The EV car crash continues

By Jo Nova

Government plans to badger us into EV’s have hit a hurdle

Things are so bad in the world of electric cars that fields of the cars-of-the-future are appearing at ports in the EU. China has shipped 1.3 million EV’s there in the last quarter but they are piling up in car parks unsold. Countries within the EU are throwing money at customers to get them to buy EV’s, and companies are discounting too, but still it isn’t enough. EV sales fell by 11% across the EU and by 29% in Germany.

Across the Atlantic, something is going wrong in the USA too. The world’s top brand is renting space in shopping centres and airports in America to store the unsold cars.

Car dealers are warning they might not be able to sell many petrol cars, even when buyers walk in to buy them, because they can’t find  enough EV buyers so they can meet the mandated target ratio. We might be at the start of a buyer freeze…

Chinese EV’s are filling up EU ports

There are just extraordinary shots of cars lined up in EU ports:

By John Varga, The Express UK

Major EU ports are almost full to capacity with Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) that no one wants to buy. A slump in sales across Europe has caused parking lots at the Belgian ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge to fill up with the Chinese imports.

A spokesman for the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, the second largest in Europe, said: “This is what is happening in all European ports that handle large numbers of cars.”

And it’s a similar story in the US:

AU0:44 / 1:56 Hundreds of Tesla vehicles parked outside Chesterfield Mall. Why?

Watch it on Youtube

Unsold Teslas Pile-Up In Mall Parking-Lots, Big Discounts Likely

Mike Shedlock, Mishtalk, via ZeroHedge

Please consider Tesla’s Storing Unsold Inventory In An Abandoned Mall Parking Lot

Parking lots full of Tesla vehicles are becoming impossible to ignore as the electric automaker seemingly can’t sell enough cars and trucks to match its rate of production. According to its own figures, the electric automaker produced 46,561 more vehicles than it delivered to customers during the first quarter of 2024. Where are all these cars going? Parking lots at its factories, malls and airports.

 

Drivers warned of petrol car shortages as net zero to ‘choke off’ supply

By Matt Oliver, The Telegraph

Car salesmen face a shortage of petrol vehicles under Rishi Sunak’s net zero crackdown, one of Britain’s biggest dealership chains has warned.

Vertu Motors said sales of electric cars had “stalled” in the UK, raising the risk that manufacturers will miss sales targets mandated by law. Under the zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) mandate, 22pc of carmakers’ sales must be electric this year with the target rising annually until it reaches 80pc in 2030.

But with manufacturers risking fines of £15,000 per car for breaching the rules, Vertu warned that many might simply throttle supplies of petrol and diesel cars to artificially boost their compliance.

EV Sales crash graph.

EV Sales UK Telegraph

Australia copies the UK and US “emissions standards” just as EV sales fall

With uncanny timing the Australian government has adopted the same rigged ratio of EV sales that isn’t working in the UK or the US, and they’ve done it the same week car magazines here are just starting to ask “Is the honeymoon over for electric vehicles in Australia?”

Australia is years behind the EV bubbles of Europe and America because we are the last rich nation on Earth that anyone would want to buy an EV in. We’re sparsely populated and 5,000 kilometers wide. Half the continent doesn’t have high voltage line within 100 kilometers of the road let alone a fast charger.

As luck would have it, sales for EVs in Australia were barely starting to take off, but EV sales declined in April for the first time since EV’s became “a thing”. It’s only a 5% slip, but it’s the trend, the trend…

h/t to Kim, CO2 Lover

 

9.7 out of 10 based on 116 ratings

112 comments to The EV car crash continues

  • #
    Simon Thompson M.B. B.S.

    Another view of a somewhat anti-China youtube showing Battery Vehicle disasters and woes.

    161

    • #
      Geoff

      What happens to a lithium battery that goes flat because the car is sitting idle for six months?

      What happens to the on-board lead/acid batteries?

      Seem to me the entire EV supply chain is in very deep trouble.

      340

      • #
        John Connor II

        Lead acid batteries self discharge at around 10-15% per month but Lithium-Ion is about 2% per month.

        Maybe they can fit solar battery chargers to every EV?

        Remember years ago when channel stuffing was an issue (forcing car dealers to take stock they didn’t want)?
        There were similar photos of large swathes of cars sitting unused. The problem then however was worse – microrust.
        Engines that sit unused for long periods rust on a microscopic level and when someone finally attempts to start the car they find the engine has seized, far worse than just a new battery!
        …and seals leak…and…

        190

        • #
          Raving

          Problem with EVs is the auxillary control battery system. The big battery needs to trickle charge the little battery. Problem with EVs constantly preconditioning the big battery for immediate use. They assume that the car is mostly plugged in. AI would help here.

