Some people think that those who’ve been “vaccinated” are already dead – because they will be, soon.
Could the same be true of Volkswagen?
The manufacture of cars for the people – it’s literally what Volkswagen means, in German – announced the other day that it will stop making about 60 percent of the models in its current inventory, all of them the combustion-engined ones that people can afford to buy, in order to focus on “premium” cars, all of them electric, that only a few people can afford to buy.
“The key target is not growth,” said VW’s finance chief Arno Antlitz.
Well, that was tried before – though not intentionally.
Some will recall the last attempt VW made to go uptown – back in the ’90s – when it launched the Phaeton, an ultra-premium luxury sedan with a price well beyond the means of the Volk. The problem was that those who had the means did not want a Volkswagen. Not because there is anything wrong with Volkswagen, much less the Phaeton – which was as opulent as any comparable Audi or Mercedes of the same period and in some ways even more so. But it wasn’t an Audi or a Mercedes – and therein laid the rub.
A big part of the reason why the not-volk are willing to spend das geld on a premium vehicle is because it is a premium vehicle. More precisely stated, because it is not a wagen for the volk.
It has little to do with features and amenities or even power. It has to do with perceived status and exclusivity. It is why Toyota doesn’t sell a number of the models it makes at Toyota stores – or under the Toyota label. It sells them at Lexus stores – under the Lexus label. Hyundai recently bifurcated itself similarly. Hyundais (and Kias) for the volk – and Genesis models (and stores) for the people who have the means to avoid rubbing elbows with the volk.
The problem for VW is how does Volkswagen sell cars to those people?
The Phaeton certainly didn’t sell. It was one of the weirdest yet most predictable automotive belly flops of the past 50-plus years in that unlike, say, the Pontiac Aztec, it wasn’t ugly and unlike, say, the Chevy Vega it wasn’t a poorly built vehicle. Far from it. But it was a Volkswagen. Trying to sell a $70,000 VW like the Phaeton was kind of like trying to sell a $5,000 Timex watch. It’s well-built, it has all the features. It may even be a better watch.
But it’s not a Rolex.
VW may have to change its name to suit its changing lineup – perhaps Herrenvolk? – in order to have any hope of appealing to the people who own Rolexes and can afford to spend “premium” money on cars.
As far as premium electric cars:
VW’s decision is a kind of admission that electric cars cannot be people’s cars. This being a function of their cost, which isn’t going down. In fact, it is going up – because the cost of everything is going up. Including the cost of materials necessary to put together electric cars, which already cost so much more than the materials necessary to put together non-electric cars that an entry-level electric car such as VW’s ID.4 – which is a compact-sized crossover similar to a (non-electric) Taos stickers for $40,760 to start vs. $23,295 for the Taos.
In other words, twice as much (almost) for just about the same. Less, actually – given that the non-electric Taos gos 475 highway miles on a tankful vs. about half that far (245 miles) in the ID.4.
The tragedy of this role reversal from people’s car to elitists’ car is that Volkswagen was on track to become the world’s biggest automaker, with a stated goal to surpass Toyota as number one. But then – around 2015 – the plug was pulled.
VW was becoming too successful – selling people’s cars such as its TDI diesel-powered lineup of affordable cars, ranging from Beetles and Golfs to Jettas and Tiguans – none of them costing anywhere near what an ID.4 costs and all of them going three times as far on a tankful (in some case, almost 700 miles). This constituted an existential threat to the electric car push – italicized to make the point that this has always been a top-down thing, driven by “mandates,” regulations and subsidies rather than market demand.
It had to be not just suppressed but curb-stomped.
Thus arose the sturm und drang over VW’s “cheating” on government emissions certification tests – a thing of a piece with not disclosing to the DMV how much you actually paid for the used car you just bought, so as to minimize how much in sales taxes the DMV will filch out of your pocket.
