Remember when I wrote about how EVs or electric vehicles are not the future? Yeah well more car makers are investing a lot of money in being optimistic about EV adoption. A few countries have heavily invested in replacing gas with EVs. California is pushing EVs but isn’t exactly pushing when much of the state already would embrace this newish technology and Colorado wants to do the same.
Illinois governor JB Pritzker recently signed off on the Paris Accords so now Illinois has to reduce its carbon emissions by 28% and that deadline is 2025. That means reducing the amount of gas vehicles and coal plants.
Now I’m all for cleaner energy but not at the expense of spending more money, or affecting what I can or cannot buy. I don’t know what will actually happen because really this carbon reduction goal is way out of reach. Especially when many people already purchased a new vehicle.
And I’m looking to buy a new car but still not enough money saved and most likely won’t have it until 2021. Between now and 2021 this gives this dumb governor enough time to come up with moronic laws or regulations pertaining to what kind of vehicles you can get. In which I hope not because I’m looking for a new Dodge Challenger. Yes, but the V6 option which has more than enough horsepower to drive during the summer. Hopefully by then I’ll have some way to fix the rust underneath my aging Grand Am that I want to keep on the road for awhile at least until I can get a truck or SUV. The Grand Am will be for winter driving and eventually be retired in a barn somewhere so when I’m an old geezer I can still take the car out to drive if I want some nostalgia. Most people wouldn’t hold onto their vehicles for very long and generally because they don’t take extra care with them. That’s another subject matter though.
I don’t know where this JB Pritzker guy is making Illinois heading towards but with a couple of states already pushing EVs out and 11 other states considering this, I worry what’s going to happen. I’m a firm believer in people spending the money they earn on what they want and need. A car can be both, you need one and you might as well buy one that you can enjoy.
The reason for me wanting the V6 Challenger and not the V8 isn’t for the sake of the environment or for trying to avoid an EV so if I use less carbon emissions it might be ok it’s mostly because I wouldn’t need all that horsepower, if I could even handle 500+. 300 hp is enough for now and I save money at the pump. 30mpg highway is pretty good and that’s what im looking for at the moment. I get about the same with the Grand Am but it’s possible that I may get more than 30mpg with the Challenger saving even more money since I’m not really a leadfoot and mostly stick to speed limits. We’ll see what happens there. On a side note Dodge is implementing a mild hybrid which is an advanced stop and start system. If you let off the gas to coast the car shuts off while the 48v battery takes over basic functions like power steering, brakes, A.C. or heat, lights and radio. Sounds interesting but is fairly expensive. I doubt the 2020 will have it and may not be employed until 2025 when car companies have to meet certain emission deadlines.
Now like I said I’m all for cleaner emissions saving the environment, blah blah blah. However that doesn’t mean changing to a Tesla or other EV because this is relatively new technology and there’s a big paradigm shift in the way these vehicles are refuled. Most people who don’t own a garage will never see the benefits in owning an EV. And the costs may not drop down anytime soon although Tesla and the other major car makers are trying very hard to make it possible.
They got many issues ahead and I don’t really have anything against EVs. It’s that they’re not ready for prime time because of the different fueling methods and the additional costs that come with them. There’s also a lack of options making it less appealing. It shouldn’t be rushed because we’ll still be here in 50 years still trying to change for the sake of the environment. There’s a lot of theories going around. Yes we should cut our pollution and dependency on fossil fuels but there is plenty of time. There really isn’t any need to toss away billions of dollars all at once or jobs as if everyone switched to EVs there’s going to be a lot of lay offs. Less moving parts is less maintence, less parts being produced and sold in part stores. It’s going to cause another recession. For me I would prefer to keep driving a gas vehicle, there’s always alternative fuels for gas that hasn’t been discovered yet. So I wouldn’t want to own an EV because the technology is too different for an expensive vehicle. And it’s powered by batteries. So it wouldn’t be a very good idea to toss away billions of dollars towards junking gas for EVs.
EVs are good in the sense that not everyone wants to maintain a gas vehicle and it’s an alternative fuel source but for right now, it’s not a replacement for gas as the technology is different and takes longer to refuel, not everyone has access to a charging outlet rated for EV charging. I don’t want an EV and shouldn’t be forced into it and neither should anyone else. This also includes hybrids.
One last thing to note while Tesla has shown that it has incredible acceleration the Dodge Hellcat and Demon (both Challenger trims) is still faster due to more horsepower. The only reason Teslas are quicker in the 0-60 tests is they are heavier, all wheel drive and this reduces wheel slippage. Their stock tires are most likely better as well. Dodge doesn’t put proper racing tires on. There’s a couple of videos on a Tesla vs a Hellcat or Demon where the rematch shows the Dodge winning after some proper tires. So while Teslas are quite impressive in launching power it’s really just dumb luck the massively heavy battery is actually a benefit. Most other EVs don’t have this sort of power.
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