To EV or Not to EV

This is a follow-on to my earlier “Good Intentions” post. The constant barrage of electric vehicle (EV) commercials and the calls to ban gas stoves and even gas hookups for new construction pushed the words that have been swirling in my brain all the way out of my fingertips. While I am all for protecting the environment, it seems as though these good-intentioned measures are being pushed out before they are feasible on the planned scale.

Let’s look at EVs. They are all the rage now with government agencies, both state and federal, trying to outdo each other on mandates, and manufacturers racing to re-create their lines around EVs. In a perfect world, this would be all well and good, but we don’t live in a perfect world. And if we did, we wouldn’t have this issue anyway.

Taking a deeper dive into what it takes to build and operate EVs, it becomes clear that there are many issues to address concerning the actual benefit to the environment and the feasibility of going all electric. First the feasibility issue. The current U.S. power grid – and I suspect this goes for most other countries – can barely handle the existing load during current normal times. Without significant upgrading, that will take a decade or more, assuming we start today and invest heavily, there is no way it will be able to handle the proposed exponential jump in EVs required by state mandates and federal targets that kick-in much sooner. Remember how CA asked people not to charge their EVs during Labor Day Weekend just a few days after announcing the EV mandate for 2030?

Capacity aside, reliability is the next item to address. What happens when there are power outages? Do we shut society down since no one will be able to drive? In parts of CA the electricity is cut at times during fire season to keep electric lines from sparking a fire. Same question, what are residents supposed to do? If first responder vehicles go electric what happens in a natural disaster when the power grid is damaged? We were without electricity for 11 days when Sandy hit NJ.

Finally, what about the source of the electricity to charge all these EVs? The U.S. (and most of the world) is still relying on coal, oil, and natural gas to produce most of our electricity. Without conversion to clean energy, all we are doing by adding load to the grid is shifting the environmental damage due to exhaust away from the vehicles and back onto the source of their power. While vehicle exhaust is toxic, mining those sources is more toxic and each method produces greenhouse gases of its own.

On to those batteries. How do manufacturers get all the materials required like lithium, copper, plastic, and other metals and chemicals? If you do an internet search you will find that many of the materials are mined in poor countries with little regard for the workers, citizens, or environment. Remember all the toxic sites across this country created chemical manufacturers and mining operations? Now they’re in other countries, conveniently out of sight of EV proponents. Beyond that, what is to be done with the dead batteries full of toxic materials? Not to mention that replacement batteries are frequently more expensive than the EV itself (if you’ve purchased an extra battery for your electric leaf blower or lawnmower you know it’s the same for those tools).

Last point to consider is the limited range of EVs – approx. 300 miles under perfect conditions – and the lack of charging infrastructure incorporated into our road and highway systems. Using the a/c or heat or accessing other features will cut your range so make sure you know where the chargers are – and build time into your trip for that slow charge. Yes, for short commutes, range is not an issue; but see power outage paragraph above.

All the above may make you think I am against EVs. Far from it. I support the concept but believe we need to create the infrastructure, shift to clean energy production, ensure raw material extraction is done in such a way as to protect the environment and the workers, ensure our power grid is up to the challenge, extend the range and reduce charging time of EVs, and figure out how to dispose of the dead batteries in an environmentally friendly way. Once all those things are accomplished, we will be ready to fully embrace EVs. Until then, hybrids that run on a gas/battery combination are much more feasible and provide a solid way to transition away from gas/diesel powered vehicles.

End Note: Shortly after I wrote this piece, the governor of my home state of NJ announced that NJ will allow only electric vehicles to be sold in the state starting in 2035. This well-intentioned acceleration of his 2050 master plan sounds great but there is no plan to update the state’s electrical infrastructure to handle the increased load and improve reliability. Sadly, these are more feel-good sound-bytes from a politician with aspirations for higher office and no real understanding of what it will take to transition to EVs.

On February 28th, my local paper, The Star Ledger, ran an article on our governor’s master plan. It covered some of the concerns I expressed above and featured comments from various state officials. None of those comments included even the hint of a plan to upgrade the state’s power grid for both capacity and reliability – the Achilles-heal of the entire concept, followed closely by the lack of chargers and long charging times (some adding only 2 - 30 miles of range per HOUR according to the article). This article makes it clear that a lot of pieces have to be put in place before this well-intentioned transition can be implemented.

www.RetiredandInspiredat55.com 3-6-2023