That one seems straightforward: a partisan filter gives you easy answers for any problem you throw at it, no matter how difficult or subtle. The only downside is some modest cognitive dissonance, which is avoidable if you simply choose not to think through anything at depth. And it’s very easy to avoid deep thinking if you’re willing to watch Fox News for 14 hours a day.
Fortunately, defending Tesla is also pretty easy. They aren’t slow, ugly, weenie mobiles. And they aren’t imports. My car was built about 15 miles from where I live. And my parents have learned the value of plug-in vehicles via their PHEV Fusion, which they only bought due to a cheap lease, but now brag about how they only buy gas every couple of months.
They still claim that anthropogenic climate change is a librul hoax, but do see the value in not paying for gas. So I guess that’s something.
Our lawnmower, weedwhacker, and snowblower are all electric. Avoiding extension cords is old habit now. None are rideable so I won’t gain EV hatred taking them on roads.
No worries. It’s battery powered and the battery still has plenty left over after mowing my 1/4 acre. I love it: It’s got enough balls to much through thick grass, and it’s quiet, quiet, quiet.
This is about to be me. My mower is 18 years old, and the wheels are literally about to fall off. Corded leaf blower and trimmer have always been a pain in the ass, and I’m tired of mower noise and breathing small-engine exhaust. Planning to buy a battery mower, trimmer, and leaf blower this spring, and looking forward to better health and sanity.
Hard-core conservatives ought to appreciate EVs for their ability to reduce national dependence on imported petroleum, allowing us to send less money to countries that may be funding terrorist activities.
Is there an electrocution hazard if a person is charging their car and its raining or the area around the charging station has about 1-3 inches of standing water?
It is low voltage direct current, much less dangerous that higher voltage alternating current. Thomas Edison favored DC, and made a big deal that Westinghouse favored AC. Speaking about the AC powered electric chair, Edison was fond of saying, “The prisoner was Westinghoused to death this morning.”
Only fast chargers (L3) use DC, and it’s certainly not low-voltage. The Tesla superchargers are 480v fast DC chargers.
EVs can also charge directly of AC via the an on-board rectifier (most have them). Most EV charging is done by plugging into an ordinary 240v AC receptacle.
All charging connectors have some kind of digital handshake system that does not allow the charging current to flow until the connector is fully inserted and locked. The cables are quite beefy and designed for outdoor use. Of course, there should be GFCI protection on the circuit as well.
Coal power plants have been retiring left and right over the past 20 years and virtually no new ones have been built to replace them. That’s going to continue for the next ten years or so until we’re down to a few that will be difficult to get rid of.
Gas isn’t actually that much better, environment-wise. It doesn’t produce ash and release heavy metals like mercury, so that’s good. But because some of the gas (which is mostly methane) escapes before being combusted, it’s not that much better in terms of carbon equivalent. And it’s not like they can make the combustion more efficient and thus reduce the methane. The gas escapes at various places along the path before it gets to the burner.
I had an Insight and used to regularly make the trip from LA to SF (actually, Marin) on I5. I could usually do it in about 5.5 hours (excluding the hour or so I spent having a nice big steak at Harris Ranch). I can still remember refueling in a gas station in Vallejo and having a local coming over and checking out my car. He was so excited when I told him I still had about a quarter tank left, and I hadn’t had to stop and refuel at all on the road. It was kinda cute.
Tesla turned Autopilot back on for the guy. As best I can tell, the only real mistake here was in how Tesla advertised the car to the intermediary. It’s in their right to disable AP if the car wasn’t supposed to have it, but they should restore it or reimburse the dealer if it was advertised as a feature for the auction.