suck), but mostly have been able to get by without a car at all. The idea of living somewhere where I really needed a car is just nightmarish to me.
My one big gripe with EVs is that, as a bicycle rider in a nation of many, many bicycle riders, you can't hear the bastards coming up behind you, especially on the many narrow roads so often found in the noisy city. I wish they would put a little speaker in the front somewhere playing the sound of an internal combustion engine so we can hear them coming. Having a silent car appear seemingly out of nowhere suddenly along side you can really give you palpitations.
OK. My wife has often said that the universe loves me.
But in reality, I find that to succeed in a capitalistic society, it pays to read the fine print and take action in a timely manner.
And for me, that applies ESPECIALLY with EV's.
I'm a technology-focused guy from Detroit. My dad worked "on the line" as a craftsman metal finisher in the old Fisher Body Fleetwood plant in SW Detroit building Cadillacs. That means that if anyone screwed up a car while it was being built, he would make the damage "go away".
Rather than following my dad into the plant as so many of the upper-lower-classes of the auto industry folk did, I went for a degree in the hallowed ivy-covered walls of MSU, where I spent 5 years drinking consistently but still graduated with a Dual BA. This is where I learned to understand policy and fine print. Because, as a troublesome urchin like me, OF COURSE I found a way to get myself kicked out of college but still remained! (But, that is a different story...)
My dad was so proud when I graduated because "I would never end up working for GM".
Go figure: I ended up working in the "old" GM Headquarters building, as part of EDS, under GM ownership.
But I digress... this is about EV's.
My first EV was a 2017 Chevy Bolt. You know the one that the far right loved to rip on because a few caught fire? Had that one for 4 years, loved nearly every moment of it (it was FWD and I was volunteering as a Mountain Host at Keystone in Colorado... so yes, EV's do well in snow)... but GM was SO concerned about their EV reputation that: If you were concerned that they had not yet found a solution (after two misguided attempts) to the battery fire thingie that they were doing a quiet buy-back.
Not a recall... but a way to make the potentially outspoken critics go away.
I quickly calculated depreciation value ($20K) vs, full refund value ($42K) and chose to file the paperwork.
In the end, I drove that car 4 years, and profited $13K from the experience, as GM refunded full purchase price. I got to keep the $7500 Fed and $5000 state incentive. Thanks GM!
Charging at home (and making SO much on a car) had spoiled me! :)
On Oct 14th, I acquired my second EV.
Living in Colorado, there were a LOT of incentives. Being the technical read-the-fine-print guy, I made a spreadsheet: What cars qualified for incentives, what were their prices and which incentives did they qualify for.
While you think that ALL EV's qualify, that is NOT the case. Only cars with certain battery types, built with content from certain countries, at a particular price point (or less) qualify.
The list was surprisingly short. And yes, a Cadillac actually qualified as the price point was very close to the other GM offerings, the Equinox and the Blazer... but these were not vehicles like the Korean designed Chevy Bolt. They were oversized and overstuffed... something that I have never grown to appreciate in US auto design.
The VW ID.4 was the top contender for a while, but they had a stop sale / recall just as I was considering it. so that was out, as the incentives were time bound.
And that is how I ended up owning a Blue Tesla Model Y Performance. In the Tesla world that is referred to as an MYP. it is SUV-ish and AWD, and yes, stupid-fast.
Now you would think that car was expensive. But here is where the fun starts:
First, the Federal $7500 and CO State $5350 state incentives applied and were built right into the deal.
Then came the CO VXC (vehicle exchange "cash for clunkers"). I didn't have a clunker, so I bought a hooptie 2002 Buick Century with no dashboard lights and windows that wouldn't go up. I spent $1000 to get the $6000 incentive, which was also that was built into the purchase.
I drove that Buick twice: Once to buy it, and second to drop it off at the Tesla dealership. Comfortable seats. I imagined cruising down Woodward...
Xcel Energy decided to kick in a $5500 incentive, likely getting carbon credits for doing so.
And then, since it was the end of the year AND Tesla had announced that in 2025 there would be a "facelift" to the Model Y, they decided that they would apply a $4200 incentive to spur sales of existing stock.
Finally, Tesla has a referral program: $1000 off if you get a referral, and the person who referred me offered a $200 kick-back for selecting him as the referrer (because they get tesla-credit as well).
So: $52,000 car for $25,00. Because paperwork.
And yep... still think that Elon guy is a dick. Nice car, though.
Also, I will get to all of the "Shouldn't we focus on better public transit instead of remaining fixated on personal car ownership?" questions in the post I'm writing for tomorrow.
