You might think, with the number of talking heads saying that EVs are the future, and so many govern-cements pushing adoption that EVs are a done deal. That EVs must be ready for prime time.
The problem is that EVs should not be allowed on the road. Nor in parking garages. Calling them literal nightmares does do the problem justice.
And then we get to the real problem, we do not make enough electricity to also charge more than a few electric vehicles. We don't mine enough coal to make more electricity. You may ask, why don't they build more power plants? Especially on hot days with all the air conditioners going, and then we see rolling black outs. Why haven't we seen more power plants being built? It is because to build a new power plant would be to open a new mine, build a new railroad line to get the coal there, and then after jumping through all the govern-cement hoops, they could build a new power plant. The electric companies are not going to do that just to have a power plant sitting idle, except for a few weeks a year.
Nothing about an EV of today makes any sense.
And, they are not clean, they are powered by burning coal.
The Control Grid Technocrats are salivating
Do people want self driving cars enough that many companies would spend so much money to try to make it a reality?
Not really. The really rich rarely drive. They have chauffeurs. And it would cost them more than that person's lifetime salary to pay for self driving development.
Sure there are a lot of people who would like a self driving car, so that they can do other things while on the way to work. But few of these could afford the maintenance monthly fees.
The ones who are doing the best, financially, are those who have tiny startups, with a few geniuses that like the puzzle of building a self-driving car.
Sooooo, why is there so much focus on self-driving? Well, it is the Technocrat's wet dream. The EV is awesome, because the po-po can turn off the car. It is all electronic, so, having the radio listening for the kill code, and then enacting it is stupid easy.
The electric company can send signals to your vehicle about when to charge. Even, never. You don't pay some bill to the electric company or the govern-cement, your car just doesn't charge. As for control, this is the ultimate…
What could be more ultimate? That your car locks you inside, and then drives you to the police station. This might be great if T.H.E.Y. used it to actually capture BAD guys, but that will never happen, except when it is set up for the cameras. It will be used for people who failed to pay a fee, a fine, or their property taxes. This is the only financially sound reason they are pushing self-driving EVs.
Better Batteries will fix everything, right?
There is a REALLY BIG problem with batteries. If we had a battery with the size, weight and capacity that Elon wants for his trucks… it is literally a bomb. No, i am not kidding, i am actually understating the danger
There is a BIG problem with LiIon batteries. They are prone to thermal runaway. And the bigger the batteries are, the higher the potential. The poorer/cheaper the batteries are made, the higher the potential for catastrophic failure. And yes, Chinese EVs are catching on fire almost daily. And you barely have seconds to get out of your vehicle from when you smell the first whiffs of smoke.
But that is LiIon, we could use LiPO4, right? Or whatever the newest battery will be. Actually not. If you have a lot of charge in a location, it is LOOKING for a place to escape to. The person coming to help you after a crash is a much loved place. You will see, in the future, a police officer shows up at the scene of an accident involving an EV, and they will not approach. Like calling the bomb squad, they will call the battery squad. With insulated suits and something to sense voltage potentials, they will carefully approach the crash.
And, there is nothing we can do to engineer this away. The more electric potential you have, the bigger the danger, and their is only ONE thing you can do with it. Ground it. And hopefully with enough resistance in the line to keep it all from melting/exploding/arcing. A battery is always looking to ground out its potential.
Elon Musk talked about the Cyber-Semi he was trying to create. And said it would be able to recharge in quite a low time. However, Elon, nor Tesla Motors described the charging that would be needed. People in thick rubber suits, with 10' long fiberglass poles connecting the big rig while everyone else stayed FAR AWAY. And no, this says nothing about the batteries or the technology. It has to do with WATTS; the electricity that will have to flow through the wires and into the batteries.
The thing that will really kill the EV
What kills technology? Better technology.
So, while we are kept in the dark age by the auto companies (Watch Tucker: The Man and His Dream), it seems a logical next step to go from ICE to EV.
But, what if you had the choice of flying cars? What if you had the choice of a car motivated by radioactive material? What if you had the choice to just stay home, with your 100 closest friends in a community? What if you had the choice of teleportation?
Well, you could just say good bye to the "modern" battery powered EV.
Seriously, we have been suppressed since the 70s. We are so far behind, that when the inventions start flowing again, we are going to make several jumps forward.
The paths that still have an EV are like farm trucks. But, if they are powered by fuel, it will be burnt in a VERY efficient turbine, which charges the batteries. (yes, we could have this now). We could have a perpetual motion machine, like a magnet motor, that charges super-capacitors, and this is the backbone for all those things that need to stay ground-bound.
The near future is sci-fi world.
The modern LiIon battery powered EV only works for a very tiny group of people
- Short driving distances (like grandma's grocery getter)
- lives in a warm climate without many freezing days (batteries don't work when too cold)
- An electric grid that can provide enough power to charge the EVs
- Lots of alternate means of transportation (like UBER or friends. Not out in the sticks where you can't get cell signal. When an EV fails, it really fails, and you need to call for help)
If you have all of these, than a modern EV can work for you. Else, most people that fall outside of this range, are all talking about how their next car will NOT be an EV.
And, the self driving thing? It will be relegated to special roads that are specially marked and fenced off from pedestrians / bicyclists)
BTW, the reason that self driving car just plowed down a person walking a bicycle across the street? The computer system would freak out when it had to add a bike to its pathing. Too many variable and tight turning radius. Sooo, to make it work, they had the self-driving computer system IGNORE bicycles. So, that self driving car literally did not see the person walking her bicycle.