EV manufacturers are backing away slowly from the Great EV Debacle
The government commanded the EV bubble, but even with billions in subsidies, schemes and advertising the chemistry didn’t obey. Somehow, even with legislation, the right discoveries didn’t discover themselves on cue.
VW has decided to use one third of its EV development money to develop a better fuel car instead.
Hey, it’s only 60,000 million Euro.
VW Will Spend Billions of Its EV Development Budget on Gas Engines
By: Adrian Padeanu, Motor1.com
Of the €180 billion ($196 billion) set aside in 2023 primarily for next-generation EVs, the German brand will now use one-third to continue the development of combustion engines. The announcement comes from Arno Antlitz, the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer at the Volkswagen Group. The company intends to spend roughly €60 billion ($65 billion) to “keep our combustion cars competitive.”
It’s a stark departure from the previous plan announced in late 2022 to build and sell only electric cars in Europe from 2033.
Only a year ago Volkswagon was confident it could build a cheaper EV. But a month ago they reported a 20 percent fall in first quarter profits.
Meanwhile Australia joins the EU with footage of “EV Graveyards” collecting at Port Melbourne
Australia remains far behind the rest of the developed world in EV sales but is obviously catching up on the latest trends quickly. Sales have fallen 44%:
Nobody wants them 🤣
Demand for Tesla’s plummeted 44% in April resulting in thousands of them being parked at Port Melbourne pic.twitter.com/OtBtgQeJVi
— Kanga 🦘 (@TruthKanga) June 3, 2024
And, apparently even those with money to waste don’t want to waste it on an “electric supercar”:
Lamborghini Doesn’t Think Electric Supercars will Catch On
By: Adrian Padeanu, Motor1.com
Speaking with Automotive News Europe, Lamborghini’s head honcho Stephan Winkelmann argued electric supercars are “not something that is selling so far.” He went on to mention this genre might never catch on
Supercars are for rich folk but Rimac CEO Mate Rimac recently admitted that high-end buyers don’t want electric supercars. It’s why the Nevera is still for sale, despite the hype around it and the limited production run of only 150 cars. The electric hypercar developed in Croatia set no fewer than 23 records last year, but it looks as though wealthy people weren’t impressed enough to sign their names on the dotted line.
There is talk now of all kinds of variations of sustainable fuel to run combustion engines on. The CEO of Bugatti has even floated the idea of selling their bespoke customers their very own fuel station as well, so they can generate and fill their sustainable cars at home. Possibly the brag-able-value of owning a sustainable biofuel car that “charges at home” using some wildly expensive combination of solar panels and batteries won’t seem so brag-worthy in a few years time. Who wants to look like the loser who got car advice from a teenage girl?
This is very encouraging.
A sudden outbreak of reason and sanity.
There is now the beginning of an increasing trend of electing conservatives (what the Left call “far right” (sic)) to governments in Europe and America (but not in Australia, we continue to elect Leftist regressives).
All the free world needs now is for Donald Trump to win the US Presidential election and it may well be the beginning of the end for the regressive Left (a tautology I know) throughout the civilised world.
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Would that be a demonstration of “Run, don’t walk”?
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Is The Electric Vehicle Panacea Crashing In California And America?
BY TYLER DURDEN
The idea that the panacea of electric vehicles will end “climate change” may have finally crashed into the wall of reality.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was interviewed on May 26 by host Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation.” The full interview is on YouTube. Ms. Brennan is the most informative and objective of interviewers in the mainstream media.
Although “Mayor Pete,” as he came to be known, was merely the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, population 103,000, in 2020, he won the Iowa caucuses, briefly gaining national attention. He previously worked at McKinsey & Co., which hires really smart people to consult for corporate clients. According to Mr. Buttigieg, his work “consisted of doing mathematical analysis, conducting research, and preparing presentations” on studies for clients. That means he’s one of the smarter people in the Biden administration.
At 9 minutes and 30 seconds, Ms. Brennan said, “Donald Trump repeatedly talks about President Biden’s decision to force the industry toward making 56 percent of car batteries electric by 2032, 13 percent hybrid.” She then played a video of President Trump at a rally in New Jersey.
“We’re spending hundreds of billions of dollars subsidizing a car that nobody wants and nobody’s ever going to buy,” President Trump said.
Then she continued, “He’s not wrong—”
“Oh, he’s wrong,” Mr. Buttigieg interrupted.
Ms. Brennan continued, “—on the purchasing. He’s not. Of the 4 million vehicles purchased, you know, what, 269,000 electric vehicles were sold in the U.S. market.”
And the electric portion is just 6.7 percent of the total. She didn’t mention the time period, but Cox Automotive ran the numbers, and it’s the first quarter of 2024.