          30

      • #
        Geoff

        We need EVs that can act as portable batteries for connection to the grid, not cars. Its sole purpose would be stealing, sorry borrowing, power from work. No more power bills@home.

        60

        • #
          Chad

          Geoff
          May 18, 2024 at 1:38 pm · Reply
          We need EVs that can act as portable batteries for connection to the grid, not cars. Its sole purpose would be stealing, sorry borrowing, power from work.

          They exist..
          …it is called “Vehicle to Load” ..(V2L) ,
          ..available on the Nissan Leaf, and several other EVs and PHEVs

          30

        • #
          Ted1.

          Batteries should be made readily swappable. That would ease the problem, but not eliminate it.

          Meanwhile, this looks like a new way to crash an economy.

          40

        • #
          Raving

          Who said “There is no free lunch”

          /satire

          30

  • #
    red edward

    Build it and they WON’T come. . . .

    280

  • #
    Penguinite

    And all the time these useless vehicles pile up in storage and car lots, the batteries deteriorate. Still, a great spontaneous conflagration would solve that problem.

    400

    • #
      OldOzzie

      THE MONEY GAME MAY 16, 2024

      Who Wants 30,000 Used Teslas?

      At the start of the year, after Hertz announced it was selling off its fleet of Teslas — backtracking on a plan to buy up 100,000 of the electric vehicles — the news sounded good for Bijay Pandey, a 34-year-old self-employed data worker in Irving, Texas. “I have another vehicle, and I was trying to add one for my wife because gas prices were too high,” he said. When he found out that it came with a $4,000 tax credit — even better. “That’s what attracted me,” he added.

      So, the day after Valentine’s Day, he bought a red 2022 Long Range Model 3 with 70,000 miles on it. It ended up costing just about $25,000, not a bad deal for a car that can sell for about $47,000 new.

      But almost immediately, there were problems.

      After getting a temporary title, he found the car wasn’t reading voltage correctly. Soon, a body shop found a quarter-size hole in the undercarriage he hadn’t seen before, which led to revelations of deeper issues inside. “The high-voltage battery pack is damaged and could cause extreme safety concerns,” a Tesla technician texted him.

      Because the hole was “exterior damage,” it wasn’t covered by the warranty, which meant a $13,078.58 repair bill.

      Hertz said that it would swap the car for Pandey, but for about two months he waited — making $500 payments on his auto loan — before getting a replacement. “I realized why they were trying to get rid of those Teslas,” he said. “If anything happens to a Tesla, then the bill is too high.”

      390

      • #
        OldOzzie

        We reached out to Hertz for comment, but Hertz isn’t saying much about the used Teslas.

        It seems the company just wants to get rid of them and be done with it.

        In a statement to New York, a spokeswoman said the company expects to be done selling the remaining 20,000 Teslas by the end of the year.

        If you’re in the market for one of these things and are tempted by the low prices, all I can say is good luck.

        Update: While Hertz didn’t exactly like the way we framed the article — because of course – they did get back to use with a comment. Hertz CEO Gil West said the company is on track with downsizing its Tesla fleet.

        “Turning to EVs. We previously announced our plan to reduce the EV fleet by 20,000 units. And by the end of Q1, we sold about half of them. Given this progress, we increased the EV disposal plan by another 10,000 units, bringing the combined reduction to 30,000 vehicles, which we expect to complete by the end of the year.”

        321

    • #
      Ronin

      Probably the best outcome for the car makers.

      110

  • #
    RickWill

    There was an Australia news report today on the risk to emergency responders and vehicle occupants in BEV crashes

    First responders face significant challenges responding to crashes involving electric vehicles, a NSW inquiry has heard.

    Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell told NSW parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Road Safety inquiry into electric and hybrid vehicle batteries that while Fire and Rescue was “not opposed in any way” to electric vehicles, it was important to be aware of potential risks.

    https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/why-evs-a-significant-challenge-for-fireys/ar-BB1mtewG
    It goes on:

    “Currently, though, for internal combustion engines, that firefighter will be able to have an immediate, significant impact on that fire to keep the casualty and the rescuers safe.”

    But he said rescuers faced a challenge when electric vehicles were involved in a collision and the batteries subsequently ignited, due to the intensity of the resulting fire.

    “The impact of the firefighter with that line of hose will not be as great,” he said.

