I think they need to figure out an energy storage technology that is cost effective and doesn't degrade significantly within the expected lifespan of a vehicle like Li-Ion and LiFePO do. I'll grant that the anti-EV folks are using this point as a club to beat people over the head with, but it's not an insignificant or solved problem -- pretty non-negotiably within five years of manufacture people will need to start replacing their EV batteries, which significantly contributes to waste, further environmental collapse via the ecological disasters that are lithium and cobalt mines.
First off, that's right-wing FUD which I'm surprised you believe.
The real-world experience is much different.
Second, LiFePO4 lasts MUCH longer than regular li-ion. Calendar life can exceed 20 years, and they're good for 2,000+ charge cycles. They also don't explode or catch fire. They're starting to become the go-to battery for all EVs, except those where people are obsessed with getting every last mile of range.
Sodium-ion, which lasts upwards of 5,000 cycles and doesn't catch fire, is now in mass production. That pretty much fixes all the battery issues with EVs. If you have salt mines you can make batteries.
I agree about the waste, but we'll have the infrastructure in place to recycle lithium batteries soon, same as we do for lead acid.
Not to even get into the financial aspect of it. People are already regularly left with the hard choice of having to get a whole new car when they can't afford a head gasket replacement on an ICE vehicle. We have to think on the impact this will have on the poor, working and otherwise. Imagine when it's something they can't ward off with the nebulous concept of "keeping up with maintenance."
It's a sore point with me that in this country poor people should be forced to own a car at all. Car ownership is helping to keep them poor, especially with average new car prices now over $50K. The best thing for the working poor, short of better public transit, would be a flood of $10K or $15K EVs, plus a refundable tax credit of at least $7,500 for purchasing an EV. The out the door cost for a new EV then could be as little as $2,500. Besides costing less to purchase, the operating costs are far lower than ICE vehicles, and there's little keeping up with maintenance beyond tires, washer fluid and wiper blades. Of course, the GOP will fight this because they hate EVs, and they like to keep the working poor down so they have a ready source of near-slave labor.
Those BYD cars likely will never pass NHTSA standards for sale here stateside as they are. Add to that the tariffs on Chinese goods likely getting worse, not better in the coming years and that little $10k EV of theirs will end up well over $25k by the time it comes for sale here, if it's ever even allowed to.
We can fight the tariffs based on the fact they're making these vehicles much more expensive for the working poor who would buy them. American automakers are the only ones who want the tariffs. Maybe they should try making $10K EVs instead. I'm not sure about the NHTSA standards but some are selling in Europe which has more stringent standards than we do. Even if it adds a few thousand to the price $15K is still better than $40K.
Nevermind the fact that a lot of folks, myself included, want nothing to do with the digital shitshow that has become the modern car interior. Even some ICE cars are being infected with this touchscreen for AC BS. I thank Toyota every day I get in my car for being so slow to adopt new ideas because in my base model 2018 RAV4, I still have real gauges, a turn-key ignition, and the three knobs for AC. The only really whiz-bang features I have are bluetooth and a backup camera, and one of those I think became a requirement here in the states around the time of this thing's manufacture or else I would never have even gotten it, most likely. I don't like steer by wire at all and only begrudgingly have accepted throttle by wire because nothing has used a throttle cable in almost a decade and a half at this point.
Backup cameras are a good thing but I'm surprised they allow touch screens in cars. They're a driver distraction. I have a different view of steer and throttle by wire. One reason I never had much enthusiasm to drive, besides living in a place where I didn't need to, is I found the controls hugely awkward. If I had to design a control system, I'd use something similar to a fighter plane joy stick. Move left to turn left, right to turn right, backwards to accelerate, forwards to brake. You can do combinations of turns and acceleration/deceleration also. Top dead center would simply maintain the speed you're going in a straight line. No need for cruise control. Streering wheels and pedals harken back to an era where these things were mechanically necessary. I'm just surprised car control systems never had a revamp once we could do things electronically. For the disabled, or those with CTS like myself, a control system like I described would be much less taxing. It would probably be cheaper to implement also. I think it's ridiculous to have to turn a steering wheel a gazillion times to parallel park, for example. Also, the steering wheel is a huge hazard in a collision. Getting rid of it makes vehicles much safer.
A big pet peeve of mine with newer vehicle interiors is the god awful outgassing of all the plastic. Invariably, when I'm in any car made within the last 15 to 20 years I get nauseous inside of 15 minutes. This just didn't happen in older cars. I wish we would use stuff like stainless steel and fiberglass seats for car interiors, just like mass transit vehicles use. I never get sick on a train or bus from outgassing.
I'm not anti-EV, I just don't see them becoming practical for my use anytime soon where I live. I'll likely be running an ICE car well into the 2030s.
Rural or exurbs are likely the last places EVs will become practical but that's fine. We'll get most of the positive impact by pushing them in large cities and inner ring suburbs, where the pollution from large concentrations of vehicles cause the most harm. Ditto for noise pollution. It'll be nice not hearing the loud engines from idiots drag racing on streets. Better yet, maybe mandate governing vehicles to the speed limit, at least on local surface streets.
The average vehicle is about $40K nowadays. A nicer vehicle is $60-80K.