– A Gramscian Childhood
– Communist China’s EV Challenge
– Pew Research Study of EV Stations
– Beginning of the End for 100 Percent EV Mandates
Mr. Buttigieg immediately was lambasted across social media platforms and in news stories:
Newsweek: “Pete Buttigieg Ridiculed for Joe Biden’s $7.5 Billion ‘Massive Failure.’”
Real Clear Politics: “CBS’s Brennan To Buttigieg: How Is It Possible That $7.5 Billion Investment Has Only Produced ‘7 Or 8’ EV Charging Stations So Far?”
Fox News: “CBS anchor tells Buttigieg that Trump is ‘not wrong’ about Biden administration struggling to implement electric vehicle agenda.”
I have a good antenna for political trends. After this interview, with Ms. Brennan’s laugh at Mr. Buttigieg’s numbers repeated many times across the internet, it’s going to be hard for the EV-pushers to get their message across.
Next to crash into the wall of reality: California’s mandate for 100 percent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035.
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Around that-
“Youngkin Pulls the Plug on Virginia’s EV Mandate”
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2024/06/06/youngkin-pulls-the-plug-on-the-virginia-ev-mandate-n3789781
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“regressive Left”
I think you meant “repressive left”.
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Commonsense rules again! Simples!,
Could someone please forward this info to the Ayatollah Albanese & Blackout Bowen.
As per usual with Labor they’re backing the wrong horse again. Every policy, they have has been tried, festered & found wanting. Like foreign policy should not include known terrorists, jihadists etc. that’s the Wong thing to do.
Defence wants to employ mercenaries for the simple reason no Australian in their right mind will sign up for a fighting force that offers transgender surgeries, has high ranking officials that wear high heels or prosecute you for you doing the job of a soldier when fighting leads to having to kill an enemy!!
Any questions???
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How about this as the surprise of the day?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-08/coalition-to-dump-paris-emissions-target-focus-nuclear/103955342
Not perfect, but not bad either.
Cheers,
Dave B
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As usual, the ABC got it wrong. Dutton did not say that say that we would dump the Paris emissions target, he just said that it would take until 2050 to get there and that Labor’s target of net zero by 2035 could not be achieved.
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Ideologues.
It’s always all or nothing.
Net Zero.
We can’t just use solar and wind where it works, it’s all or nothing.
Can’t use EVs where they make sense and not require them for Police and Fireman.
Can’t say All Lives Matter.
Can’t look into with whether or not it was a lab leak.
Can’t let people with natural immunity not get a vaccine.
Can’t not put the opposition candidate in jail.
The reason we can’t have nice things.
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Particularly can’t investigate whether there were intentional leaks from a lab or labs.
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And remember the government has passed co2 emissions targets for vehicle sellers…. which will make ICE cars sell for more to try and subside more EV sales.
Is you want to buy an ICE better do it now because soon we will follow the trend of places like norway where: the younger generation can’t afford a car at all due to higher price of entry level vehicles, and used ICE cars are appreciating in value, and where imported ICE cars have over a 100% markup, and owning a new 4×4 off road vehicle costs the equivalent of about $300,000 AUD and is now exclusively in the realm of the super rich.
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Which just goes to prove -yet again- that Leftism and the Australian Labor Party is a movement of super-rich Elites, not ordinary people who become increasingly impoverished by Labor/Left policies, unless you happen to be a CFMEU union thug “working” and extorting on a government or government-related project.
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Summed it in one David. Bowen has been telling lies about nuclear outside parliament and the only one to call him out seems to be Elon Musk. The Coalition should be correcting his every lie and telling the people about his half or quarter truths regarding the cost and durability of wind and solar.
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There has been considerable discussion about Nuclear in The Australian, recently good articles by Ted O’Brien and Chris Uhlmann.
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Ted O’Brian was on Sky recently and spoke knowledgeably and well on the power issues.
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Norway is having a rethink about its EV subsidies. Seems that the subsidies are removing money from essential road works. So they are starting to cut back on the subsidies.
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If you can afford US$42,000 For a new set of tyres for your Bugatti Veyron, then you can afford to buy “green” fuel.
I’ll take my fuel straight out of the ground (after processing) thank you very much.
https://www.motor1.com/news/448940/bugatti-veyron-tire-replacement-cost/
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How about diesel supercars?
On August 10, 1893, Rudolf Diesel used peanut oil to run automobile (Shay, 1993).
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Daughter 2 rented a new X trail and took us on a ride rom Sydney to Adelaide via Mellboune.
Because I wasn’t driving I didn’t pay close arrention. But have since read that the X trail has no mechanical drive e. very hot 1.5 litre motor (150 kw) drives either a battery or two electric motors giving 4 wd.
I’m guessing thhat engine may have 15 to 1 compression.
Then took The Ghan to Darwin, where rented an Outlander, which has identical works.
