Title text:
Now that I’ve finally gotten an electric vehicle, I’m never going back to an acoustic one.
Transcript:
Transcript will show once it’s been added to explainxkcd.com
Source: xkcd.com/3214/
You toss it out and get a new one of course!
xkcd #3214: Electric Vehicles
Submitted 1 day ago by xkcdbot@lemmy.world [bot] to xkcd@lemmy.world
https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/electric_vehicles.png
Comments
Agent641@lemmy.world 2 hours ago
AbsolutelyNotAVelociraptor@piefed.social 1 day ago
As an EV owner, I have recieved an interesting amount of reasons why people won’t buy them:
- The autonomy is not real (so far it’s been in my case and in any case, in italy, for how people drive, the declared consumptions are all fake because people here only drives by pressing the accelerator to the bottom)
- What if there’s a blackout in the whole city and you can’t charge your car? (The whole city, for a long time? I’d be worried about other stuff, but go on…)
- What if all the public plugs are occupied when you want to charge and you find yourself without battery to go to “ork tomorrow? (ALL OF THEM? At the same time? And why are you waiting to charge your car until it reaches 1% charge?)
- What if you come back from a long trip and have a 10% battery remaining and then you recieve an emergency call and have to leave immediately and you can’t because the 50-60km you have in your battery are not enough to reach your destination? (I can get to a quick charge station and get 200km in 15mins or so? The world is not ending? And if it’s THAT urgent then I should be calling an ambulance anyway, because I probably need one)
- I don’t want an automatic car! I love changing my gear! (Thank fuck I got rid of the clutch and the gears… never been happier when I drive!)
- Ah… but the speed, the torque of a thermic sports car… (Dude, you can’t afford a sports car, what the thell are you talking about? And even if I can’t either and I have a pretty average EV, you should just press the accelerator of an EV to the bottom and see for yourself)
- But it’s all about the feeling… the sound… (oh, I get it now… you want to “feel powerful” making everyone look at you and your noise making machine… yeah, I can’t compete there, and I don’t even want to anyway)
- But the electricity is made by burning fuel! (Most of it comes from green sources and, anyway, what the hell do you think your car run on? Water? Are you not very intelligent?)
- But the lithium comes from child labor!! (Says while casually using their iPhone, wearing clothes made in a third world country…)
After this, they usually proceed to make absurd claims like “I don’t care, I just don’t trust EVs.
Tja@programming.dev 1 day ago
Very much similar to my own experience. The blackout is the funniest, because gas stations don’t work in a blackout, while solar panels do (assuming you disconnect them from the grid).
I would add one:
- But I couldn’t drive 1.000km without stopping (how often do you do that? It doesn’t seem safe anyway…)
AbsolutelyNotAVelociraptor@piefed.social 1 day ago
Oh, yeah! I forgot that one!
When you ask them how many times they found themselves with a thermic car doing 1000km without stopping they usually tell you: never, but what if I had to?
Bitch, if you need to do 1000km without stopping, you should be taking a train or a plane. Driving 10-12 hours without a single stop is bad and dangerous.
OddMinus1@sh.itjust.works 11 hours ago
My father in-law uses that added argument all the time. Who the hell needs to drive for 10 hours straight without taking a 30 minute break.
elvith@feddit.org 1 day ago
The only somewhat valid use case for “driving 1.000km without a stop” would be several people in the car taking turns on the driver’s seat. While you’d technically need to stop to switch drivers this in itself is way quicker than even a quick charge on paper.
BUT: considering traffic jams, speed limits and such - a 1.000km trip would take around 10+ hours anyway. You’re not going to tell me that you do not even stop to pee or stretch a bit for 10+ hours, do you?
Demdaru@lemmy.world 1 day ago
gas stations don’t work in a blackout,
…do US statioms not have their own generators?
pineapplelover@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
Another point to add for 9, all the EV parts can be recycled. The metal body is recycled in to new cars and battery components are also recycled in to new batteries.
Relevant technology connections video
blauergrashalm@feddit.org 1 day ago
My reason for not buying an EV: it’s still a fucking car. Bit less shit, but still shit.
That should be Number 1 Reason to not buy an EV!
Allero@lemmy.today 1 day ago
Agreed! EVs are certainly superior to ICE cars, but they’re a band aid instead of a solution.
Bring back public transit!
