The Biden admin’s main selling point on climate is bragging about how much funding they’ve gotten from Congress. That’s a legislative achievement, but the execution part – which is the point of their branch of government – has been incredibly rocky. You got $7.5B in funding for EV charging yielding 8 EV chargers nationwide. And Biden has slapped big tariffs on Chinese solar panels and EVs, so that renewables will get more expensive and American carmakers who are skeptical about the EV transition will get to drag their feet even more.
My next car purchase will at the very least be a PHEV, if not a full EV. But my current gas car is fine, so I have no immediate need to purchase one. I don’t consider that as dragging my feet. I’ll buy it when I need it.
I’m with you. A car is an expensive purchase, so it’s difficult to justify rushing into a new one. But I’ll definitely be going either PHEV or EV on my next vehicle.
By my calculations, my car will have paid for itself in savings from not buying gas alone, after about 10 years, and I’ve had it for 6. And it’s a PHEV with a range of only 40 miles on battery. I might have already broke even on a Leaf.
That’s comparing to a gas car with 35mpg efficiency. My old car that I drove into the ground got about 17mpg so by that metric it’s already paid for itself.
And I’m not taking about the difference in price between a PHEV and a pure gasoline car, I’m taking about the total price of the car. I will have saved that much money by using electric instead of gas.
If you drive a lot, especially if you drive for work, electric is a no brainer. Assuming you have somewhere to charge it.
If you have your own home with off-street parking, installing a level 2 charger is similar cost to a new stove circuit. Charging at home is so much easier and nicer than going to gas stations all the time
While I do agree lack of charging infrastructure is a big issue we need to address asap, the reality is I rarely need it. Charging at home just works, cheaply, reliably, and I don’t need to go anywhere. While road trips need trip charging, it’s been everywhere I looked so far, and a small percentage of my time
Similarly, I’m electrifying my home (especially if rebates and incentives continue), but I’m not going to replace functional major appliances. I’ll buy it when I need it and don’t consider that dragging my feet.
On the one hand it will take years, because I can’t afford otherwise, but on the other hand everything is coming up on replacement time, so not that many years.
So far, the EV is working great, as is induction stove
I’ve personally driven my personal car a grand total of 5200 miles in the last 3 years. Seriously doubt the savings I’d be getting with an EV would make sense at this moment in time.
From the individual consumer’s point of view, it totally makes sense to keep guzzling gasoline. US gas prices are far cheaper than elsewhere in the developed world, even after inflation. US carmakers have priced EVs at premium price points, and the charging infrastructure is mediocre. Add to this Biden’s lock-out of EV imports and efforts to keep gas prices down ahead of the elections.
Anyway, it’s a difficult set of problems, but I would not characterize Biden administration’s climate record as being “full of wins”. They’re like a startup that brags about receiving lots of VC funding (big wins!), but flailing about when it comes to delivering an actual product.
Okay so in a trump administration, what would the environmental record be? Because that was the option for right now as well as the option for the next four years. Would it be full of “big wins”?
Rolled back. Backwards. So I think what you’re saying is Biden environment good, not great, but if you don’t think these things are Big Wins compared to going backwards, i just disagree. They are Big and we’ll get more if we can vote the idiot grifters out. They’re taking environmental issues seriously whereas republiQans will immediately damage it much further than they already have. So it’s Big AF to me.
The Biden admin’s main selling point on climate is bragging about how much funding they’ve gotten from Congress. That’s a legislative achievement, but the execution part – which is the point of their branch of government – has been incredibly rocky. You got $7.5B in funding for EV charging yielding 8 EV chargers nationwide. And Biden has slapped big tariffs on Chinese solar panels and EVs, so that renewables will get more expensive and American carmakers who are skeptical about the EV transition will get to drag their feet even more.
My next car purchase will at the very least be a PHEV, if not a full EV. But my current gas car is fine, so I have no immediate need to purchase one. I don’t consider that as dragging my feet. I’ll buy it when I need it.
I’m with you. A car is an expensive purchase, so it’s difficult to justify rushing into a new one. But I’ll definitely be going either PHEV or EV on my next vehicle.
By my calculations, my car will have paid for itself in savings from not buying gas alone, after about 10 years, and I’ve had it for 6. And it’s a PHEV with a range of only 40 miles on battery. I might have already broke even on a Leaf.
That’s comparing to a gas car with 35mpg efficiency. My old car that I drove into the ground got about 17mpg so by that metric it’s already paid for itself.
And I’m not taking about the difference in price between a PHEV and a pure gasoline car, I’m taking about the total price of the car. I will have saved that much money by using electric instead of gas.
If you drive a lot, especially if you drive for work, electric is a no brainer. Assuming you have somewhere to charge it.
If you have your own home with off-street parking, installing a level 2 charger is similar cost to a new stove circuit. Charging at home is so much easier and nicer than going to gas stations all the time
While I do agree lack of charging infrastructure is a big issue we need to address asap, the reality is I rarely need it. Charging at home just works, cheaply, reliably, and I don’t need to go anywhere. While road trips need trip charging, it’s been everywhere I looked so far, and a small percentage of my time
You don’t even necessarily need a level 2 charger. I rent and I charge overnight from a regular old 120v outlet (level one charging).
Similarly, I’m electrifying my home (especially if rebates and incentives continue), but I’m not going to replace functional major appliances. I’ll buy it when I need it and don’t consider that dragging my feet.
On the one hand it will take years, because I can’t afford otherwise, but on the other hand everything is coming up on replacement time, so not that many years.
So far, the EV is working great, as is induction stove
The sooner you buy an electric car, the sooner it’ll pay for itself in petrol savings
I’ve personally driven my personal car a grand total of 5200 miles in the last 3 years. Seriously doubt the savings I’d be getting with an EV would make sense at this moment in time.
From the individual consumer’s point of view, it totally makes sense to keep guzzling gasoline. US gas prices are far cheaper than elsewhere in the developed world, even after inflation. US carmakers have priced EVs at premium price points, and the charging infrastructure is mediocre. Add to this Biden’s lock-out of EV imports and efforts to keep gas prices down ahead of the elections.
Anyway, it’s a difficult set of problems, but I would not characterize Biden administration’s climate record as being “full of wins”. They’re like a startup that brags about receiving lots of VC funding (big wins!), but flailing about when it comes to delivering an actual product.
Okay so in a trump administration, what would the environmental record be? Because that was the option for right now as well as the option for the next four years. Would it be full of “big wins”?
Well, while in office he agreed to lay waste to huge areas of Alaskan wilderness for oil, damaged public land and national parks, encouraged using more asbestos, and rolled back over 100 environmental protections.
Rolled back. Backwards. So I think what you’re saying is Biden environment good, not great, but if you don’t think these things are Big Wins compared to going backwards, i just disagree. They are Big and we’ll get more if we can vote the idiot grifters out. They’re taking environmental issues seriously whereas republiQans will immediately damage it much further than they already have. So it’s Big AF to me.