So wonders seem seem still to be happening.
Or there’s an error there somewuere.
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I notice tesla has slashed prices in australia. They can’t sell the model Y at all and have slashed its price to the same price as the model 3.
The gigapress technology is being slowly abandoned as it was determined not to be cheaper, and Tesla are no longer using it at the plants in china.
The car designs are now 6+ years old and Teslas lines are so rigid they can’t even handle changes to overall body shape – so tesla are essentially stuck producing just 2 sedan bodies and nothing else.
The battery system of individual cylinder cells has proven more expensive than flat blade cells, so tesla cannot compete on price and are starting to sell cars near marginal loss.
Musk wants a $46b payout even though the company only has $26b in cash, basically ensuring they will never be able to refit production lines for new models. I guess he is cashing out.
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Apparently the Teslas now arriving in Australia come from the China plant, whereas before it was from US. Also, the build quality of the Chinese made Teslas is much better than the previous US made vehicles.
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Forget the “carbon” footprint. Forget the costs and depreciation, distance range, lack of charging stations, battery costs and disposal, etc.
The biggest turnoff for me is where is the electricity coming from under a Labor government? Renewables? My solar panels at night?
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That’s exactly what Albanese (Australia’s Chief Idiot / PM) says.
https://youtu.be/vyS9uqRLbB8
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Albo the Trot now claims that building nuclear reactors will delay “Real Action on Climate Change” when Australia only contributes 1% of global CO2 emissions and even if Australia reduced its emissions to zero this would have no measurable impact on global climate even if CO2 (aka plant food) was a problem
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And yet recently he signed a joint nation commitment for SMR nuclear.
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Link please.
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All the rich woke virtue signalers and poseurs now have their toys.
The only way the market can expand now is for some of the world’s most stupid people in some of the world’s worst and wokest governments like Australia’s (yes Chrissy Bowen and Anthony Albanese, I’m talking about you), mandates their purchase.
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And how would they do that ?
By incrementally, but savagely, increasing the tax on petrol – using a sliding scale based on distance, for example. The GPS in your pocket is not your friend.
Noted previously, a while back I talked with a CBA executive at a mining conference. He was of no doubt that Chinese EV’s will win the day here, especially with the current ALP Govt, although he and I agreed that an LNP Govt would turn turtle anyway. His motive was clearly that of gaining a big part of financing this “emerging” market.
The issue has for decades now been one of nationalism vs globalism.
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I doubt it – not only would increasing fuel taxes be incredibly unpopular while the vast majority are still driving ICEs, but it would increase the inflation numbers since fuel is part of the CPI. And no politician wants high inflation figures coming out on their watch. Case in point: during the last election they lowered fuel taxes temporarily, not raised them.
What’s far more likely to happen is “extend and pretend”: water down the mandates, push them father back into the future etc while still paying lip service to the “climate crisis”.
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Driving around there’s definitely more Teslas on the road and even now I’m noticing the other BPV’s as well. There’s been such a huge marketing push, it’s not surprising. But, here’s the conundrum for Tesla. That brand was a rich people thing. If the common people are driving Teslas, the rich will move to another brand.
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Until the common people start laughing at the rich peoples’ cars like in The Emperor’s New Clothes. The rich will ditch their Teslas faster than a porn star ignores her payout to keep quiet.
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All the rich woke virtue signalers and poseurs now have their toys.
Audi recalls e-tron GT, RS GTs over battery fire fears
Audi has issued a recall for nearly 370 top-end electric vehicles over fears a fault with the battery could spark a vehicle fire.
Audi has issued a recall for hundreds of vehicles in its e-tron range over fears the battery could short circuit and spark a fire.
The recall notice, issued earlier this week, affects 369 vehicles, e-tron GTs and RS GTs, from 2020 to 2024.
“Due to a manufacturing issue, the cell modules installed in the high voltage battery may be defective,” the notice states.
“A short circuit could cause a thermal overload and result in a vehicle fire over time. The potential defect can be determined with an initial check.”
The e-tron was launched at the end of 2018 as Audi’s first all-electric vehicle.
A brand new e-tron GT starts at $160,922, and incurs an additional $22,977 luxury vehicle tax, according to Audi’s website.
An RS e-tron GT starts at $213,768 and incurs a luxury vehicle tax of nearly $40,000.
Owners of affected vehicles will be contacted by Audi Australia and asked to schedule an appointment to have the battery inspected.
If the inspection detects a defect, Audi will repair the vehicle free of charge.
As a precaution, owners have been “urgently” advised not to charge the battery higher than 80 per cent until their vehicle has been inspected.
“This minimises the potential risk described above and also protects the battery,” the recall notice states.
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Tech expert issues warning about Apple’s ‘obsolete’ iPhones: ‘Just throw them away’
If you own an iPhone that is seven or more years old, you could be at risk of a cyberattack.