    340

    • #
      william x

      FRNSW Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell – Link to full statement to the NSW Parliament Joint Standing committee: April 30 2024. (Page 8)

      https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/Pages/inquiryprofile/electric-and-hybrid-vehicle-batteries.aspx#tab-hearingsandtranscripts

      Key excerpts from his statement:

      “The chemistry of a lithium-ion battery used in electric vehicles…. means that when something goes wrong, it goes catastrophically wrong in a very, very short time.”…

      “The battery fires that we face are different to other types of fires.
      The ability for fire services to extinguish an ICE car fire — is dealt with very quickly.
      I would expect our crews to arrive and within a matter of a few short minutes, definitely have it knocked down and then totally extinguished probably in the order of 10 to 20 minutes.
      That is not the case in an electric vehicle fire due to the nature of the batteries and the thermal runaway that can occur…
      When thermal runaway occurs, it’s a self-propagating fire and there’s no intervention we can do to stop that.”….

      “The battery starts to heat. Each of the cells decompose. They liberate so much heat that it triggers the other cells around it, and it keeps going until the battery has fully consumed itself. While we put water on or try to cool it with water, invariably it’s not able to stop that.”….

      “There’s also a considerable risk of reignition.”….

      “The final point I’ll make—and it’s one that hasn’t been mentioned in any of the other submissions—
      is around the area where electric vehicles have collisions and the damage that occurs. When lithium-ion batteries
      receive a mechanical shock, it can be one of the triggers for the disintegration of the battery and thermal runaway to occur….

      “The complications for rescuers are that when we need to extricate someone from a car, we use hydraulic
      rescue tools to cut, push and spread parts of the car away from the casualty, to create the space to get them out safely.
      The batteries will limit the scope for rescuers to use their tools in the same way that we do now.
      We’ll be restricted, potentially, in options, particularly for ramming and pushing parts of the car away from the casualties.”….

      “There is an inherent risk of ignition in any vehicle that has received significant damage through a road crash.
      Currently, though, for internal combustion engines, a firefighter will be able to have an immediate, significant impact on that fire, to keep the casualty and the rescuers safe.”
      The challenge that we will face with electric vehicles involved in collisions where the batteries subsequently
      ignite is due to the intensity of the fire. The impact of the firefighter with that line of hose will not be as great. It
      will be a significant challenge for the rescuers and the paramedics to make sure they get out safely but also try to
      get the casualty out as quickly as possible. One of the potential impacts is where we’ve spent many years
      developing patient centred rescue techniques to keep the casualty safe, immobilise them and move them only
      as little as possible, and get the car away from around them.
      What may happen where batteries start igniting as a result of a crash is that it becomes a very crude extrication technique of dragging the casualty out in a very
      undesirable manner.”

      340

      • #
        Gerry, England

        And if the fire doesn’t get you then there is always electrocution. Anyone ever heard of a normal car electrocuting a person?

        90

      • #
        John PAK

        Part of the fire solution is to use Lithium Iron Phoshates like the new Tesla or wait until India rolls out Sodium-ion batteries. My instinct says we need large banks of graphene ultra capacitors arranged in rows between batteries. They are excellent for rapid charge absorption such as when coasting downhill and are remarkably robust during a collision or fire.

        My observations of the motor industry is that they don’t employ the brightest engineers. For e.g. they usually locate batteries of ICE cars in the hottest part of the vehicle which shortens their service life. In my Landcruiser I’m moving my expensive lead AGM battery to a slot behind the front seat and inserting a set of 6 Maxwell super caps where the battery currently sits. It requires some expensive heavy duty cabling and annoying double insulation and the modification will set me back AU$340 but will double the life of the Optima lead battery.

        30

    • #

      I’ve heard somewhere that in NSW the emergency services are being trained in “tactical disengagement’ when faced with an EV in a crash. Just pray for the passengers that they may RIP.

      40

  • #
    Neville

    How long before the average Aussie voter wakes up to the appalling mess and endless waste when stupid, ignorant govts insist on picking winners?
    Albo has recently wasted millions to help billionaires build super expensive solar panels in Australia while China is flooding the world with cheap panels built by their Uyghur slaves.
    Now govts around the world are also trying to force people to buy dangerous EVs and abandon safer ICE cars and force this change by more bribes and lies.

    540

    • #
      Peter C

      Labor has had to negotiate with the Greens to get its budget through.
      I am not sure what the Greens demanded but I am sure it won’t be good for Australia!