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
Well yeah if you can avoid it you shouldn’t buy a car, but if you have to buy a car you should buy electric
MalReynolds@slrpnk.net 1 day ago
I mean, technically, an eBike is an Electric Vehicle, and not a fucking car. Otherwise, hard agree.
bstix@feddit.dk 23 hours ago
Fuck cars alright, but as long as I’m dependant on a car, my no.1 reason to get an EV is that I hate the oil industry even more. Fuck their oil and money and pollution and fuck their wars and politics.
RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 8 hours ago
3.What if all the public plugs are occupied when you want to charge and you find yourself without battery to go to "ork tomorrow?
It sounds crazy, but I’d sit and wait the five minutes, much like I’ve done for pumps on occasion.
bdonvr@thelemmy.club 1 day ago
- Blackout
Eh? What if there’s a gas supply issue? Can’t fuel up. I’ve experienced this after a natural disaster disrupted gas deliveries. Lines for blocks. Days to wait.
purplemonkeymad@programming.dev 1 day ago
Not to mention what if someone does something silly like start a war and push the price of oil up. Solar does not increase in price after it’s made.
SapientLasagna@lemmy.ca 14 hours ago
If it helps, my EV technically has a manual transmission. 100% of gear shifts are manual (it only has a single reduction gear).
PixTupy@lemmy.ml 1 day ago
With point 2 you can now use a real life case. Last year the Iberian peninsula had a blackout that lasted more than a day. The combustion engine cars could not pump petrol because guess what: pumps need electricity.
Wrrzag@lemmy.ml 22 hours ago
- I don’t want an automatic car! I love changing my gear!
This is me. I have a hybrid car and I miss the stick every time I drive it.
AA5B@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
The problem is those days are gone, even without EVs. Between modern automatics more efficient and longer lasting, and cheap reliable CVTs (also more efficient), manual transmissions have no future. I also prefer driving a stick, and frequently complained about limited availability in the US, but technology has passed it by
BastingChemina@slrpnk.net 20 hours ago
I’ve been there, I did manual -> hybrid -> electric.
I did miss the stick when I was driving an hybrid. In the hybrid it felt like was I had to give away some of the control I had on the car by not being able to change gear.
With the EV on the other hand it’s totally different, the car is way more responsive, there is power the moment I press the pedal and the concept of gear disappear.
I don’t miss driving with a stick when driving an EV
SorryQuick@lemmy.ca 16 hours ago
The major complaint I hear is that it takes forever to charge. It’s fine for commuting if you charge at home/work, but sounds a bit rough for road trips and the likes.
Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 hours ago
Depending on the car and budget: It totally is.
At work we have a VW eUP.
Charges at a snail pace (¼ = 60-90ish km at 2-3h).Yes it’s fine most of the time but if we swap it between on-site visits one really has to wait or risk not coming home (and don’t get me started on the landmine of charging infrastructure).
German news about the whole infrastructure: youtu.be/GQ2hbLzfQ54
TLDW: Close a contract with one provider (e.g. your supplier at home), pay tripple the amount because that charging station is from another provider. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
AbsolutelyNotAVelociraptor@piefed.social 16 hours ago
Most cars come with fast charge in DC. You can add a good amount of range in like 15-20 minutes. The ones not coming with fast charge are mostly city cars that don’t need it anyways.
turboSnail@piefed.europe.pub 23 hours ago
Here’s a financial argument. The initial purchase price is too high for me, and the depreciation of electric vehicles is also very high. Overall cost of ownership per distance driven is lower if I drive a small gasoline-powered car.
I really don’t want it to be that way, but that’s the reality I have to deal with. Cheaper EVs are coming, but they still aren’t in my price range.
surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 21 hours ago
Must be a Europe thing. I ran the numbers in America and avoiding gas cost (vs electric cost per mile) means the car paid for itself after 30k miles. And that’s ignoring that it needs no maintenance.
I thought European gas was expensive. Is the electricity over there also really pricey?
trxxruraxvr@lemmy.world 1 day ago
My reason: the hybrid I have is still working fine and a new car and a new car won’t be in my budget for the next 10 years or so. Also iirc about 33% of the energy a typical car will ever use is spend on its production, so it’s better for the environment to use a car until it breaks down.
AbsolutelyNotAVelociraptor@piefed.social 1 day ago
that’s completely fine. If your car works, you shouldn’t throw it away, that is wasteful.
Jolteon@lemmy.zip 1 day ago
My argument: When I can get a decent used EV for $5k, I’ll do it. Until then, I’ll just get a decent used ICE car for $5K.
