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Ford CEO Faces Hard Sell on EV Road Trip
Kamaji:
Ford CEO Faces Hard Sell on EV Road Trip
By Ward Clark
August 18, 2023
Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Farley recently took a road trip in one of his company's F150 Lightning pickups. In a statement that should come as a surprise to no one, he had some problems.
--- Quote ---"Charging has been pretty challenging," Farley said on X, the social-media website formerly known as Twitter. "It was a really good reality check of the challenges of what our customers go through and the importance of fast charging and what we're going to have to do to improve the charging experience."
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https://twitter.com/jimfarley98/status/1690858328606355456
Clearly, the trip wasn't without setbacks, although Mr. Farley tried to downplay them.
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The trip from Palo Alto to Las Vegas, a journey of roughly 550 miles, took place in an area where there are probably more charging stations than in major pickup markets like, say, Wyoming or North Dakota. Even so, a 40 percent charge in 40 minutes doesn't seem very impressive, given that a gasoline-powered vehicle can be topped off and brought back to full range in less than five minutes.
What appears to be a publicity stunt will take a lot of work to scale up. The California Energy Commission (CEC) estimates that the once-and-former Golden State will require 1.2 million new charging stations to meet that state's EV goals by 2030. The CEC also estimates another 157,000 chargers will be required by 2030 to support 180,000 medium- and heavy-duty electric trucks and buses that the state's EV goals are calling for. What the CEC does not state is any estimate of what this is all going to cost, or how California will pay for it, given their current budget issues.
Bear in mind also that California is looking at plans to effectively use electric vehicles as storage batteries to prop up the aging electrical grid and generation capacity. There are some signs of sanity returning, though, as Golden State pols are asking energy company PG&E to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, the last nuke plant operating in California, to delay their planned shutdown until they can "buy time for more palatable clean energy." It's good that California is willing to keep Diablo Canyon open a little while longer. It would be better if they saw the value more, not fewer, nuclear plants would have in California's overall energy picture.
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Source: https://redstate.com/wardclark/2023/08/18/ford-ceo-faces-hard-sell-on-ev-road-trip-n2162777
libertybele:
How much do the batteries cost and what is being done with them when they are no longer working?
Smokin Joe:
If It is a pickup (not one of those citified, just for show pickups that seldom haul anything much in the back, but one that 'works for a living' the EV market has a few questions to answer.
1: What is its working range. not empty, not with a tailwind on flat pavement, but how far can it go with a load in the back, pulling a trailer with anything from wheelbarrows to a bobcat on it (or more). How many miles will it go with a Lincoln Welder in the bed, in 30 below weather, running the heater to keep the guy who will be working in the cold outside warm?
2: Who is going to pay the crew windshield time while the pickup is charging?
3: How many more DUIs will happen because someone decided to get oiled while the truck was charging up?
4: How many accidents will happen when the ordinary 12 hour oil patch workday becomes 14 or more hours so the truck can be charged? (whether or not #3 applies)
5: Considering the guy hauling that welder has an oil rig or a farmer or someone waiting on him, and that Rig Time, for instance, for everyone and everything on location can run 80,000 a day (easy), who pays for the slack time when everyone is waiting while that pickup with the welder in it is charging up?
That welder could have topped off his F350 super duty and gone the distance without delays, running the whole show on diesel (#1 at 30 below). Screwing around with charging the workhorse isn't gong to cut it.
Just a few thoughts from a place where pickups nearly outnumber cars.
roamer_1:
--- Quote from: Smokin Joe on August 19, 2023, 04:30:10 am ---
Just a few thoughts from a place where pickups nearly outnumber cars.
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And that ain't unique at all... That's about everywhere west of the Mississippi. :beer:
mountaineer:
Part of the problem with EVs ... :silly:
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https://twitter.com/RealJamesWoods/status/1705670495423877232
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