VW was pilloried as a great despoiler of the environment, though no environmental or human harm was ever adduced. It was enough that the diesel-powered people’s cars “emitted” something on the order of 0.0003 percent more oxides of nitrogen (occasionally, under conditions such as wide-open throttle). Of a piece with it being enough to “lock down” and “mask” the entire country over a “virus” that didn’t kill 99.8-something percent of the population.
In both cases, different motives – and ends – were in play.
Cars that cost around $22k that got 50-plus MPG and could be driven as far as 700 miles on a tankful could be sold to a lot of people; they made electric cars that cost $40k that go maybe 200 miles or so look silly. These electric cars can only be sold to a few people, too.
And that’s the underlying meaning of “the key target is not growth.”
Fewer cars equals fewer drivers. Selling more cars is exactly what’s not wanted.
And you just heard them admit it.
. . .
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The War On ‘Woke’ Capitalism Has Begun
The True Cost of Wokeness
Germany is scrambling, looking at rationing power and in the early stages of reversing their own policy of shutting down their nuclear reactors. They are even considering recommissioning coal fired plants. It turns out you can’t heat the nation on hot air and platitudes.
The true cost of wokeness is beginning to hit home, we’re seeing it first at the gas pumps here in North America. We’re seeing it in energy shortages and rationing abroad.
Next up: out of control food inflation. They don’t call them “meal”-worms for nothing
In the Cathy Woods, Michael Saylor fireside at the conference, Woods noted the change in rhetoric coming out of Janet Yellen in just the last year:
Last year Yellen was harping on crypto’s use in illicit transactions. Now she’s talking about how they “are playing a significant role, not really so much in transactions, but in investment decisions of lots of Americans.”
“Somebody has been whispering into Yellen’s ear” opined Woods, her guess? SEC head Gary Gensler.
Saylor put the Biden executive order into context: “When was the last time the sitting President of the United States issued an executive order for all Federal agencies to get up to speed on an asset class?” – framing that as not presaging a crypto ban, but the de facto green light for the entire space.
There are numerous reasons for this, including:
Being a leading innovator in crypto is increasingly seen as a net-positive economically for the countries that adopt it
They provide a strategic advantage over countries that are attempting to ban it (China)
There is already too much institutional money already involved or positioning to get involved
The only question is to what extent Bitcoin overtakes the fiat economy, whether it becomes an official global reserve asset or functions outside the system entirely as increasingly more individuals and locales opt-out of the fiat world order.
Two more political autonomous zones did just that, announcing Bitcoin as legal tender:
Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal
Prosperos, a private chartered city in Honduras
While Mexican Senator Indira Kempis came to the conference to announce that she’s introducing legislation to make Bitcoin legal tender in Mexico.
With more than 30 million Americans and 300 million citizens globally HODL-ing, Bitcoiners are already a political constituency. There’s even a Bitcoin backed SuperPAC now whose stated aim is to rid the government of anti-Bitcoin politicians like Brad Sherman and Elizabeth Warren
https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/war-woke-capitalism-has-begun
In re crypto currency, the above flip-flop by Yellen/Biden reminds me of the initial introduction of “masks” into our society. Fauxci started with saying that it would be a terrible idea for people to wear masks in the general public, it would take them away from health care workers, they don’t work for respiratory illness, etc. Then a couple of months later, we are told that we MUST wear them, or else!! I had never once considered wearing a mask, and I’m sure most people did not, but the idea was planted, first as a bad thing to “overuse” them (to make people want to do it or think others thought it a good idea), then once the idea was planted, then it was forced upon the populace. (I am of the Resistance, BTW, but that’s a different story.)
So, crypto is a “bad thing,” per Yellen, but now it is something that fedgov must “get up to speed on,” since “so many Americans” are ‘investing’ in it! (fallacy of the bandwagon – note this is also used by car salesmen)
Reverse psychology. Don’t fall for it.
