EV's Not-so-little Dirty Secret(s)

Mike I'm curious why you posted this?

I had to look this guy up. No idea who he is. Seems to be a big self promoter, linked to a Joe Rogan podcast, mentions in what are regarded as politically-affiliated, anti-EV "news" sites, oil trade publications which may not be legit, similar rants against solar power, mentioned as a consultant to "energy companies," etc.

What am I missing? Who is he? He clearly got a lot of things about EVs wrong in this video, wrong about Tesla, about Tesla owners, wrong about CO² generation from production. He claims to be a geopolitical expert but I'm not seeing that entering much into this other than the Russia/China/Congo minerals rant.

So I'm curious what you think of him / know of him, and what your opinion is of his opinion? Should he be considered and why?

Don said:

Why? What's really important is the cost to own spread over 100,000 miles, isn't it? A more expensive EV can actually be cheaper to own and drive over it's lifetime and once people finally figure that out, many more will happily pay a bit more to move to an EV which is going to save them money in the long run

Click to expand...

Because many buyers only look at the monthly nut that the salesman jots into the 4-square, ignoring price, interest, term, insurance, fuel, and maintenance. As a whole we've proven to be pretty bad at considering TCO. That's not speaking for all, just generally. And it's a big "general population" that needs to be targeted.

Nycturne said:

Are folks "penny-wise, pound-foolish" out of necessity or ignorance? If someone can't afford to carry the up-front cost of an EV (too large a loan for example), they don't get to take advantage of the long-term benefits that ultimately make it cheaper.

Click to expand...

Good point. However cost to fuel and insurance are both up-front costs in the same sense that a car payment is up-front. And maintenance costs aren't that that far behind, especially if oil and filter changes are taken into account.

We're not necessarily at parity yet, but in some segments we're pretty dang close.

Right, but generally banks will approve a cash-strapped buyer for more car than they can reasonably afford, ignoring the reality they have gas and insurance to pay, in addition to rent, food, utilities, etc. We see this time and time again – no bank approval is ever realistic in that regard.

In other words, many buyers have financial room to make this choice with respect to their budget, car payment, and monthly outlay.

I've never heard that term, but I remember being out if high school, either the summer before college or after my first year, meager part time income (maybe just after I joined the Reserves?), and a Ford dealer approved me for a ridiculous loan for a speced-out RangerI knew I couldn't realistically pay. No, I didn't follow through. And they had to have known I couldn't, either, but it didn't stop them.