Security experts have warned that smartphones made from 2008 thought 2014 are no longer supported by software updates that protect users from malware and other exploits.
The iPhones currently not supported go from the original model to the 6 Plus – but nearly ever year new models are added to the list.
For example, Apple said the latest iPhone 15 family will join the obsolete list in 2030.
In another blow, Apple’s customer service site also explains that ‘service providers cannot order parts for obsolete products.’
Jake Moore, the global cybersecurity advisor at software firm ESE, told Forbes: ‘Older iPhones still remain in circulation and once a vulnerability is located, it can rapidly be exploited by attackers and directed at anyone with devices left unpatched.
‘If people are using iPhones that are out of patch warranty – although it’s frustrating – they should consider replacing them with a newer, more secure device.’
Moore went as far as to tell users it would be best if they just throw the devices away.
An iPhone is considered ‘obsolete’ once it reaches the seven-year mark since Apple stopped selling it.
From the Comments
– This is how EV’s will be.
Just throw them away after 5 years when the batteries have 50% SOH, and your internet connected vehicle stops receiving security updates because the manufacturer has released 40 new models since then and can’t support them all.
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The thought of someone hacking your EV is frightening. Brakes, steering, accelerator. You could be under the control of a complete stranger. It would be the perfect cyber crime. Certainly the manufacturer has such control. Why not a hacker?
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So who wants to buy a toxic, super expensive EV when we know the insurance costs are ruinous, and the cars are sometimes a “write off” after a slight accident.
An average EV doesn’t start to repay its co2 emissions debt (?) until you travel about 60 K miles and don’t we yet understand that so much of the toxic ingredients are sourced using slave labour in Africa and China?
And ditto toxic W & S and yet B O Bowen and “each way Albo” + Greens are destroying our land and sea environments for zero returns and are happy to clean up their toxic mess every 15 to 20 years and start again.
Why are we so stupid today and what are we teaching kids at school and universities? We know that none of this is sustainable and even the most ignorant voters will have to wake up. But will it happen soon enough before we destroy our beautiful country and lose our remaining manufacturing jobs?
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Who will be buying a second-hand EV after 8 years when the battery warranty has expired. These will be going straight to the wreckers.
Factor in the short life of EVs compared to ICE vehicles and they will never repay their CO2 emissions debt.
https://www.motor1.com/news/702983/2014-toyota-tundra-million-miles/
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“Meanwhile Australia joins the EU with footage of “EV Graveyards” collecting at Port Melbourne”
Looks like OZ is catching up with the rest of the world.
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A pretty sight indeed. I wonder if black-out is taking notice? Ht probably sees but refuses to believe just as he has done all through his career as a politician. Stupid is as stupid does.
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People brewing up bio-fuel at home. Wow, that sounds really safe. What’s the next crazy idea?
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Oh, I know. Let’s build big ugly windmills to harvest really thin intermittent energy from the wind to power a modern industrial economy. Surely no sensible thinking country would do that.
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There’s one golden rule for buying a toxic EV? First think and then refuse to buy.
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Looks like Tesla will soon be joining these EV makers even though the range of Teslas has improved somewhat.
Name Production years Range
Baker Electric 1899–1915 80 km (50 miles)
Studebaker Electric 1902–1912 30–80 miles
Detroit Electric 1907–1939 130 km (80 miles)
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A couple of weeks ago a friend gave me a lift to Sydney(2hrs) in his new Tesla 3 and I was impressed. It was quiet and spacious but the navigation “aid” was pretty hopeless in Paddington (posh inner city). With society subsidies it cost $65k and the owner is now researching a home solar charging station which will be >$20k. Okay if you are retired and have the money but I’m used to driving good quality old cars(~$25k) which will go for many years. With 4 in the car we consumed 55% of the full charge of the LiFePO4 battery. Next gen Teslas will have a Maxwell super capacitor bank. This will permit: downhill regenerative braking; less battery weight; greater range; faster charging.
My sense is that the Tesla 3 is too heavy to be a long-term item in the market and the bumpy roads near me would trash a delicate battery. Perhaps something more like a quad bike with a partial canopy would be suitable for city commuting. Heavy batteries means a heavier car which then requires more battery to cart it around. The EV can only really progress when power storage becomes light weight and cheap.
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Regenerative braking has been a feature on ALL EVs (including Tesla’s) and Hybrids since they were introduced.!
And Tesla will not be using Supercapacitor banks…they bought the Maxwell technology to access the dry film manufacturing process for their Lithium cells.
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My daughter has a Mercedes EV (company lease!) and it has regenerative braking. As far as I know all EVs have, it is just a feature of EVs.