I just saw a 1970’s Toyota Corolla station wagon in mint condition with 40k miles for $14k. It’s barely broken in. They’re practically giving it away. I could live in that thing. No AC. No computers. No stereo. No back up cameras. No assisted parking, driving or cruise control, but it probably still gets close to 50 mpg.
The other issue with shifting the market to overpriced less useful cars is people keeping their shitboxes forever. The barriers to entry to the new car market is too high for a wagie. I would purchase a new, safe and properly working car built to year 2000 specifications and inflation adjusted price points. I have no interest in spending $50k for some bloated underpowered car that requires software updates, and physical parts are backordered for months
All part of the WEF agenda to have us own nothing including autoa.
Reminds me of a Cavalier being marketed as a Cadillac. That went over well too…..not!
Got over better than Oldsmobiles with Chevy engines.
My friend’s dad got a hefty settlement for his 98 Regency.
Entry level Cadillac Catera was really Opel Omega. Didn’t really sell too good either.
Electric battery evolution is already advanced but the $cience Corporations in cahoots with the Busine$$ Corporations which by design suck every ounce of profit out of previous models before moving on to the next ‘revolutionary discovery’ lol. Why we all have at least two Sony Trinitron paperweights sitting around the house ever since the flat TVs took the civilized and incivilized worlds by storm. As if the Flat TV Tech and Prototypes weren’t extant in the 50s, 60s, 70s. Same with batteries. Who knows how long they’ll sit on the truly innovative and advance graphene prototypes..
Had a 66 Beetle and never once managed to squeeze $3.00 gas in it. Loved that car in Lake Erie winters. Up the big hill in reverse = front wheel drive, lol.
Well, it would be nice if they quit injecting people with Graphene, anyway.
But they have curved screens now!
You’re forgetting the WEF, gate’s and schwab’s Great Reset. By 2030, you will own nothing and be happy. So I buy a EV for $50K today and by the early 2030’s I need a new battery pack. No problemo…it will cost about $40-50K because the cost of lithium has exploded. But, I won’t have to fork over that money because by then I will own nothing and be happy. So all this fuss and bustle about owning a vehicle and driving will not matter. If you need something, a robot will provide it. By then, 2/3 of the humans on the planet will be dead and buried and everybody will be happy. See, stupidity works again.
20 DRAWBACKS OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES DRIVERS OVERLOOK
https://motor-junkie.com/20-drawback-of-electric-vehicles-drivers-commonly-overlook/31416/20/?fbclid=IwAR3W2nu4kclnvRMFZ4pjEeKcS97EXRLaX6vyptZA3lzJcNEOU31iUwFGPL4
Crap link. It only lists one.
try this
20 DRAWBACKS OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES DRIVERS OVERLOOK
https://motor-junkie.com/20-drawback-of-electric-vehicles-drivers-commonly-overlook/31416/
The last fully analog rear wheel drive car, the Super 7. Here is the now Japanese owned Caterham Super 7’s sales numbers:
https://jalopnik.com/caterham-sold-more-sevens-in-2021-than-ever-before-1848694685
In 2003 and 2004 a super 7 clone, a Donkervoort had the lap record for street legal cars at the Nurbergring 7 min 13 sec. it had an Audi 1.8 lt. 20vt 4 cyl. engine.
https://jalopnik.com/here-is-a-list-of-cars-that-a-camaro-beat-around-the-nu-17881
Biden Infuriates Environmentalists, Oil Refiners By Allowing More Ethanol In Gas To Lower Prices
from zh comments
As noted in the story that it’s crazy to use corn for this when food shortages are on the horizon. Also they burn up about two gallons of fossil fuel in producing one gallon of ethanol. The cars gas mileage is also effected by the ethanol.
10 dollar corn and 20 dollar meat
Good Lord what’s a poor man to eat.
Corn ethanol no better—and probably worse—than burning gasoline, study says
Efforts to reduce carbon pollution using ethanol appear to have backfired.