      281

      • #
        Sambar

        Saw Sarah two dads on the news last night declaring that Peter Dutton was “racist” because he was calling for a drop in immigration “so Australians could get into housing”.
        Now Sarah, not know for her high I.Q, has failed to understand that Australians are a motley group made up from EVERY ethnic group on the planet. Dutton wants to make sure this fairly diverse group has an opportunity to own their own home. Some how this becomes racist while just supporting all of the racial diverity that is modern Australia.

        421

    • #
      David Maddison

      How long before the average Aussie voter wakes up 

      It’s not clear it can or will happen.

      They keep voting for the Labor faction of the Uniparty who are even worse than the Liberal faction.

      Plus a vast number of voters are now dependent on the state for welfare or employment.

      And the education system is utterly dumbed-down.

      Also, the Lamestream media offers propaganda, not journalism or news reporting. Australia has only about a handful of genuine journalists and they work for Sky News, a niche, non-Lamestream station or Avi Yemeni on Rebel News.

      361

      • #
        John Connor II

        How long before the average Aussie voter wakes up

        WHEN IT’S TOO LATE!!!

        This is WHY the crash and burn is totally unavoidable.

        90

    • #
      Rusty of Qld

      Don’t forget that Ausgrid has announced the death of solar panels with the charge they will impose on feeding “electrishity” into their system. Undoubtedly with all other grid operators soon to follow now one has jumped out of the blocks.

      100

    • #

      They are no good at picking winners. The Wally “Pollies” are losers who are only good at picking losers.

      How many winners have they ever picked? Answers please on the back of an atom.

      40

  • #
    OldOzzie

    Biden’s tariffs will make us pay more for cars we don’t want — but are forced to buy

    Substitute Labor Prime Minister Albanese for Biden in this Article

    By David Harsanyi

    Not long ago, President Biden promised to transform the American auto industry — “first with carrots, now with sticks” is the analogy The Washington Post used.

    Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I’d trust the president to drive my car, much less dictate the future of industrial policy.

    Yet Biden implemented draconian emissions limits for all vehicles, ensuring that within nine years 67% of all new passenger cars and trucks will be electric.

    In the old days, a centralized state controlling manufacturing and commerce, production, prices, wages and conditions in our biggest sectors would be called “fascist.”

    Today, we simply refer to it as the Green New Deal.

    And, after forcing automakers to build more substandard, technologically regressive, overpriced and unpopular electric cars, Biden has now slapped enormous tariffs on imports, not only ensuring that taxpayers continue to prop up a state-run project with billions but also guaranteeing that everyone will pay more for all cars.

    If an EV future were inevitable, the state wouldn’t have to bribe and force companies to produce them.

    Then again, whenever Democrats talk about “manufacturing jobs,” they mean the manufacturing of EVs or solar panels.

    Even in that regard, limiting choices on supposedly “clean energy” alternatives makes no sense.

    Really, what we have is a corporate/union bailout.

    290

    • #
      another ian

      Seems you might have missed a finer point there –

      The tariffs that apply to imported Chinese EVs don’t apply to Chinese EVs coming from the factories that they have built in Mexico

      120

      • #
        GreatAuntJanet

        Sundance pointed this out last week. So Biden can SAY he’s put a tariff on, but it is meaningless and does nothing.

        00

    • #

      Now what car is Biden driven around in with all that security? And what does the security drive? And the motorcycle cops. What are they riding? And is Airforce 1 powered by batteries?

      What hypocrites.

      100

  • #
    David Maddison

    Australia LOVES the failed ideas of others.

    Emperor Xi will instruct our simpleton PM Albanese and simpleton anti-Energy Minister Chrissy Bowen to make EVs compulsory for Australians and so it will happen.

    Oh, don’t worry, here’s Albanese saying how you can charge your EV at night for free with solar panels.

    https://youtu.be/vyS9uqRLbB8

    383

    • #
      Graham Richards

      The public must postpone purchases for all vehicles, EV or ICE for at least the next 6 months, preferably 12 months.

      Once the manufacturers are threatened with a worldwide boycott they’ll unite & force their respective governments to get the hell out of our lives, once & for all.

      Only the electorates can put these dumbass politicians back in their boxes!!

      Postponing a vehicle purchase for 6 months or more is not difficult or life threatening for 90% of the population, when, compared to being dictated to by morons!!

      290

      • #
        PeterPetrum

        Mmm! I thought about that but decided it was the wrong policy as I really did not see it working. I have just bought a new Range Rover that will see my through my driving years (I am 84) so I really am happy to sit back and watch this disaster bring Albo and Bowen down.

        180

        • #
          Graham Richards

          Remember “ BUD LITE “ !!