AA5B@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
I always thought this was one of the reasons for an EV incentive. Encourage more people like me to buy the expensive ones to develop the market, guaranteed demand for manufacturers, but that also gets us faster to the point of cheap used EVs
Honytawk@discuss.tchncs.de 23 hours ago
2: I wonder what those people think a gas pump runs on?
If there is no electricity, then those won’t pump either.
Successful_Try543@feddit.org 1 day ago
- What if there’s a blackout in the whole city and you can’t charge your car?
They couldn’t refuel their ice car either or how do they think the fuel is made to flow “uphill” from the tank in the ground into their car.
Electricd@lemmybefree.net 1 day ago
For a lot of people it’s number 7 and I mean, that’s sad
1 is real though, and it can be a pain
There’s also the case where some areas are isolated and there’s no charger nearby and that can be a pain, and yea, that’s not a good spot to be in
Finally, if you can’t charge at home, you’re not really going to save on electricity price compared to fuel, so that’s not the best purchase, and it might be a pain to charge frequently outside if you have an cheap car that charges slowly
bufalo1973@piefed.social 20 hours ago
In the worst case scenario, charging is almost the same price for the same distance. In the best case (at home) is 10x cheaper.
fartographer@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
To point 5: there are companies that sell electric crate motors, pre-configured to couple with your transmission’s bell housing. Hell, some of these companies sell the entire conversation kit, or will do the entire conversation for you. These conversions give you a completely offline electric car that keeps an older car from going to a junkyard, and reduces the materials needed for an updated car on the road. Also, if someone is concerned that a new electric car has the same carbon footprint as an internal combustion vehicle, recycled and reclaimed batteries are an incredible option.
If you’re going to do one of these conversions on a standard transmission car, you’ll probably want to pay some professionals anyway to tune it so that you don’t shred your clutch when you shift. I almost did this with my old '95 Explorer, but it had some suspension issues that I wasn’t willing to tackle at the same time. Plus, my neighbor told me that one of his friends had their car destroyed in a flood, but talked about how they always wanted a classic Explorer in exactly my color, so I gave it to her.
MousePotatoDoesStuff@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I wonder how many of those would not apply to hybrid cars.
Also, for 8: Making car go by burning fuel in a big optimised plant is likely more efficient than doing it in an engine that has to fit inside the car.
Ziglin@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I feel like some of those points are slightly more valid in rural areas (especially in the US, where a power pole being knocked over means that the power is out for hours) where the people making those points are more likely to have grown up. Then again if you are not in a rural point of the united states you are less likely to need a car.
llii@discuss.tchncs.de 1 day ago
If I lived in rural US where the power is not guaranteed I would install PV and use my car as a power backup.
NottaLottaOcelot@lemmy.ca 9 hours ago
It’s a valid argument if you don’t live near good charging infrastructure. I have an EV in an area with ample charging. But when we went to visit my in-laws who live in a more rural area, it was a big challenge. The only chargers around were so slow that it would take 24+ hours to charge the car. And if you run out, you can’t get someone to bring a can of gas.
In an urban area, I love the reduced maintenance and not getting gas. On a road trip with kids, I don’t love killing half an hour in a grocery store with my kids amassing armloads of candy faster than I can put it back.
EVs are great, but we can’t automatically dismiss any complaint a hesitant person has.
RagingRobot@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
I have had some issues with my electric car in rural areas between FL and GA and I will say the charging infrastructure has gotten much better in the past year in that area. Especially since most cars can also use the Tesla chargers too if you need to.
Katana314@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
A car powered by gasoline? It’ll never take off. I mean, what will you do if it runs out of gas? Start a war in the middle east?
Slovene@feddit.nl 1 hour ago
A car powered by gasoline? It’ll never take off.
Well, it’s a car, not a plane.
saimen@feddit.org 15 hours ago
Also imagine the logistics! You would have to refine the oil, get it from places all over the world and distribute it to all the gas stations all over the country. With electric cars you can just tap the already existing power grid.
kossa@feddit.org 1 hour ago
Not to speak of the fact, that you cannot fill up at home or every other lamp post. You have to drive to designated stations to find gasoline. Ridiculous! What if the next station is too far to reach it, before you run out?