Ethanol as a fuel has long been contentious in the US. It started being added to gasoline nationwide in 2006,
And it infuriates me because I don’t like running high ethanol in my car! Alcohol pulls in moisture from the atmosphere (why it’s impossible to have 100% ethanol under normal conditions, it pulls in water from the air and dilutes itself) and that water will separate out in the tank if not carefully controlled.
Ethanol destroys sensors and engines. Sounds like something these Republicans support for their corn based voting block.
It is also an underhanded way to get more people into electric cars by speeding up the destruction of the fuel combustion vehicles on the road and making them costlier to maintain.
https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/biden-infuriates-environmentalists-and-oil-refiners-allowing-more-ethanol-gas
Seriously, have a listen to this BMW commercial, and see if you can tell me what’s wrong here.
https://youtu.be/Ud682p-bB9M
Also, what is a “Sports Activity Vehicle”?
Morning, BaDnOn!
You mean aside from it being a deformed monstrosity? As in the sound it doesn’t make?
Also: Note the racial virtue signaling . . .
Haha, didn’t catch any racial virtue signaling in this one, but in SO many commercials… If you went by commercials, you’d think the US population is ~60% black women.
Yes, I was referring to the sound it DOESN’T make. Apparently they seem to know that the sound of a revving engine is appealing to perspective buyers.
I know it doesn’t really sound like anything, but at least they could’ve used turbine engine sound effects like Knight Rider if they were going to falsify things!
Yeah, and nothing but mixed-race couples, almost all black woman and BLONDE white women.
All typical advertising bullshit. Facts don’t sell, only fantasy, especially at prices you can’t afford if you have to ask, lol! Maybe they just want “people of color” to know that they, too, can be arrogant, elitist pricks on the road, for a price, that is.
It’s actually because the whole minority oppression thing is crapola .
In the sixties, it was the youth market.
Today it’s the Black’s market. I live in a city with double the state population of Black people.
They are represented at least equal to their percentage of the population in all the affluent neighborhoods in this city.
BMWs, Mercedes, Jaguars etc are common, often top of the line and with huge aftermarket tires, wheels and stereos.
Most are very well turned out, with lots of designer labels, Nike and Licensed Pro Athlete stuff.
More Black millionaires and billionaires in the USA than anywhere on Earth.
Apart from the NWO miscegenation programming to create a permanent underclass, the current impetus is that Blacks have a lot of disposable income and aren’t real shy about disposing of it, especially on luxury and prestige items.
About fifteen years ago I wandered into a gospel revival church. Other than yours truly, the entire congregation was dressed to the nines. My entire ensemble was acquired at the local thrift store for $10.00.
There was no doubt who was driving the cheap Korean import economy car. There was a light film of dust on it as well, but there was literally nothing else in that parking lot other than customized Caddys, Mercedes Benzes, BMW’s, and tricked out Lincolns.
The music was stirring. The preaching was excellent, but it was not a place where the economically challenged were likely to fit in.
A Sports Activity Vehicle would be something like a Porsche Cayenne, in my book.
Hi Publius,
This SAV thing is just an attempt to rebrand “crossover,” which is becoming staid. Fundamentally the same thing – and shape. Just a little “sportier” looking and maybe (like the Jag F-Pace) driving.
A glorified golf cart
Notice the sound track, the “varrooom” as the car drives.
Winnebago e-RV concept:
https://www.winnebagoind.com/electric
Range is 125 miles on a full charge (in Florida in winter. YMMV in New Mexico in the summer). But house battery is also the propulsion battery, so better not run the AC (or cook dinner, or run the TV too long, or do anything other that sleep) or you might end up stuck out at Quartsite. In fact, better not venture too far from the KOA, just in case.
Nice thing is that you can have a nice place to sit while waiting at the charging station.