          Push the public once too often….. believe me the public are becoming volatile….. just looking for an excuse!!

          90

      • #
        Gerry, England

        The battery car sales in the UK are to lease companies that provide business fleets because of a taxpayer bung. The looming problem for them is crash in used battery car values when they come to shift their stock after 3 years – I doubt a battery car will reach the high mileage limit as they are impractical. This will be an interesting car crash to watch.

        110

  • #
    Raving

    The Chinese model is to give the world this year’s generation of EV. Fill China with bullet trains, airports, condominiums really fast. The Chinese model of development.

    It’s give the whole world a VW beetle in the next few years! Everyone driving a bettle is stale. It is horrible.

    People don’t want to be flattened into driving the same vehicle, competing for the same charges in narrow egalitarian regimentation.

    Imagine the whole world driving BYD seagulls. Even if it is economical, people will hate being forced into the sameness.

    131

    • #
      Raving

      Millions of cars this year
      Millions of replacement cars 3 years hence
      Tens of millions replacement cars 6 years hence
      Tens of millions replacement cars 9 years hence.
      ….

      Great GDP model for China! See any problems with it?

      171

    • #
      CO2 Lover

      It’s give the whole world a VW beetle in the next few years!

      The VW beetle is a junior version of the Porsche 911 – both had air-cooled rear mounted engines

      Remanufactured ICE Porche 911s can cost up to $2 million!

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvuZttVrzwU

      50

      • #
        John Connor II

        …and which cylinder fails first in a beetle, and why?
        What happens with cylinder deactivation in modern cars?
        Virtually every car ever made has the same basic design flaw – wipers that push water into the driver’s view, not out of it.
        Engineers – gotta love ’em. German engineers – gotta love ’em less.😉

        40

        • #
          Graeme#4

          Used to see quite a few failed VW engines at the roadhouses on the Eyre Highway in the 60s. Prolonged high-temp running often resulted in broken valve stems, which meant that the valve head then rattled around between cylinders in the horizontal engine, often quickly wrecking the entire engine.

          30

        • #
          Ronin

          “and which cylinder fails first in a beetle, and why?”

          I think it’s the left rear, it’s furthest from the fan.

          The slightest oil leak in a rear engined aircooled car will attract fine dust which becomes efficient insulation, not long until beetle expires.

          30

    • #
      Chad

      It’s give the whole world a VW beetle in the next few years! Everyone driving a bettle is stale. It is horrible.

      Personally, i would rather have a new VW Beetle ( original version) ,..than a new EV of any type !

      190

      • #
        Raving

        The fun car of my youth that gives me nightmares to this day was an Austin diesel Taxi.

        Who knows the secrets?

        Clue: It wasn’t the slow speed.

        40

        • #
          Ronin

          The huge amount of space in the rear seating area ?

          40

          • #
            Raving

            That was part of the fun stuff including the insanely tight turning circle.

            No. It as the manual steering and manual brakes. Still have nightmares about standing in the brakes going downhill. More fun than doing 180s on snowy roads.

            At the othe end of life, I had a Saab Viggen. The torque steer on that front drive spertscar was wonderful. With the wide front tires slipping and chuddering under acceleration clutch and turn, it was like fighting an agressive fish with a fishing rod.

            30

      • #
        CO2 Lover

        Personally, i would rather have a new VW Beetle ( original version)

        Same here – my first car was a VW Beetle of which I have fond memories. There must still be a market for simple afforable cars that are easy to repair and maintain, with the only electronic parts are those that can be quickly removed and replaced when necessary by a home mechanic.

        Driving should be fun – not being driven around by computer controlled soulless EVs

        80

  • #
    David Maddison

    Remember, the next green scam is on its way!

    “Green” hydrogen.

    If you think EV battery fires are fun, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

    Just imagine imagine a refuelling accident, crash or even just a minor leak involving liquid hydrogen or ammonia powered cars!

    380

  • #
    Philip

    Does the government official car unit (is it Comcar?) even use EVs to get the PM about? I certainly hope so.

    150

  • #
    Richard C (NZ)

    Hertz’s Used Teslas Are Glitchy, Damaged Nightmares

    https://gizmodo.com.au/2024/05/hertzs-used-teslas-are-glitchy-damaged-nightmares/

    Expensive maintenance that the company didn’t account for spooked the company enough to start to sell off it’s fleet. This made for incredible used EV buys, especially when you factor in the used EV tax credit of $US4,000. People scrambled to Hertz dealers buying them up. One salesman at a Hertz dealer in Smithtown, New York told New York Magazine that they were selling as many as 30 Teslas a week at one point. A slowdown came when buyers finally started to realize just what they got themselves into.