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There was a 7-news article yesterday on Australian made commodores. Their spare parts are getting harder to get. Apparently the plastic bumper manufacturer has gone bust so there are no replacement bumpers being made.
The relevance of this is that manufacturers of EVs could just cut their losses and lose interest in supporting EVs. Those without useful vehicle lines to support the loss making EV lines could easily wind up and shut up shop. Tesla had to start hybrid production to get back to something useful that can make money. Tesla EVs have reducing profit margins. When the market forces price drops, people hold off either looking for a bottom or waiting to see if the business can survive.
Any business that relies on government mandates rather than free markets for its profit carries inherent sovereign risk.
This highlights the danger of UN mandates being taken up by elected governments. The elected governments are no longer responsible to those who elected them.
I strongly endorse Lee County’s resolution labelling the UN, WHO and WEF terrorist organisations. It would be wonderful to see this widely promoted and other jurisdiction follow.
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Iain Tyrrell relates how people would steel Mercedes “Pergoda” sport cars just to slavage the chrome trim!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW1UIMlESLk&t=406s&ab_channel=Tyrrell%27sClassicWorkshop
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?? ..when did that happen ?…..i have never heard of a Hybrid Tesla !
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There’s a typo Jo. The headline “Lamborghini Doesn’t Think Electric Supercars will Catch On”, should read “Lamborghini Doesn’t Think Electric Supercars will Catch Fire”.
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Never before in History has a Transition to the “new” ever needed to be mandated.
This is why a Guv’ment Mandate will never work.
The Consumer has always moved to the “new” gradually over time when it has always made sense and where it is beneficial and works. It is the ‘Invisible Hand’ at work. And it works every time. If it is no good, then the Consumer will not continue with it and it will ‘die a death’. This is exactly what is gradually happening now.
Next is the Wind Towers and so called Solar ‘Farms’. They are Unreliable and not suitable for a 24/7 Modern Industrial Economy that requires cheap reliable energy/power.
BTW, CO2 is not a pollutant and does not cause Climate Change. It is a gas vital for life on Earth. UN, please note.
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From what I read you could add heat pump hot water services to that list as governments persuade/coerce homeowners to “transition” from cheap, reliable oil and gas hot water services.
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I get mixed messages about those things from friends and family
Some seem to work fine, others not so much. Not sure if it’s a location or brand thing.
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The Latest from the Car Nerd and his Girl.
The CEOs of the “Big 3” auto companies are backpedaling on their electric vehicle rollouts.
13 min video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP8j1XBfKwE&ab_channel=GoodMorningYouTube
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I have read that a substantial proportion of EV sales in Australia have been to Government and corporate fleets. It occurred to me that these sales are being made using “other people’s money”. When it comes to their own money, buyers are not so keen, even when offered help with other people’s money (subsidies).
Is there any data to confirm his?
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Yes.
1) The Turnbull regime gave their friends at Macquarie Leading $100 million to finance the uptake of EVs.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/rendezview/turnbulls-loselose-electric-car-farce/news-story/02d463990cfc6c4cbf8657c44349fd23
2) The present Albanese regime continues to subsidise the rich.
https://minister.dcceew.gov.au/bowen/media-releases/76-million-funding-package-finance-ev-loans-freight-and-infrastructure
3) There are plenty of other snouts in the trough with many other grants and government agencies buying EVs for their “executives” and for other purposes.
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Govt executives & their EVs, you say?
Not sure if the news reached you last year, when our ex-Labour Govt’s Justice Minister, Kiri Allan, (finally) resigned after being charged with careless driving, resisting arrest, and being over-the-limit, after crashing her work/staff EV into another vehicle on the mean streets of Wellington.
Her engagement to her girlfriend had recently fallen through, and ‘mental health issues’ were offered as the reason for her late-night drunken runner. Another of her ex-girlfriends had recently jumped-ship from Labour to the Greens, so yeah, issues.
Never found out if she was billed for the (written-off?) EV, and the fine couldn’t have been too nasty as, after recuperating with her extended whanau and cuzzies, chur, she’s back in the game providing ‘legal advice’ for some multi-million-dollar entity.
One law for all and – d’oh!
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The synthetic fuel Bugatti talks about is related to Porsche who are part owners of Bugatti.
They have a pilot plant in Chile converting CO2 from the air, and water, to synthetic hydrocarbon fuel.
Naturally, it’s a hugely expensive energy-intensive process, made all the more expensive by the use of expensive, random wind power.
If money is no object and “green” virtue signaling is your game, then why not, as long as taxpayers don’t have to fund it.
In Japan, another unrelated synthetic fuel project from “green” (sic) hydrogen plus CO2 costs a mere €50 Euro per litre, A$82 per litre to produce, about US$204 per US gallon.
https://www.hydrogeninsight.com/transport/first-e-fuel-made-from-green-hydrogen-and-co2-is-100-times-more-expensive-than-petrol-but-costs-should-plummet/2-1-1423373
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Of course it is hugely expensive but when has that stopped governments wasting taxpayer dollars in subsidies?