The short answer is, yes, decarbonize everywhere, but also go after the biggest sources of emissions soonest and fastest. That means powerplants and cars and trucks, while the other stuff is built out to make cities with very few cars possible. And hooray, people are working on all of it!
Also too the crappy design of our cities is geared to personal transport, so even if we got more public transport the life of a pedestrian is going to be tough going anyway.
It will take decades of thoughtful redesign to fix the scars upon our country that car-centric design have wrought.
See: https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustBikes
At some point, Americans have to realize that they must be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. There is zero evidence that money not spent on decarbonization the automobile sector would be spent on transportation infrastructure. Viewing everything as a zero sum game simply plays into the false narrative propagated by the billionaire capitalists.
Here in Thailand, EVs are the fastest growing segment. Most of the cars are built here. They are even starting to put electric baht busses on route. Electric motorbikes hopefully will be here soon.
Bangkok will start using congestion pricing for access next year. The biggest sources in pollution are the burning of crops up north, and in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. Can't do much about that because the small farms have no other way, and the large company owned farms won't spend the money. But they are definitely working towards electric.
I read that there’s enough straw burned in California every here sufficient to solve the homelessness problem in the entire country if it was baled and used for straw bale building.
I wonder about the possibility of that, since I'd doesn't rain much there. Wet hay bales can be unhealthy.
Hay # straw
What specifically are they burning?
I know there's a right wing reaction in the States in particular to fifteen minute cities, and I have a really hard time understanding why they are so opposed to it- except for their fever dreams of them becoming locked in open air prison camps, which they seem to imagine is always right round the corner in any Democratic administration.
In Rome, one of the most expensive areas is EUR, which is the closest thing I think I've ever seen to what I imagine is a US suburb. It's leafy and green and all very pleasant, but compared to anywhere else in the city it feels dead, and soulless. Though there are things there, there's no feeling that there's things there, and the reason is that it seems to have been planned out, unlike other areas of the city, for people to use cars in. The things that are there are all really spaced out, so I can't really imagine there ever being people around, or the atmosphere of other parts of the city which are vibrant and alive.
The irony, given the antipathy to fifteen minute cities, is that this area was literally designed and built by the Fascists.
Nice car. Good Luck w/it!
Congrats on the new car! I'd love to go EV but I live super rural and in a cold climate. I just don't think it's practical for me. I am in the market for my last car. I'm a youngish old (over 55 but under 65) and my current car will be 20 years old on New Year's so I am currently researching best options for something else that might last 20 years even though I don't think I'll last that long!
I live in Maine and have a 80 mile one-way commute. I got a used Hyundai EV, and it's great even in winter. Range isn't an issue even if I couldn't charge at work.
There truly may be EV options that work for you. I got a portable Level 2 charger, which comes with 4 plug adapters so it can be used at a bunch of different outlet types.
We will be towing a small boat with the EV, and carry canoes and a ski box on top. Of course that reduces range, but it's truly not a problem.
A plug-in hybrid might fit the bill; most have 30-50 miles on a charge and then they operate like a regular hybrid. EVs and the necessary infrastructure will eventually meet just about everyone's needs, but we aren't there yet. Keep in mind that there's also a $4,000 tax credit for most used EVs, not subject to the US-content restrictions, but they have to be purchased from a participating dealer. It applies to many PHEVs too; I think it depends on battery size but don't quote me on that.
The used EV tax credit has a limit on MSRP and model year. I couldn't find what I wanted in that sector, so I bought the used EV I wanted and didn't get the tax credit.
If someone just needed a town car, the availability of used Leaf (Leaves?) and Bolts is really good, and at great prices. I was just in Tucson and I can't understand why there aren't more of those cars on the road in a city like that.
You sound so much like me!
Keep us informed on how your research goes.
My 22-year-old car is still chugging along, but I am also starting to think that maybe it’s time for a new one. Or new to me. I keep thinking I’m gonna retire, and that I can, baby this one along until the end of my contract year, and then I keep not retiring.
I don’t know if I’m going to relocate or not. If I move to a climate where an EV is practical, I would like to go that route, with a charger and a solar array.
I've responded to others to say that I live in Maine, ski a lot, and bought a used EV. No issues at all with winter climate and EV. Ours has a heat pump, which I would recommend.
Like you hope to, we charge from our rooftop solar array.
Sunrise sunset taken out of the same window last January. We had a month where it was 35 below or colder, with several dips down to the 50s. I could see EV working as a second vehicle, with a heated garage with a 220 circuit, if a person had the luxury of just staying home when the first vehicle wouldn’t run.
https://substack.com/profile/1687878-1d57a1d5931d/note/c-80485242?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=106di.