    Nightmare anecdotes follow.

    130

  • #
  • #
    Ross

    So, the new Tesla Powerwall 3 costs around $10k (AUD). Which means you might be able to buy a 2nd hand Tesla or an even cheaper Chinese BPV knock off for about the same price in a couple of years. Maybe. Hook it up your house and charge it with all that useless solar during the middle of the day and you have a back up power supply. A backup power supply that you can also tootle off to the local shops or do the errands. We lost our mains power here the other day. Went off for about 5 hours. Could have just used the BPV to power the house for that time. Just don’t tell the fire services.

    40

  • #
    • #
      CO2 Lover

      In NYC most people live in appartments and so recharge EVs at home at night is not an option.

      Who would want to queue up at a public recharging station every time you wanted to take the EV out for a drive?

      Even Woke Democrats have their limits.

      80

  • #
    OldOzzie

    “The Economics Just Don’t Work”: Demand For Electric Semis Plunges Due To High Costs

    Companies Are Balking at the High Costs of Running Electric Trucks

    Executives at truck leasing company Ryder System spent years listening to some of their biggest customers say they wanted to switch to battery-electric big rigs.

    Now that the heavy-duty trucks are available, the company says, few customers want to pay for them.

    “The economics just don’t work for most companies,” said Robert Sanchez, the chief executive of Ryder, which manages 250,000 trucks and vans for tens of thousands of retailers and manufacturers.

    Ryder’s experience illustrates the challenges facing state and federal governments as they try to push truckers out of heavily polluting diesel rigs and into zero-emissions vehicles. It suggests that truck makers will need to make significant advances in battery weight, range and charging times if battery-electric trucks are to seriously challenge diesel rigs in a highly competitive freight sector that runs on thin margins.

    “Quite frankly, demand has not been as strong as what we would like,” said Rakesh Aneja, head of eMobility at Daimler Truck North America, which released its Freightliner eCascadia battery-electric semi truck in 2022.

    Heavier costs

    Ryder, using load and route data from 13,000 vehicles it operates on behalf of customers, recently analyzed the annual operating expenses of battery-electric commercial trucks and found sharply higher costs compared with traditional, diesel-powered rigs.

    The analysis assumed the infrastructure to provide fast charging was already in place and focused on expenses such as buying the vehicle, maintenance, labor and fuel.

    The company found that light-duty, battery-electric vans raise annual operating costs by several percentage points. As trucks get heavier the cost difference becomes more pronounced, according to Ryder’s analysis, with annual costs of operating battery-electric big rigs about twice as expensive as diesel trucks.

    “What surprised us was the magnitude of the gap,” Sanchez said.

    Saving on fuel

    Because battery-electric trucks are heavier than diesel trucks and require several hours to recharge, companies need more vehicles and drivers to haul the same volume of freight as a diesel truck. The Ryder analysis estimated that a company would need nearly two battery-electric big rigs and more than two drivers to equal the output of a single heavy-duty diesel truck.

    Other operating issues are also cropping up as the big rigs get on the roads.

    Penske Truck Leasing, which is running pilot programs with battery-electric trucks, has found that because battery-electric rigs are heavier than diesel trucks their tires wear out faster. The company has also found some maintenance costs are more expensive than diesel trucks because parts are rarer and so more expensive.

    170

    • #
      Ronin

      Yes, as the tare mass goes up, the payload comes down, there are weighbridges on all freight routes for a reason.

      40

    • #
      Chad

      because battery-electric rigs are heavier than diesel trucks their tires wear out faster.

      …. Can sommeone explain how this can be ?
      .. as Ronin pointed out , Trucks have a maximum gross weight so diesel or battery powered, they will have the same max weight when loaded .!

      01

      • #
        Richard C (NZ)

        >”Can sommeone explain how this can be ?” [EV truck tire wear]

        The battery mass stays the same whether fully charged or not. That battery mass reduces payload by up to about 25% i.e. the battery becomes a non-paying payload having displaced actual payload and it is a constant load no matter what.

        On a return trip having offloaded the paying payload the E-truck still lugs the non-paying battery payload at same mass which is much more than a diesel load in the first place and much much more than a reducing diesel load over a trip.

        Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) includes full fuel load. But fuel load gradually reduces in a diesel truck over the trip until refueling – not so a battery truck. Fuel load mass remains exactly the same in an E-truck and is constant over an entire trip whether with or without payload.