Omgpwnies@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
I seem to recall that back in the day there were electric cars before gasoline ones, and that was an argument at the time. Electricity was already becoming ubiquitous and putting up more wires was pretty easy compared to the logistics needed for gas production, transport, storage and dispensing. Gas won out due to the fact that it’s energy density was so much higher compared to batteries of the time… and probably a lot of lobbying by people invested in that stuff.
smh@slrpnk.net 7 hours ago
I’m hesitant to get an electric vehicle because I don’t currently have anywhere to charge near my condo. My condo parking spot isn’t near a building, so it would probably be a pain to charge from there. I’d be interested if my office had some charging stations.
Until then, I’m quite happy with my old Prius. It goes, stops, and steers as needed, no complaints. Catalytic converter has only been stolen once.
rumba@lemmy.zip 16 hours ago
Costco: 4000 pack of kirkland brand AA batteries…
kalpol@lemmy.ca 19 hours ago
In all seriousness, the transition of small devices away from AA/AAA batteries is very annoying. I always had batteries charged, now I have to constantly plug some junk in and wait?
pnelego@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
I invested in some rechargeable NiMH AAs, and AAAs. Now sometimes I think i prefer some things with old school batteries just because of how convenient it is. Granted, that system wouldn’t work well for my headphones, or my phone. But seems just fine for the odd remote control, kitchen gadget or portable lamp.
BanMe@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
Rechargeable AAs and AAAs have finally been perfected, I am kind of annoyed by things that have only internal batteries now, I don’t want them going to the landfill just because the cheap device died. Let me keep running the batteries for a decade in other shit.
kalpol@lemmy.ca 18 hours ago
I have two sets of headphones, one older set that takes a AA and a new one that charges. I use the older ones constantly since when they die I just grab a NiMH AA out of the charger and pop it in, back in 10 seconds. New one…not so much
elucubra@sopuli.xyz 1 day ago
For the blackout concerns: if you have solar panels, irrelevant, actually you’d be in a better place than with an ICE car. Also, if you have a garage, a fairly powerful generator cost peanuts compared to the price of a car, and some can run on gas cilinders and gasoline. Way safer to store gas cilinders than gas.
Long drives. Decades ago I drove with my ex and my in laws from Madrid to Brussels in one go. 2 of us taking turns.I swore to never do more than 800 Km in one go. We did it in a largish car, pretty comfortable. Yeah, no.
kalpol@lemmy.ca 7 hours ago
Most places with solar panels hooked up to the grid, you can’t use the power from them when the grid is down. Safety thing so you aren’t back feeding into the grid.
SippyCup@lemmy.world 21 hours ago
My next car is going to have physical fucking knobs and buttons.
I’m not buying another car with a tablet to control the media and the climate, regardless of power source. If I have to buy a 10 year old rust bucket I will. I’m not going back to the tablet until there’s literally no other option available.
Markus29@lemmy.today 13 hours ago
I have a Kia e-niro which is pretty decent. It has a touchscreen for navigation, but the climate controls, radio etc are all physical
waitmarks@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
People conveniently forget that gas pumps are powered by electricity also. A person with solar panels and an ev is going to be in a much better situation in a large scale power outage than someone with a gas car.
CADmonkey@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
I recall an ice storm where half the state was dark, and sure enough so were the gas stations. It was a fun conversation with my supervisor.
AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
The majority of people in cities aren’t helped by your setup.
AA5B@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
Recyclability: most of ICE cars are recyclable,
There’s no reason to expect this will be any different with EVs. There are already companies claiming better recycling rates, but they can’t scale up yet_because there are not enough retired EVs_
brygphilomena@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 hours ago
I have 25 and 23 year old cars. Pretty much the only thing that would cause me to get rid of them would be a crash or the frame rusting out.
I’ve replaced motors and rebuilt trans on each of them respectively. And I’ll continue doing that. Parts are still easily accessible and when they aren’t anymore, pretty much everything is metal and a machine shop can fab something up.
myrrh@ttrpg.network 19 hours ago
…yeah, five hundred miles is a pretty good run, especially with slow speed limits…
…stateside i’m usually spent after twelve hours solo, which will carry you about a thousand miles, although my wife will power through 1250 miles driving in shifts (but that makes for an exhausting day)…
tgirlschierke@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 hours ago
I’m sure charging stations exist, but I’ve only ever seen one with my own eyes once (Brazil, major city)
Dasus@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
Drove home today from the countryside in Finland. A station every 30km at least.
Gas costs ~2€/litre.
mineralfellow@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
In South Africa, I have seen plenty in the big cities, but nothing on the countryside.