Making hydrocarbon fuels from CO2 in the air makes more sense that converting the entire transporation system to burn hydrogen to produce water emissions instead of CO2 emission. What would the cost of that be?
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Planting trees and burning the wood sounds like a better way to convert CO2 and water into fuel.
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If you want to see the best reasons for not wasting trillions of $ for zero benefits just watch Dr Koonin in the second SOHO debate with Dr Dessler.
Dr Koonin uses only verifiable data and evidence and his opening address starts at 18 minutes and finishes at 36 minutes.
I guarantee that you’ll feel better and you’ll learn something from Steve and of course he easily won this debate to add to his first debate win against Dr Dessler.
So far he has won 5 out of 6 debates and has drawn against Dr Pielke jr. BTW the debates are voted for by the audience, so at least for once they can’t rig the result. Here’s the link.
https://reason.com/video/2022/08/31/do-we-need-to-rapidly-convert-to-renewables-to-save-the-planet-a-soho-forum-debate/
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Third paragraph:
“Hey, it’s only 60,000 million Euro.”
I think that should be Billion with a “B”.
13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekKtJrIjA4s&ab_channel=ScottyKilmer
[10 min video. China claims 1200 mile range hybrid car. Long rant. – LVA]
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The biggest scam in car market is a de-facto ban on out-of-patent cars. The social contract of introducing patents was that the inventor gets money for some time like 20 years via the monopoly on the invention, but then the public gets to use the invention free after this limited time. This happeed eg. with generic drugs (although during pandemic times they also effectively shut down the use of generics like hydroxyurea, zinc+Hydroxychloroquine, budesonide etc. for the virus in favor of patented remdesevir).
In car market whenever patents expire then a bunch of western governments of various types (federal, state, local, EU etc.) start banning these cars that patents expired on via new norms and standards, the new norms and standards requiring new, patented (expansive) vehicles. The spam of new norms and standards is not for ecology, not for the safety of the consumers, but for the benefit of large auto corporations that hold and create new patents on cars cars. To protect them from the free market, that being free would include cheaper cars based on out-of-patent designs. That’s why such large corporations didn’t protest when these EV laws were introduced – they thought of it as a form of protection for them from potential free market of generic cars. They failed in details – the new norms and standards described cars that consumers don’t want, and that Chinese can make much cheaper.
Basic function of a car – moving from place A to B – was solved dozens of years ago. An example car Peugeot 405 was introduced in 1987, in the West replaced by Peugeot 406 in 1987, but in the world it (slightly modified verison) was manufactured until 2024 in Iran, is probably still made in Azerbeijan (?). So the real free market lifetime of manufacturing model of a car is like 37 years, but in the west it is artificially shortened to 10 years via forcing to buy only expansive, patented new stuff with unnecessary features and spyware.
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Your’re so right TomR and describe perfectly the law of “ follow the money”. Most times you can apply that rule and also find the truth.( this should be a reply to TomR)
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Another one –
“Adobe Monitors What You Do With Their Software”
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2024/06/06/adobe-monitors-what-you-do-with-their-software-n3789776
Acrobat?
40
Your’re so right TomR and describe perfectly the law of “ follow the money”. Most times you can apply that rule and also find the truth.
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Rental EVs: Such a Painful Experience, It Hertz
It was cutting-edge, green-as-all-get-out, ahead of the curve, and wicked cool for bragging rights while it lasted, which wasn’t very long. Rental car giant Hertz is still dealing with the aftermath of its badly executed 2021 decision to go all-in on an Electric Vehicle fleet.
…But the problem for Hertz wasn’t necessarily that the cars were electric, and customers simply do not want to drive electric cars. The problem was how Hertz handled the fleet in general, according to industry analysts.
“The execution and marketing of EV’s [by Hertz] was a horror show across the board,” said Daniel Ives, an analyst with Wedbush Securities who follows the EV market. “It’s a black eye they couldn’t recover from.”
Part of the problem with rental EVs are things we’ve discussed over and over again here but compounded by the fact that you’re in an unfamiliar place, often with deadlines to be somewhere.
Maybe you have a flight to catch at a certain time or a meeting you’re leaving directly for after you pick up the car.
Bad enough that Hertz never built a charging infrastructure at their own offices – you don’t have time to hunt down a charging station in a strange city, nor does anyone really want to be wandering the streets at zero-dark-thirty praying they find one.
…By hewing to charging rules the way Hertz has enforced refueling rules, it may have dissuaded customers from wanting to rent an electric car. Without building any charging infrastructure at its rental locations, Hertz may have hurt its own business.