        40

        • #
          Richard C (NZ)

          I commuted to work for a while (1 hr each way) Tauranga – Rotorua NZ. Plenty of log truck and trailers hauling to port then returning empty with trailers stacked on the prime mover (piggy backed) often in 2 vehicle convoy (don’t get between them). Those guys (and gals) blow small cars into the weeds on uphill stretches on the return trip.

          One innovative company even tried piggy backing an entire rig – i.e. a low height cab rig stacked on the back of a normal rig for the return trip.

          They do multiple return trips a day – up to 9 for 11 hr day (I think). I don’t expect to ever see an E-truck hauling logs except maybe a one-off.

          Some out of date economics but concepts still valid:

          LOG TRUCK COST ESTIMATES
          https://fgr.nz/documents/download/4888

          LOG TRANSPORT WEIGHBRIDGE SURVEY No 1 (Rotorua area)
          https://fgr.nz/documents/download/5151

          Everything there: trips per day, all costs like new tires and retreads, payloads – every thing. And profit at the end of it all.

          Big tickets are capital costs:

          Truck ($)
          Trailer ($)
          Interest rate [20%]
          Life truck yrs [5 yrs]
          Life trailer yrs [7 yrs]
          Residual value truck % purchase price [55%]
          Residual value trailer % purchase price [15%]

          Truck life of 5 yrs and 55% residual value for diesel.

          E-truck life and residual value ?

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          Chad

          On a return trip having offloaded the paying payload the E-truck still lugs the non-paying battery payload at same mass which is much ..

          Sure, but any trucking business/owner will try to minimise empty return trips, say onlt 25% of the time, which, in conjunction with the basic fact that tyre wear will be most at full loaded weight, (75% of run time).. means that empty truck tyre wear is not a significant factor.

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            Richard C (NZ)

            Chad

            >”empty truck tyre wear is not a significant factor.”

            Nobody said it was. Tyre wear, empty or full, was just one of the factors singled out. The quote was:

            Penske Truck Leasing, which is running pilot programs with battery-electric trucks, has found that because battery-electric rigs are heavier than diesel trucks their tires wear out faster. The company has also found some maintenance costs are more expensive than diesel trucks because parts are rarer and so more expensive.

            The quote says nothing more than “their [E-truck] tires wear out faster”. No distinction between empty or fully loaded. Nothing “significant” – just stating an observation. Maintenance was another factor in the quote.

            There’s a myriad of costs in trucking, just take a look at LOG TRUCK COST ESTIMATES previous. These all feed into the economics of the operation so if a radically different configuration produces a bunch of outliers on the plus side then the whole viability becomes untenable.

            >”any trucking business/owner will try to minimise empty return trips”

            They can only do that when their type of operation allows it. Many cannot. Hauling logs to port by truck as previous is a perfect example. Same for logs to port by rail. Log trains return empty. Even flat beds hauling sawn timber to port return empty.

            We have huge towers of empty containers at Port of Tauranga because there’s no balance between container imports and exports. That’s international, domestically its full container out and (maybe) empty container back.

            Continues next.

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            Richard C (NZ)

            I live near Port of Tauranga and kiwifruit load out is in full swing. 63 charter ship loads this year.

            There’s a procession of curtain-sider trucks and most with trailers hauling loads of palletized packaged kiwifruit to port.

            Every one of those loads returns empty.

            Not one truck is electric.

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        Dennis

        But EV to comply would have less payload on board.

        And isn’t that what trucks are used for, carrying to profit?

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  • #
    STJOHNOFGRAFTON

    Thinking of buying a USED EV? Read this:

    Hertz’s used EVs prove to be ‘glitchy, damaged nightmares’ for new owners

    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/05/hertz_s_used_evs_prove_to_be_glitchy_damaged_nightmares_for_new_owners.html

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    John Hultquist

    All of this produces no surprises.
    What I wonder is when the first post on this site claimed the EV craze would screech to a halt.
    Insofar as EV adoption was supposed to save the world from climate armageddon we will now hear (like a car’s GPS directions) “recalibrating, go back – recalibrating, go back“.
    This would be funny if it were not so serious and costly.

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    Serge Wright

    The benefits of driving an EV is the world’s shortest book. You pay more the vehicle, more for insurance, it takes hours to recharge, your range is half that of an ICE vehicle, they are useless in remote areas without power, there is almost no second hand market due to the replacement battery cost, the batteries only last 10 years, the batteries can spontaneously combust and can’t be extinguished and can cause devastating cascading fires in car parks, you can’t charge them at home if you use on-street parking or live in an apartment without charging infrastructure, the batteries stop working in cold northern climates during winter, charging stations can’t be scaled to accommodate long weekends and holiday periods, towing a boat or caravan halves the battery range, the grid cannot cope with any significant EV penetration without a complete rebuild at enormous cost, the majority of vehicles will be made in China creating a geo-political dependency on a hostile nation, and they weigh more causing road damage and the tires wear out faster.