I currently have a Honda CRV. So ofcourse my first choice is another but it is so much more than I need. They have a smaller version called HRV but all wheel drive is an option not a feature like it is on a CRV. Then I get I to the weeds loo,ing at Subaru, everybody seems to be a fan. So I'm looking at the workhorse Outback but I love the look of a Crosstrek. All, if you go base model are in my price range. The only requirement I have is all wheel drive. Front wheel drive may have been a revolution when it was introduced but all wheel drive is where it's at in snowy cIimes.
With really good tires. My Forester has about 220K miles on it, and I still think very highly of it.
See Forester is not even on my radar as its a larger vehicle than I need.. My most favorite car I ever owned was was a 05 Chevy Aveo, I lived in North Carolina when I owned it. Find me an Aveo sized car with all wheel drive and I might die of happiness! I don't even think k they make cars that small anymore.
The 2002 Forester is a whole another kettle of fish compared to the new ones. I have a friend who had one that was probably about it 2012. She’s had so much trouble with it, and she finally ditched it.
She was in my car once, and I filled it up, and wrote down the amount of gas I’d gotten and just kind of muttered to myself as I mathed up the mileage. She overheard me and said, what? Get out of here. That can’t be right. And I handed her a little notebook where I wrote all my stuff down. My old beater with a heater got substantially better mileage than her shiny new all the bells and whistles car.
More significant to me is how well it handles on ice and snow. I am super super happy with this car.
PAB plans to open up public lands out in the western states to build massive housing developments, which will need maga-infrastructure. The road(s) to hell, paved with bad intentions... will be west of the grain belt.
Sounds like Karl Urban's version of Judge Dredd
People should stop trying to apologize for cars. They’re awesome.
Just enjoy it! Doesn’t mean you can also advocate for better public transportation
This is the one disagreement I have with liberalism- this notion that car owners are evil. I like driving my car. Maybe I'm MAGA and don't know it. But I'd rather live in a rural place than have a hateful next door neighbor just one sheet of drywall away from me.
That seems like a ridiculous strawman argument about a liberalism that I've never heard seriously advocated for.
We live very close to a light rail station and we like using it. We also have an SUV, because we need to haul stuff to a parade site for 9 or 10 people on Sat. The people will use light rail to get to the parade, we get to drive all the chairs, blankets, coolers, etc.
"You'll shoot your eye out, kid!"
Dok, consider yourself lucky that you didn't get stuck with Musk's newest iteration of the Cybertruck.
https://supercarblondie.com/wp-content/uploads/Bizarre-Honda-Custom-for-sale-on-Facebook-Marketplace.webp
Better than a cybertruck.
It looks like Cyber-Thing.
So Fugly
It would be really nice to be able to get places without a car. How I envy those of you who can partake of the shady delights of Lyft. Fuck Uber.
I probably live in one of the best areas for public transit in the country, but it still sucks.
My best friend is forever trying to get me to use Lyft and/or Uber. But all those horror stories scare me too much. So for now it's the city bus (which so far works pretty well) and occasionally dealing with the local transport van when I have to go to an appointment.
Yeah, I think they should pay a certain amount of their local receipts to the local transit authorities.
Oh 100%! A couple of years ago (circa 2021 I think) the local bus system decided to do away with all day passes (For about $3 you could ride the bus all day. Reduced fare was $1.50) supposedly because they weren't making enough money. Personally I think it's because when COVID hit, the bus system cancelled all fares and you could ride for free, and the people in the ritzier neighborhoods complained that homeless people were hanging around. But your idea would help a lot I think.
America is the Land of the Free and the Home of the Two Car Garage. We have Ford and the rest to thank for turning buses, trolleys and trains into the suckfest they have become. They will fight mass transit to the last redoubt to preserve their monopoly on transport.
Some countries prefer to be free from danger, the USA prefers to be free from choice of mode of transport.
Or rather we made a choice. Cars for everyone and suburbs designed only for them. Massive parking structures in cities and minimal mass transport.
Plus, the US has been built SO HEAVILY in favor of cars, it's going to take a LOT of work to fix that. I am a Denver native, and we once had one of the best public transit systems on the planet - then the oil and car companies bought it out and deliberately destroyed it. We weren't the only place things like that happened. Getting more cars to be EVs is a very good way to start here.
GM and Goodyear and a couple other companies did that here.
THIS. The USA was built for cars, and turning that around will be tough.
