It’s ironic that a state which was, and still is, the home of tough independent cowboys, swaggering rich oil barons and guys with big silver belt buckles preaching “private business can do it better,” is falling prey to the random effects of climate change.
Are things coming around full circle?
What happens to the batteries when they “die”? There is no good way to dispose of them. This is what will be left for the next few generations.
Does anyone think of the mining that is done to acquire the materials to make the batteries? " **The lithium extraction process involves high usage of water and has significant environmental impacts." —Institute for Energy Research
How do you think electricity is made? Most by burning fuel, coal, etc. I like the thought of an electric auto but until some important items are figured out it does not make sense.
After the batteries are retired from their useful life in an EV they can be used in a “second life” to make EV charging stations cheaper and more efficient by charging them up in low-use hours and charging EVs when the electrical grid is running at it’s peak periods. Home solar systems can use them to store electricity generated during the day for use at night. Right now EV battery recycling is in it’s infancy and lots of research and development is going into the effort. But current indicator range from 50% to 100% of the components in an expired second-life battery can be recovered and recycled.
We have more than enough lithium here in the US and Three companies, Controlled Thermal Resources, EnergySource and Berkshire Hathaway Renewables, are pursuing solar-powered clean mining operations as we speak.
Where I live electricity is generated like this:
Here and in many other places, people drive junk cars because they cannot afford a $15,000 vehicle. Thus they are buying very old and often un-reliable vehicles and driving them until the wheels fall off.
I wonder what the future holds if there are not really cheap used EVs for the people who are retired, out of work (maybe they used to be a car mechanic) or whatever.
It is great right now for people who can afford these EV’s but many people will not be able to afford the replacement battery even if the vehicle is free to them. Will we have to start subsidising them too?
If an ICE is temporarily under water, it can often survive. How protected are the terminals on an EV against water shorting out that large battery? I assume there is a large fuse but is that containe inside the sealed battery or externally?
Electro-magnetic delivery of power… great unless you have a heart pacemaker. EVs are not really an issue but the charging system in the video may be high enough to cause issues.
Losing power for extended periods of time was a regular occurrence when I lived in South-Central Alaska, sometimes for days. There, it was common to see private homes with backup generators. Some were fueled by natural; gas and many were designed to kick in automatically when the power went off. Many, if not most filling stations had backup gen sets. Lavarock probably has a similar situation in HI.
Many years ago we had 2 very large earthquakes, A 6.7 just north of town. We lost power state-wide. Most islands generate their own power but there are safetys installed so that a quake will shut down power to the island to avoid catastrophic cascade effects, etc.
Most places had no generators, although some large stores did. Gas stations usually don’t have emergency power. Most radio stations serve their own islands and all but a few went dark. I had to rely upon AM radio from Honolulu which was spotty reception to say the least. I did not have my Ham radio equipment available at the time, nor a safe indoor location to use it. My home power and internet were out after the quake and I had some trouble calling the mainland via cellphone. Telephone service was prioritized for OUTBOUND calls as I remember but still, remember that most of us were trying to call the mainalnd and other countries to tell relatives we were safe. I did that because my friend in Florida could tell me how strong the quake was. CNN was just reporting it. The airports shut down. TSAs had to manually inspect all bags and people. Road crews were very busy with landslides. I used my own tractor to remove some debris from the county road, without asking 
Although this is an uncommon event, it shows what can happen.
Sounds like a home solar system would be a good investment where you live.
Not really… a class two home charger will typically use 230v at 30 to 70 amps. That’s also what many residential HVAC systems use. The fast-charge DC commercial charging stations don’t radiate because they use DC electricity.
Since common stuff like department store theft detectors, metal detectors, cell phones, headphones, magnets, jumper cables and automotive ignition systems emit a lot more high frequency interference, I don’t think EV use will add any additional risk to folks relying on pacemakers.
I agree, but I was referencing the video of the electro-magnetic panels which were being placed under the road to allow vehicles like busses to charge as they drove.The Future Of Electric Vehicle Charging? Tech Company Turns Streets Into Charging Pads
I think the chargers are triggered with a code passed to it from the vehicle to be charged, they need that for billing. And it’s not too big a challenge to shield the receiving vehicle’s passengers while it’s operating.
We already have stuff like wireless induction cellphone chargers and 100,000 to 700,000-volt overhead electrical transmission lines in our everyday environment. And being under a well-traveled pavement, I’m confident they would design them to emit minimum incidental RF interference.
Thanks for that clarification of who these people really are.
I don’t know if it is accurate but a friend who owns a Tesla told me that you can’t replace a single battery. If you need to replace any batteries, you have to replace a good chunk (all?) of them for $4k or $8k (can’t remember what she said now).
“Congress allocated $7.5 billion to help build out 500,000 stations, only 7 EV charging stations are operational”
That was passed in 2021, so the remaining 499,993 will take how long?
Two comments:
One… the $7.5 billion hasn’t been spent yet, and may never be spent if there’s not enough demand for charging stations.
Two… the original Trump tax breaks will cost us $2.3 trillion, and he’s proposing an extension which will boost the price tag to $3.8 trillion.
You guys need a $10 calculator so you can compare numbers. 
Where do you fit in the beneficiaries of Trump’s tax break for the rich?
“The top 50 percent of all taxpayers paid 97.7 percent of all federal individual income taxes, while the bottom 50 percent paid the remaining 2.3 percent.”
Since we ae using charts…Federal tax receipt will be up 50% since the TCJA passed. Pretty obvious that we have a spending problem.
Don’t know what the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has to do with 7 EV charging stations. Maybe start a new thread?
Actually they are down from 2022’s tax receipts. And coming out of the pandemic they should logically be higher.