    Did I forget anything ?

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    John Connor II

    …and in breaking news there’s a new film coming out about EV’s burning.
    It’s called Chariots of Fire.
    😆

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    Macspee

    Do we know what proportion of EVs are purchased by government and its agencies?

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    Cookster

    “Fast” chargers are a misnomer. Can they put at least 500km range in an EV in 5 minutes? Because that is what we are accustomed to with ICEs. If not they are certainly not fast. Appalling charging times is the biggest reason why EVs are not selling. Silly people queuing up to use an EV charger at shopping centres. What happens when everyone needs them?

    Along with the fact they are simply overpriced and all made in China, including Teslas. I am not buying Chinese made yet. The Chinese need to earn my trust the same way the Japanese did post WWII. Cars are not phones.

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      Chad

      I am not buying Chinese made yet. The Chinese need to earn my trust the same way the Japanese did post WWII. Cars are not phones.

      If you believe some of the independent reviews of many current Chinese manufactured products, including vehicles, that same improved quality and reliability has already happened.
      Further, in many cases, the Chinese are leaders in tecnology development also.

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    Ronin

    There might be a rash of ‘unfortunate’ ship fires soon.

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    Yarpos

    So many negative vibes. I for one am trembling with anticipation for the wave of cheap and effective Chinese EVs coming our way. It will be fantastic.

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    Tim O'S

    The joy to come was announced in the early part of the 20th Century:

    The day of the electric vehicle is said to be coming. When they do arrive on Lambton-quay it will mean that instead of filling up your petrol tank at home you will have to call round at the tramway power-house to have the cells of your car re-charged. It has been reckoned that a full charge for 70 miles will only cost 3s, and with petrol at about 2s a gallon the electric charge works out cheaper. You may yet have your Free Lance delivered to you per electric locomotion.

    Free Lance, Volume XIII, Issue 674, 31 May 1913, Page 24, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZFL19130531.2.57

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    Mike Haseler (Scottish Sceptic)

    Well it’s not like we didn’t warn them.

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    Ed Zuiderwijk

    If the ICEs are rationed in order to push an inferior product, we will drive around in vintage ICSs Havanna style. But it won’t happen because governments need the taxes generated by motoring and when the revenue dries up heads will be banged together.

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    • #
      another ian

      In comments there

      ““EVs are set to be one-owner commodities, like a washing machine or vacuum cleaner.”

      And the EVs won’t last as long ….”

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  • #
    Tel

    If you can get the EV cheap enough, might be worth considering putting on a roof rack and then strapping a small generator on the top. Simple, and cheap conversion to a hybrid.

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  • #

    […] The EV car crash continues. By Joanne Nova. […]

    00

  • #
    Dave in the States

    I don’t want an EV even if it’s free.

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    • #
      Raving

      Having lived with ‘range’ anxiety and ‘freeze up’ anxiety driving a diesel, I do not envy the angst of finding an unoccupied high speed charging point.

      It is going to become brutal when the perfect storm of coincidence arrives.

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      • #
        Ronin

        “t is going to become brutal when the perfect storm of coincidence arrives.”

        Popcorn and an easy chair is the go.

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      • #
        Dennis

        And where the phone app does not connect to enable recharging to proceed.

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    Dave in the States

    How many times do we have to learn that communism, even communism lite, doesn’t work? It fails every time, but like a dog lapping up its own vomit it just keep coming back in different guises. Let’s return to a free market and let the people buy and drive whatever they want. Whenever they want. Wherever they want. How ever they want.

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    Dennis

    Blackout Bowen said UV sales will increase as fleet EVs become second hand sales and government fleet EVs as well.

    I wonder how many buyers there will be willing to suffer high depreciation, high insurance premiums, fire risk and all the other inconvenient EV factors?

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    Dennis

    A panelist at Sky News who purchased an EV often mentions that she regrets here decision and what a nuisance long distance driving can be locating recharging stations that work and phone app connects, ok around the city and suburbs but never again.

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    […] Chinese are also busy marketing their cheaper EVs to Europe and other nations. Jo Nova reports that China shipped 1.3 million EVs to European Union nations in the last quarter – yet many […]

    00