Obi@sopuli.xyz 14 hours ago
Meanwhile in Europe I take off for road trips with my EV that has very mid range, fully trusting there’s gonna be a station when I need one, at first I used to plan the trips around charges but quickly figured out it’s not necessary. If you have a newer model with big range then it’s really a total non-issue. Sucks to hear Brazil isn’t there yet but I’m sure the infrastructure will catch up soon.
Tudsamfa@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I will get an EV when the range/charge speed will allow me to make it 7 miles in 24 hours. And maybe if they’re small enough to fit in a passenger train.
sefra1@lemmy.zip 15 hours ago
EVs as they are now, are only useful for rich people, for two reasons.
- Batteries only last 5 to 10 years max, meanwhile poor people drive cars that are at least 20 years old, since replacing the batteries costs usually as much as the whole car, there wont be any of those new electric cars on the road in 20 years.
Electric cars are essentially disposable, where they are expected to be destroyed or “recycled” instead of repaired.
Ofc rich people buy new cars every few years anyway, so it’s not an issue for them.
- There’s not enough infrastructure for charging electric cars, having to drive extra into a charging station which is usually being used and wait until said charger is free is a too much of an inconvenience for people who already don’t have any free time at hand.
A gasoline car can be fueled in 30 seconds + 2 minutes to pay, and there’s usually a line at most service stations. Even if there’s mass adoption and all gas stations were converted into EV chargers, even if it only takes 10 minutes to charge an EV, that is 12 minutes per person, it would still amplify the queue to the point where it would be impossible to get anything charged.
Ofc rich people can just charge in their backyard or garage at night, so not an issue for them either.
Reygle@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
The problem is that what you actually do a roadtrip, (and you’re not charging at home on a normal “commute” day) is sit on your ass and do absolutely nothing for 45 to 90 minutes at a gas station in the middle of fucking nowhere, hoping no hick “jeds” see you hanging out at the Tesla charger and approach you to tell you that “yuu got a perddy mouf”.
llii@discuss.tchncs.de 1 day ago
I got an EV last year and I woulld never go back. It’s just so much better.
arudesalad@piefed.ca 17 hours ago
He was one of that days lucky 10000
romanticremedy@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 day ago
Huge depreciation and not enough range. Probably wait till next battery revolution and it becomes cheaper than ICE
vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
I like cars, I like the idea of EVs, I fucking hate modern cars (post 08 give or take) so imagine my opinions on most EVs. Just give me an electric Mule or a converted old beater I’ll be happy, if it’s basically anything else I better have the capacity to turn it into an EV equivalent of a dune buggy because I do not respect modern car design in the slightest, don’t care if it’s Chinese, Japanese, European, or American they all have shitty interiors an over reliance on electronics and generally have too many “comfort” features designed to compensate for incompetent design or drivers.
Mellow12@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I will get an electric vehicle when the range/charge speed will allow me to make it 1200 miles in 24 hours, and the battery will last longer than 7 years.
w3ird_sloth@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
user.user.age = “9000”; Done.
Demdaru@lemmy.world 1 day ago
My arguments against EV, not sorted by anything:
- It’s comfy to feel and hear working engine.
- I really dislike automatic gearbox. It feels as if I lost part of control over vehicle and I kinda need it to not go autopilot. Like, me going autopilot, not car.
- EV’s seem best for richer people than me living in houses where they can charge them up - charging from station still is pricer than gasoline.
- I can have emergency gas can in the car and if something happen, it will buy me enough range to reach another station. And when I turn off ICE car, it won’t leak it’s fuel, no matter the temps. The last part I will write up at the end.
- Where I live, the EV infrastructure is catching fast but it is still really lackluster, and to add to that, even I can feel like 70% safe with infastructure here, it’s not certain for my neighbouring countries so that also limit.
And about 4:
This winter we had a small funny problem that two TIRs decided to play overtake on a frozen road and crashed, blockimg whole road. People spent 12 hours standing in line and not really able to get out from what I heard. ICE cars once turned off in that scenario would not give a frick about temps, but wouldn’t EVs have problems with their battery discharginf either due to cold or due to fighting the cold?
But all in all, I still would like EV car lol. In my use case - that is either driving in my hometown or driving to the next bigger city over, they make a lot of sense. Although I can’t afford any car anyway xD
Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
OK then what do you do if there are no chargers in range?
SethTaylor@lemmy.world 1 hour ago
I only drive acoustic cars. They sound even better