“They don’t want to go 20 minutes out of their way at five in the morning to find a charging station,” Ives said.
For the customers who would accept an EV when they got to the rental counter (many of our friends have gone ballistic when told that’s what they were getting for a cross, say, Texas jaunt after landing in Dallas or Houston – oh, Hell, no).
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some have found nasty surprises on their credit card statements when they got the final bill if they dropped the vehicle off.
Who needs the hassle of wrangling with the rental company that the EV they stuck you with does not warrant the “returned without a full tank” refueling penalty? Or whatever other weird mumbo-jumbo they want to hit you for.
…Even though it is obvious that Teslas do not use gasoline, the customer had difficulty convincing Hertz customer service reps to reverse the charge.
the company finally apologized for the incident and refunded the customer, blaming a systems error.” However, this happened only after auto enthusiast magazine The Drive reported on the fiasco. The spokesperson said the company fixed the glitch.
…One customer received a $341 “Skip-the-Pump” fee for the Model 3 he rented. While he admits he returned the car with a low battery, Hertz should have charged him $25-$35 for a recharge. He tried getting the fee reversed, but like the other renter, customer service wouldn’t work with him until he started posting his troubles publicly.
…In another incident, a customer receieved a ridiculous $690.32 bill on top of his $329.83 Tesla Model 3 one-week rental. The nearly $700 in extra billing broke down to several outrageous fees – $475.19 for gas the car doesn’t use, a legit $25 EV charging fee, and a crazy expensive $125.01 “rebill” for using the Supercharger network during the rental. For a frame of reference, using a Supercharger to charge a Tesla to 75 percent generally costs about $15.
It was like pulling teeth, but the renter finally got Hertz to refund the incredibly stupid $475 fuel charge, but the 10x Supercharger fee stood…
Hertz knows that rental cars take a beating. What Hertz corporate and CEO Stephen Scherr hadn’t counted on was how much repairing the beaten-up rental EVs was going to hit their bottom line.
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DIP A/YOUR TOE IN (THE WATER) – Cambridge Dictionary
to start very carefully to do or become involved in something that you are not experienced at.
Hertz learnt this lesson the hard way!
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So BO Bowen continues to lie about the true cost of W & S and batteries while they help so called Energy investors and kick Aussie families in the guts. This article from Zoe Hilton from the CIS tries to warn the Aussie voters of the lousy, debt ridden future under a Labor, Greens govt. Here’s a quote and the link.
https://www.cis.org.au/commentary/opinion/bowens-strategy-to-reduce-bills-hides-360-billion-in-costs-by-2050/
“Chris Bowen’s recently released National Energy Performance Strategy is yet another example of the Energy Minister promising bill relief while shunting billions of dollars of costs onto consumers.
The government will invest $15.2 million to deliver the strategy, which promises up to $18 billion in cost savings for energy consumers by 2040. Its strategy is ‘flexible demand’ — industry-speak for shifting usage from periods of low solar and wind output to periods of high output, and reducing usage when demand is high (e.g., during the evening peak).
A crucial element of flexible demand is reliance on consumer-owned rooftop solar and home batteries (including EVs), which consumers can use to reduce their demand on the grid and export surplus electricity. This is where the biggest costs of the energy transition are hidden.
Our estimates suggest that under the current energy transition plan, the amount of rooftop solar and home batteries assumed to be available to support the grid in 2050 will require consumers to fork out around $360 billion.
The 2022 Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) report providing the $18 billion figure does not take into account these enormous costs, paid for directly by consumers.
This is not the first time Bowen has vaunted the savings his energy plan will provide, while sweeping significant costs under the carpet.
He frequently cites the blueprint for Australia’s energy transition — the Integrated System Plan (ISP) developed by the Australian Energy Market Operator — as proving that a grid dominated by wind and solar will provide cheap electricity for consumers.
But, as with the ARENA report, the ISP treats rooftop solar and home batteries as ‘free’ for the energy system. Shockingly, the ISP then relies on these ‘free’ consumer investments to provide the lion’s share of the grid’s solar and storage capacity over the next few decades.
The ISP essentially offsets the need for investors to fund more large-scale generation and storage projects by thrusting the responsibility on consumers to buy rooftop solar and home batteries to support the grid.”
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Dr Pielke jr tries to understand the latest data for birth rates guesstimates around the world.
It seems that about 9 to 10 billion by 2100 is the highest guesstimate and yet that may be as low as 8 to 9.5 billion. Who knows?
https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/birth-dearth-or-baby-boom
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Dr Pielke jr now has a new study where he takes NOAA to task for their many stupid Billion $ disaster claims, that are then used by the Demorats loonies + Biden and the lefty MSM etc.
I just hope he gets push back from these con merchants and they are stupid enough to try and debate him.