Wow, so one of the first larger vehicle manuf. that’s admitting a pretty low range. This unit is based on a Ford Transit van, that weighs about 5K lb empty with about a 4K lb load capacity, they call it a T250. Sooooooo, most LD pickups also weight about 5K lbs empty. See the problem?
Granted, it will have some built in static loads larger than an empty pickup, but I see a huge problem coming from people that buy into eV pickups and expect the stated range while towing their boats, etc….
ya can’t make this stuff up.
Will be a big hit with their target market of lesbo interracial couples I bet
When it’s obvious VW is going Tits-Up, Antlitz will bail with his golden parachute and retire to some plush location or maybe hire-on with another firm and continue sucking the tit of Germany’s new 4th Reich.
Hi Doug,
In re: “When it’s obvious VW is going Tits-Up, Antlitz will bail with his golden parachute and retire…”
This, more than any other single factor, accounts for the supine-toward-the-state attitudes of so many corporations. The people at the very top are making obscene amounts of money – obscene because it is not (as in the past) tied to the profitability/success of the corporation – and so don’t give a rip about what happens once they’re gone. So long as they get their tens of millions while they’re there.
Not only the people at the top. My employer puts stock option incentives throughout the management. Every “white shirt” knows the daily stock prices and you better bet they’re all in favor of doing whatever it takes to get that bonus. The CEO’s job is to make sure the bonuses pay out or he’ll have a manager revolt on his hands.
Salary is for suckers!
Yep. They tax the dickens out of salary (“regular income”), compared to capital gains.
It’s all about the incentives.
The problem with any company that is being run badly is not generally bad managers. (OK, there’s always one or two). In general, though, the main reason why they do the seemingly stupid things they do, is the incentive structure. Fix that (easier said than done, in most cases) and you will fix most of the worst problems.
Geebus!
The Great Reset is in motion and the “unwashed” will all become “equiteed”…..to the “Somali Standard”.
Most unfortunate.
Glad I’m headed to warmer climes in the near future…
Wow. I never thought that I’d have to “Go Maroon” in the bucolic/idyll of Espaillat Province DR.
(Man, How Reverse Discrimination is that??)..but it appears that’s the only alternative to “that sucking sound”…of the matrix.
Will be scoping out and field testing Daihatsu Delta trucks
(more common than pickup trucks in Texas down here)
and doing my best to have At Least ,2 mature mango , one Soursop and one sour orange tree(s) on my property/….ummm..hobo camp in the hills/..tin shack in a secluded valley..whatever…
RE: “The Great Reset is in motion and the “unwashed” will all become “equiteed”…..to the “Somali Standard”.”
I’m with those who resist such a notion. … I suspect that, If we fail, your island paradise will not be the safety net you hope it to be.
That said, there are many who say, The Power Elite will fail.
… I suppose, that’s why we still have horse races. … We’ll see.
h,
I sure hope you are right. Unfortunately, “The Great Reset” stuff I read about in 2017 with my tinfoil hat on…is inexorably moving forward, as chronicled by EP articles over the years….just follow the trend of articles when they pop up on the website by date!
Each iteration of the reset, continues to restrict “freedoms” in a most insidious fashion…
The classic frog in the slowly boiling pot scenario.
With respect to running from the problem to a remote area of the Dominican Republic…I have no doubt that 2 bags of money to the head honcho down here….will leave me in the same situation as citizens of “Stupidlandia”..(the country formerly known as USA)
However, I plan to forestall the inevitable as long as possible with the still fully functioning local food supply chains and the “world enviable” fertility of the DR soil …that appears able to grow anything that can grow.
Almost everyone with a few square meters plants an edible yard (no one has a lawnmower or weed whacker)
Does history repeat itself?……
Jay Gould of the first “Robber Barren” era in the US stated..”We can always hire one half of the poor to kill the other half”
I report..you decide.
“no one has a lawnmower”
Sounds fantastic.
Always enjoy reading your comments.
The Great Reset is going to happen but not quite in the way they expect.
