WSJ Pull the Plug on Electric Car Subsidies

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Scathing review and the comments are out of control.


Margo Thorning: Pull the Plug on Electric Car Subsidies - WSJ.com

...
Slick TV ads boast PEVs supposed environmental benefits, but what they
don't tell you is that a substantial increase in the numbers of them
on the road will require upgrading the nation's electricity
infrastructure. Since half of all U.S. electricity is generated by
coal, which produces greenhouse emissions, PEVs may not be any better
than hybrid electric vehicles that do not need to be plugged in.
Meanwhile, new technology for gasoline-powered vehicles has
substantially increased miles per gallon, to as much as 35-50 mpg for
several smaller vehicles.

If you're looking for a car that makes good economic sense in these
tough times, PEVs simply don't make the grade. Unless crude oil prices
rise close to $300 per barrel and battery costs fall by 75%, a PEV is
more expensive than a gasoline-powered vehicle.

Despite these significant flaws, the government is determined to jump-
start sales for plug-ins by putting taxpayers on the hook. The $7,500
federal tax credit per PEV is nothing more than a federal subsidy that
will add to the deficit. There are also federal tax credits for
installing charging stations in homes and businesses and for building
battery factories and upgrading the electric grid. The
administration's goal - one million PEVs on the road by 2015 - could
cost taxpayers $7.5 billion. Outlays for recharging infrastructure
will add billions more...

[zack]

"Unless crude oil prices rise close to $300 per barrel and battery costs fall by 75%, a PEV is
more expensive than a gasoline-powered vehicle."

Erm... someone needs to use a calculator.

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If anyone is so inclined, make a comment on WSJ. They have a wide demographic.

[rolosrevenge]

Everyone seems to neglect the amount of the defense budget that goes to protecting the oil shipping lanes in the middle east as well as the cost of bombing oil tyrants (Gaddafi) over there. If we weren't so hooked on cheap oil, such military deployments would be unnecessary. Or, if we didn't do it, oil would be much more expensive.

[zack]

The Iraq war cost us at least $1.2 Trillion. During that time we imported 70,000,000 barrels of oil, each producing 19.5 gallons of gasoline. That's a hidden tax of $879/gallon of gas derived from imported oil. We have all the friendly coal, uranium, natural gas, wind, sun, and geothermal we need right here in North America to produce war-tax-free electricity.

[Todd Burch]

If anyone is so inclined, make a comment on WSJ. They have a wide demographic.

Based on comments, a wide demographic of poorly-educated, misguided morons that know nothing about engineering or physics.

my advice would be: don't post anything. Posting just fuels the fire. These are the kinds of people for whom rational logic goes in one ear and out the other.

It's not worth your time.

Just my two cents.

[qwk]

Based on comments, a wide demographic of poorly-educated, misguided morons that know nothing about engineering or physics.

my advice would be: don't post anything. Posting just fuels the fire. These are the kinds of people for whom rational logic goes in one ear and out the other.

It's not worth your time.

Just my two cents.

I completely agree. That kind of nonsense used to piss me off, but not anymore. Let stupid stubborn people get gouged for gasoline, while the smart ones drive EV's.

[Todd Burch]

I completely agree. That kind of nonsense used to piss me off, but not anymore. Let stupid stubborn people get gouged for gasoline, while the smart ones drive EV's.

Me too. It used to make me furious. But there is a sense of comfort knowing that morons shall be morons, and in the end, that's what they'll be shown to be. It may take awhile, but superior technology tends to find it's way into the mainstream--eventually.

[felixtb]

an interesting thing is that nobody ever seem to discuss all the electrical power needed to refine those 19 odd gallons of gas per barrel. there seems to be some general consensus that PEVs use dirty elec and ICEs use singularly dirty gas but they also first use dirty elec to produce said dirty gas.......so in the end they are always about twice as dirty......... food for thought.

[zack]

6KWH are lost to refine one gallon of gas. That's 22 miles in a Roadster figuring 200 mile range and 53KWH in the battery.

That's not pure electricity. Some of it is the oil itself being used in the refining process.

http://gatewayev.org/how-much-electr...on-of-gasoline