ELECTRIC VEHICLES

In August of 2021, President Joe Biden issued an executive order setting out the goal that “50 percent of all new passenger cars and light vehicles sold in 2030” should be electric. In the order, he instructed government agencies to implement regulatory policies to achieve that goal. “There’s a vision of the future that is now beginning to happen,” said the president. This vision clearly does not involve making the internal combustion engine better.

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On January 16, 2024, Gabriel Castillo and Dana Rebik, published in The Hill, that “Electric Vehicle (EV) drivers struggle to keep batteries charged amid winter freezes.”

They continued, “The winter freeze is impacting drivers across the country, but the electric vehicle owners are facing an additional handful of problems as they deal with long lines at charging stations and reduced battery life. A station with 20 Tesla Superchargers in Skokie, Illinois, was full almost all day, with drivers waiting nearby for spots to open. Some drivers dealing with the long lines said they were concerned about becoming stranded if their batteries ran out while they waited. An Uber driver said that he waited hours just to get to a charger.

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Aimee Picchi published in MONEYWATCH, “Why Tesla and other electric vehicles have problems in cold weather – and how EV owners can prevent issues.”

Picchi reported that, “As cold weather sweeps across the U.S., some electric vehicle owners are learning a bitter truth: Low temperatures can stop the cars dead in their icy tracks.”

Some Tesla owners in Chicago discovered their EVs’ batteries had died in sub-zero temperatures. Drivers also said that some of the Tesla charging stations weren’t working, or if they did work that the stations were taking longer than usual to charge up their vehicles.

Picchi’s article referenced Recurrent’s research, “What happens to electric vehicles in cold weather?”

Recurrent’s research finding that below freezing temperatures reduced driving range by 30% on 18 popular EV models. Having a reduced range in cold weather could be an issue for some owners if their EV runs out of charge miles earlier than expected, potentially leaving to hunt for an available charger or, worse, stranded in dangerously frigid conditions.

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Inside EV batteries, lithium ions flow through a liquid electrolyte, producing electricity. They travel more slowly through the electrolyte when it gets cold and do not release as much energy. That cuts into the range and can deplete a battery faster. Studies found that range loss varies from 10 percent to 36 percent.

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Hot weather is also a problem for electric vehicles. It can decrease the battery’s health faster. The risk of overheating the battery is increased during the summer when the EV is driven at higher speeds on long journeys. Beyond 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit), the battery’s electronic components deteriorate more rapidly and a drop in charging performance is observed. As the battery approaches the point of overheating, the charging speed decreases.

According to Chase Auto, charging stations are affected by heat. EVs lose 17% of their range when the temperature reaches 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Charging and storing EVs in extreme heat can shorten the battery’s life.

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A USNews article dated January 26, 2024, by Perry Stern, “How Much does it Cost to Replace an EV Battery?”, reported that costs for EV battery packs could range from around $7,000 to nearly $30,000. The high costs are due to the raw materials needed to build them. Rare metals like nickel, cobalt, lithium, and manganese are challenging to source and expensive to mine, but they are integral to current battery production. With lithium used in batteries for high-performance electric devices and electric vehicles, demand can cause shortages, further driving up the costs.

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The controversy over electric vehicles is not limited to their battery cost or their operating performance in cold and hot temperatures. EV batteries are manufactured in only a few countries. China is the dominate manufacturer of EV batteries. As of 2022, the list of countries manufacturing electric vehicle batteries were as follows: China 59%, South Korea 23.7%, Japan 7.3%, United States 1.4% and other locations 8.6%.

China controls 80% of global raw material capacity. China is the world’s largest producer of graphite, the primary anode material for Li-ion batteries.

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Biden’s vision of the future for electric vehicles seems to be very cloudy. His advisors might not have properly educated him about EV demographics. The second largest purchase after a home, for most Americans, is the family car. If they can’t trust the reliability and safety of electric vehicles most people will not buy them. The raw materials in the component supply chain for electric vehicles is heavily controlled by China – America’s #1 global competitor and enemy. The infrastructure of charging stations to support millions of electric vehicles is decades away from becoming a reality. The electric grid in California and other large states is currently unreliable. Unless one lives in a moderate climate and does not travel very far every day – vehicles with combustion engines will continue to be the wiser purchase for decades to come.

James Peifer