Phx was built for cars. And we have zillions of miles of suburbs. xurbs and rural areas with nothing or next to nothing.
Well, it was built for trains, and then REbuilt for cars.
I am enjoying this coverage!
Hello, Thornton!
#NoCatUpgradesForeseeable
Dok, you look like a whole ad next to that car, lol
No cat upgrades necessary
Seems like there ought to be a firmware update at some point.
This is called brushing, I think.
You must be a good servant of Bast.
Chattanooga, TN, being the home of the Tennessee Valley Authority, is fairly well loaded with ev infrastructure. I've seen chargers all over town, and the downtown buses looping around the city's center are all ev and have been for a long while.
Dang gubmint!
Dang Yankee gubmint!
At least Frankie was a Democrat. In 1932.
I have heard of your Choo Choo. Pretty cool!
Not only is the electricity socialized, but so is the city owned low cost high speed internet provider.
The entire US market, ever since we built interstates instead of trains in the 50’s, is built for personalized individual transport. Yes mass transit would be better, but joining the good team means there will be another consumer on the road looking for electric charging. This will only further incentivize the building of the infrastructure to make more electric car chargers. This will help others get over fears of range anxiety.
Interstates were a twofer. Travel and military airstrips.
And racism
https://youtu.be/HoQyR_DI62A?si=bQhSRby92vTyZ-Cs
It seems more civilian planes use them for emergency landings. With mixed results.
I suspect the military intent would not involve “simultaneously”
True. I have never of them shutting down a stretch to simulate a war time runway though.
https://calnat.ucanr.edu/cs/
Bought our KIA EV6 in Feb of ‘22. At the time that dealer refused to allow us the option of $7500 off when leasing. So we bought it instead and got personal tax break instead. 🤷🏻♂️
We love our EV6. Surprised by it’s power. Encouraged by the extremely low cost of home charging. $ 1.50 to $ 5.00 of course depending on how low the charge in the EV 6 is when re charged.
The feeling that I have some control over the cost and convenience of re fueling is game changing.
I got an EV6 in October. I don't know whose idea it was, but between the factory and the fed, I got a 15,000 cash rebate against my lease on the spot, no applications, no questions. I know, but that's not a typo. It's a ridiculous deal on a car I would've wanted without the rebate.
Just a little shillin' for my fave new car. And the rear hatch on mine even opens and closes with the key fob so I'm never humiliated in the Walmart parking lot well sometimes I am but not by my hatch.
Congrats & enjoy! I love my EV6. I will never go back to an ICE vehicle.
I Sing The Feline Electric. Mine upgrade themselves. Then they demand commensurate leveling up from their human servants.
Nice car! Who is that hottie standing beside it?
Congrats, Dok. And why no, I'm not jealous at all, not even a little bit. (I'm a demon. I lied). Alas, my major expenditure right now is House, which doesn't leave the option of adding Car to the list; at least not unless/until I can get these freeloading kiddos to start chipping in on the reg. Plus my little Chevy wagon still has roughly 100k miles before it's like to need serious work - tho I do hope to trade it in on something less fossil fuel dependent well before I hit that mark.
Damn! Misread the headline. Thought you said "Electric Guitar". Which would have been far more interesting. I have a Strat - and would definitely recommend. It's very environmentally friendly - on account of there's no driving involved; needs a lot less energy to manufacture; and isn't using up (very much of) the planet's finite resources. It's also a lot cheaper than a car - and more fun.
EVs isn't the answer. "No cars" is the answer. And we will get there - when we run out of the raw materials needed to make them.
"EVs isn't the answer. 'No cars' is the answer."
Funny you should mention that! I actually addressed that in this follow-up piece. Enjoy!
https://www.wonkette.com/p/why-are-we-doing-evs-when-the-problem
B-but Electric Cars don't travel very far or fast, and people will think you're gay if you drive them. /s
You look positively Tim Walzy in that photo!
At $35 per a kilowatt hour Sodium-Ion batteries should be almost free. They are not quite as strong as lithium-Ion, but if the price is low enough, the deal becomes too good to pass up.
"Trump will certainly be hearing from Republican legislators and governors who don’t want the jobs to go away." But will he listen to them, or to the Kremlin operatives surrounding him that would like for the jobs to go away? Also, I have an 2024 EV6, it's real nice. I also liked my more sedan style all-electric 2023 Nissan Ariya, but it got totaled by a hailstorm.
We gave up our car in January. I've had to resort to Zipcar a couple of times in the meanwhile (they suck), but mostly have been able to get by without a car at all. The idea of living somewhere where I really needed a car is just nightmarish to me.
