As I See It
Are we ready for implications of electric vehicles?
It appears electric vehicles are likely our future. I don’t own an electric vehicle, but I certainly don’t have a problem with encouraging EV’s as a way to help prevent climate change. Governments are nudging us in that direction. The recently-passed Inflation Reduction Act contains credits for those purchasing new electric vehicles. Some states, like California, are adopting zero-emission standards as a way to encourage drivers to go green. And someday we may not have a choice. General Motors is working to transition to electric vehicles exclusively by 2035. But perhaps more time should be spent considering the impacts of purchasing electric vehicles. First and foremost is the financial impact. Many states, like Wisconsin, rely on the gas tax to fund road repairs. More electric vehicles means a drop in the collection of those taxes, and therefore less money for fixing our roads. And if we don’t have to stop and get gas, then are we going to still stop at gas stations and convenience stores? What will that mean to them? If you’re not stopping for gas, you’re also not running inside to grab chips and a soda. If we’re all going to be driving electric cars, we’re going to need more charging stations, and figure out what to do with all those big batteries when they die. It is good we are concerned about the environment and developing policies to protect it, but we also need to consider and address the impacts of those decisions.
Chip DeNure
August 19, 2022 at 7:39 am
Human caused climate change is a hoax unsupported by evidence, just opinion of some scientists. And scientists can be bought just as easily as politicians. And the fact of that matter is that we have no energy sources to replace fossil fuels. Michael Moore, of all people, produced a documentary called ‘Planet of Humans’ which makes that same point. I saw a video recently of a long line of people in their electric vehicles waiting to charge up their cars. It takes quite a bit of time to charge a car. Not as convenient as just filling up with gas in a couple of minutes. But to drum home the point, it’s all a hoax. None of the dire predictions made by its believers have come true. None. They are just trying to scare us into believing their theory.
Alicia Ann
August 19, 2022 at 4:01 pm
That only touches on all the implications that an electric vehicle would have. The batteries in those vehicles are charged by electricity supplied by fossil fuels( since wind or solar could never supply the amount of electricity needed for those cars. ) Also think about our cold climate in northern states…how much quicker our outside batteries lose power on cold winter days. Think of draining the batteries while heating the vehicle . It might be ok to open the windows on hot summer days and not use the air conditioning, but you need to heat your cars in the winter! And the disposal of those batteries will destroy our environment in time! They are having trouble trying to dispose of used up solar panels and broken down wind turbines…now you add these big batteries to that. How does that help the environment. And the used electric vehicles won’t be any good for trade ins once the battery is done, because they will cost too much to replace! Just a few more things to think about.
Chip DeNure
August 20, 2022 at 7:22 am
OK, let’s say you can afford an EV. It’s January, and you want to go to Madison to see a Badger basketball game. Your charged car will get you around 200 miles before going dead. So you’ll have to get it charged again to get home safely. A charge takes about 30 minutes assuming there is no line ahead of you at the charging station. It’s cold out. Is there someplace warm where you can spend 30 minutes or longer if there’s a line of cars ahead of you waiting for a charge. And, of course, that EV is powered by electricity, which comes from that evil fossil fuel-coal.
Nick
August 22, 2022 at 8:08 am
Drive around LaCrosse and start to count all the cars parked outside. Each car will need a dedicated charging station. Students come and go.
How much will a charging station cost? If the government is involved double the cost.
I am not opposed to wind and solar but want a sound program for transferring away from gas and oil.
France has declared that natural gas and nuclear is acceptable. Germany is not shutting down their remaining nuclear plants.
The media as always stays silent in not reporting these facts.
By media, I mean the big three networks. They and many papers have sold out.
The very scary news is that schools are more concerned with woke politics than educating our children in learning basics especially how to critically think.