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The week's question
In March 2025, in the thread "Re: OT, out", Umm asked the members: "Do you think it is because America is made up of magical soil that makes businesses based in America magically profitable?" This week it is put to everyone again. The button below opens the small thread re-asking it - read what others have said so far, then give your own answer as an ordinary reply.
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Personal Finance / Macroeconomic Trends & Risks
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Author: Goofyhoofy ✸✹🐝🐝 HONORARY
SHREWD
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Number: of 4582 
Subject: Re: Partisan divide on EVs
Date: 05/08/24 10:07 AM
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Our electric grid can't handle the load imposed on it by battery car ubiquity, nor do we have, currently, the generation capacity, even could the grid carry it.

Actually, most EVs charge at night in people’s homes (up to 80% by research data) when the grid is underutilized compared to early morning when coffee pots go on and late afternoon with air conditioners. Additionally, EV’s may make up a significant part of the *solution* to the issue, by providing battery power locally rather than having to transport electrons in from out of state.

This NYT article demonstrates how “battery power” is helping manage the load in California:
nytimes.com - Battery electricity solar california texas
The article is about “large batteries”, but EV’s are beginning to include 2-way batteries which allow a utility to tap them during peaking conditions. This is not some fantasy, there are businesses forming to allow this sort of “energy transfer” and paying EV owners to do it.

Producing the battery car components is enormously destructive”…

Yep. But when all is said and done, it’s still less destructive that a gas powered car over its lifetime.

Wall Street Journal:

 Are Electric Cars Really Better for the Environment?
EVs produce fewer emissions overall than their gas-powered counterparts, but there are caveats

Are EVs really better for the environment, though? A close look at all the
factors shows they are—but it’s a complex answer with some asterisks.

wsj.com - Are electric cars really better for the environment

Environmental Protection Agency

 Myth #2: Electric vehicles are worse for the climate than gasoline cars because of 
battery manufacturing.

FACT: The greenhouse gas emissions associated with an electric vehicle over its lifetime
are typically lower than those from an average gasoline-powered vehicle, even when
accounting for manufacturing.

Some studies have shown that making a typical EV can create more carbon pollution than
making a gasoline car. This is because of the additional energy required to manufacture an EV’s
battery. Still, over the lifetime of the vehicle, total GHG emissions associated with manufacturing,

charging, and driving an EV are typically lower than the total GHGs
associated with a gasoline car. That’s because EVs have zero tailpipe emissions and
are typically responsible for significantly fewer GHGs during operation (see Myth 1 above)

epa.gov - Electric vehicle myths

MIT analysis:

 Are electric vehicles definitely better for the climate than gas-powered cars?

Yes: although electric cars' batteries make them more carbon-intensive to manufacture than
gas cars, they more than make up for it by driving much cleaner under nearly any conditions.
climate.mit.edu - Are electric vehicles definitely better climate gas powered cars

There’s the short range of battery cars and the long time to recharge…”

Newer models are coming out with far more range that gas cars, and charging times at power chargers are between 10-20 minutes.

 Toyota announces new electric car battery which could cut charging time to under 10 minutes 

euronews.com - Toyota announces new EV battery which could cut charging time to under minutes

For the record, EVs catch fire less often than ICE cars and are somewhat cheaper to operate. They are not without faults, obviously, and tire wear is one of them. They also don’t pay gas taxes for road upkeep, something states are dealing with by charging (much) more for registration renewal.

Anyway, you seem to have been convinced by a whole bunch of myths and shibboleths. Are you a Republican who only gets their news from siloed news sources?
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