Looks good on ya, Doc!
Nice looking car Dok, but I still miss Vlad the Impala:(
Vlad is still with us, but hasn't been a daily driver for like a decade. Vlad is now in a nice storage unit, out of the weather!
My one big gripe with EVs is that, as a bicycle rider in a nation of many, many bicycle riders, you can't hear the bastards coming up behind you, especially on the many narrow roads so often found in the noisy city. I wish they would put a little speaker in the front somewhere playing the sound of an internal combustion engine so we can hear them coming. Having a silent car appear seemingly out of nowhere suddenly along side you can really give you palpitations.
OK. My wife has often said that the universe loves me.
But in reality, I find that to succeed in a capitalistic society, it pays to read the fine print and take action in a timely manner.
And for me, that applies ESPECIALLY with EV's.
I'm a technology-focused guy from Detroit. My dad worked "on the line" as a craftsman metal finisher in the old Fisher Body Fleetwood plant in SW Detroit building Cadillacs. That means that if anyone screwed up a car while it was being built, he would make the damage "go away".
Rather than following my dad into the plant as so many of the upper-lower-classes of the auto industry folk did, I went for a degree in the hallowed ivy-covered walls of MSU, where I spent 5 years drinking consistently but still graduated with a Dual BA. This is where I learned to understand policy and fine print. Because, as a troublesome urchin like me, OF COURSE I found a way to get myself kicked out of college but still remained! (But, that is a different story...)
My dad was so proud when I graduated because "I would never end up working for GM".
Go figure: I ended up working in the "old" GM Headquarters building, as part of EDS, under GM ownership.
But I digress... this is about EV's.
My first EV was a 2017 Chevy Bolt. You know the one that the far right loved to rip on because a few caught fire? Had that one for 4 years, loved nearly every moment of it (it was FWD and I was volunteering as a Mountain Host at Keystone in Colorado... so yes, EV's do well in snow)... but GM was SO concerned about their EV reputation that: If you were concerned that they had not yet found a solution (after two misguided attempts) to the battery fire thingie that they were doing a quiet buy-back.
Not a recall... but a way to make the potentially outspoken critics go away.
I quickly calculated depreciation value ($20K) vs, full refund value ($42K) and chose to file the paperwork.
In the end, I drove that car 4 years, and profited $13K from the experience, as GM refunded full purchase price. I got to keep the $7500 Fed and $5000 state incentive. Thanks GM!
Charging at home (and making SO much on a car) had spoiled me! :)
On Oct 14th, I acquired my second EV.
Living in Colorado, there were a LOT of incentives. Being the technical read-the-fine-print guy, I made a spreadsheet: What cars qualified for incentives, what were their prices and which incentives did they qualify for.
While you think that ALL EV's qualify, that is NOT the case. Only cars with certain battery types, built with content from certain countries, at a particular price point (or less) qualify.
The list was surprisingly short. And yes, a Cadillac actually qualified as the price point was very close to the other GM offerings, the Equinox and the Blazer... but these were not vehicles like the Korean designed Chevy Bolt. They were oversized and overstuffed... something that I have never grown to appreciate in US auto design.
The VW ID.4 was the top contender for a while, but they had a stop sale / recall just as I was considering it. so that was out, as the incentives were time bound.
And that is how I ended up owning a Blue Tesla Model Y Performance. In the Tesla world that is referred to as an MYP. it is SUV-ish and AWD, and yes, stupid-fast.
Now you would think that car was expensive. But here is where the fun starts:
First, the Federal $7500 and CO State $5350 state incentives applied and were built right into the deal.
Then came the CO VXC (vehicle exchange "cash for clunkers"). I didn't have a clunker, so I bought a hooptie 2002 Buick Century with no dashboard lights and windows that wouldn't go up. I spent $1000 to get the $6000 incentive, which was also that was built into the purchase.
I drove that Buick twice: Once to buy it, and second to drop it off at the Tesla dealership. Comfortable seats. I imagined cruising down Woodward...
Xcel Energy decided to kick in a $5500 incentive, likely getting carbon credits for doing so.
And then, since it was the end of the year AND Tesla had announced that in 2025 there would be a "facelift" to the Model Y, they decided that they would apply a $4200 incentive to spur sales of existing stock.
Finally, Tesla has a referral program: $1000 off if you get a referral, and the person who referred me offered a $200 kick-back for selecting him as the referrer (because they get tesla-credit as well).
So: $52,000 car for $25,00. Because paperwork.
And yep... still think that Elon guy is a dick. Nice car, though.