I know who would win and then perhaps more of the voters would start to wake up.
https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/scientific-integrity-and-us-billion
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Net zero by 2050 is simply not happening
We haven’t even reached Peak Wood, let alone Peak Oil or Peak Coal
Few energy analysts enjoy the level of global respect accorded to Vaclav Smil, a distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Manitoba and a best-selling author of 47 books. Whenever Smil publishes something new, people in the energy space pay attention. That’s certainly the case with his latest publication, a 48-page report titled “Halfway Between Kyoto and 2050: Net Zero Carbon Is a Highly Unlikely Outcome.”
In the report, Smil details efforts to date by global governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and finds them wholly inadequate to achieve the goal of net-zero by 2050.
“To eliminate carbon emissions by 2050,” Smil writes, “governments face unprecedented technical, economic and political challenges, making rapid and inexpensive transition impossible.”
Smil shines a spotlight on the key issue of copper, a vital metal used in most every electronic gadget, car, home appliance, and power grids worldwide. His report delves into detail on why it will be impossible to produce copper in the amounts needed to turn the supposed “transition” into reality, a theme that echoes a growing array of findings by other studies.
Smil estimates that efforts to replace today’s 1.35 billion light duty cars and heavy trucks would “require nearly 150 million tons of additional copper during the next 27 years. That is an equivalent of more than seven years of today’s annual copper extraction for all of the metal’s many industrial and commercial uses.”
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Smil also highlights the stunning costs of the planned energy transition, pointing out that the US current GDP is about $25 trillion, and getting to net zero will cost 20 per cent of our GDP, meaning the US would have to begin spending about $5 trillion per year on decarbonisation efforts.
Citing a McKinsey study that estimates the energy transition’s total cost at $275 trillion, Smil posits that inevitable delays and cost overruns not factored into that estimate are likely to cause the real cost to rise by 60 per cent, bringing the total to an unimaginable $440 trillion.
Smil’s conclusion that a “rapid and inexpensive transition” is “impossible” gives the lie to the preferred narrative pushed by transition proponents that their desired end state can be achieved without major sacrifices and reductions in standards of living. Indeed, we are already starting to see such sacrifices being mandated by governments across the western world.
Prices for every form of energy have risen dramatically since the policy push for Green New Deal-type subsidies started in earnest with Joe Biden’s inauguration in January 2021. The public pronouncements by politicians in the US, Canada, and Europe increasingly include advocacy for rising restrictions in the ability for ordinary citizens to engage in tourist travel, and the need for them to live smaller, less comfortable, less prosperous lives to “save the planet.”
To his great credit, Smil’s report adds to a growing body of data detailing the enormous costs involved in this forced march to lower standards of living for all but the privileged elites among us.
It should be required reading in every household and school.
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Net Zero is not just a matter of money.
If the USA where to get to Net Zero what about India, China and developing Africa?
Also there are not enough rare earth minerals to fully reach Net Zero in the USA let alone the rest of the world.
If CO2 were ever to be a problem – then building a lot of nuclear power stations to convert CO2 in the atmosphere into fuels would solve the problem
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Good to see that type of analysis.
One thing that does puzzle me is that nobody seems to want to point out the scientific realities underlying the concept of human Induced Global Warming and death by incineration due to our CO2 emissions.
From the basic atomic physics, atmospheric physics and system thermodynamics it is obvious that there is no human induced heating of the atmosphere possible by our co2 emissions.
This is the core, but is strangely avoided by all and sundry: why?
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We live in a post-modern world where fake science and fake history are acceptible to meet the political objectives of the Left.
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Victory for the Marxists – no more expanding EV factories??? https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/10/business/tesla-protests-berlin-factory-police/index.html
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‘Due to a manufacturing issue, the cell modules installed in the high voltage battery may be defective,’ the notice states.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13507789/Audi-etron-GTs-RS-electric-vehicles-recalled-fire-fears.html
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The obvious solution to poor energy density of batteries is to carry diesel and a back-up 500cc twin cylinder generator. Diesel augmented with a Knox hydrogen unit from Perth, Au produces more power and less pollution. Tax on diesel is a fundamental of Govt income. Say we only used 100 million litres a month @ $1.90/lit , -it would mean the ATO would forfeit $15 million a month if we adopted this decades old, tried, tested and Patented tech. No sane Govt would compromise its lucrative income stream or that of the oil corporations.
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Why use the diesel as a backup….?
Likely much more efficient if the engine were slightly larger with a smaller battery, powering a 4WD (all wheel electric motors)
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ACC halts construction of two European gigafactories
😀
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Evolution of the car diesel engine in modern Europe and how it pretended to fight “climate change”.
https://youtu.be/w8r2xnITnqA
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The laws of chemistry and physics win over the “laws” of wishful economics … who’d have though that!
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