The system is crashing and burning right now. It will collapse into a black hole of debt and corruption. It is up to us to make sure that nothing like this every grows up again.
The Soviet Union collapsed. The Russians ended up finally replacing it with something they could live with.
I say scrap it all. Eliminate the FedGov, even the Constitution was a horrible failure. When you put stuff in writing like that it is bound to be manipulated or interpreted into something else entirely.
Let it collapse, replace it with nothing.
I believe you are correct about “The Great Reset”. “The best laid plans” and all that…
The book: The Most Dangerous Superstition” by Larken Rose says it most eloquently.
Having a few fruit trees is always a good idea, but even if they’re bearing fruit all year round, it will never be enough to keep your belly from rattling while you’re trying to sleep at night. Calories will be worth their weight in gold after the SHTF. When those aren’t available, tubers will allow you to get a good night sleep.
If I’m reading this correctly, you’re looking to retire in the Dominican Republic? I keep hearing conflicting stories about that place. Some people claim it’s a veritable Paradise on earth while others wouldn’t go near the place without a hefty supply of antibiotics and an AK47.
SVB,
I’ve been to the DR 4 times since Jan 2020, full 30 day visa durations each and the only hassle I ever have is wearing a F–king diaper at the airports and during the flight.
What is exceptional about the DR countryside?
Briefly, think of a whole bunch of cool looking varied scenery that would usually take hours, if not days to connect to in the US. Solution?
Take that same amount of geography, throw it into a trash compacter..press go…then dump out the contents onto the island of Hispaniola…Voila!
One hell of a gas savings for sure..
With respect to personal safety..
The natives are generally very open and friendly and what’s actually quite endearing, is that you will be adopted into an extended family in the area where you end up residing… (real small town USA 1950s values…this was felt countrywide…NO KIDDING)
The crime you hear about is probably sensationalized tourist fright or zeroed to the capital Santo Domingo, et al.
I made it a point to hit the “border” towns during Binational market days (Pedernales, Dajaban, Jimani)
And….
No hassles whatsoever…(never purchased anything, but had to admire the ram-rod straight posture of the Haitian women carrying large basket loads of fruit on their head…quite an exotic sight.)
Lastly, with respect to the seasonal nature of “crops”, we plan on mason jar canning and dehydrating. When you can score a ton of max ripe fruit and vegetables for pennies on the dollar..GRAB IT!
For what it’s worth …I’ve been back 10 weeks since my last visit and I’m already planning the next one.
Licknickel,
Am I correct in assuming that you’re staying in hotels while you’re down there for a month at a time? Would I also be correct in assuming that were you to stay down for an extended stay, you would probably be seeking something more permanent? If that’s the case, what are your options? Rent, lease, buy a place? Would you live in one of those gated communities, or among the locals?
The geography sounds typical of most Caribbean islands so the cost of living, standard of living and crime are the most crucial deciding factors for me.
I don’t understand why you would need to can anything if you’re living down there in the tropics though. I’m living in a subtropical area right now, and only can whatever I want to eat during the winter months, but plenty of stuff grows all year long, and lots of stuff that would normally grow in the summer in the northern latitudes only grows here in the winter months, e.g. summer squash.
The thing I notice most about people who are just starting to grow a garden is that they don’t seem to take into consideration just how much food they’re going to need to grow just to maintain their weight. Calories are worth their weight in gold so growing fruit and vegetables isn’t going to cut it.
Tubers and poultry are probably a must if one has enough room. Tubers will at least allow you to sleep without having your belly rattling and rumbling all night long.
California’s High Power Prices Could Derail Liberal EV Dream. “Mandating electrification when you’re charging people 30 or 40 cents a kilowatt-hour is going to be immensely expensive,”
https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/californias-high-power-prices-could-derail-liberal-ev-dream
from zh comments:
The new green energy deal is not about expanding or even keeping your personal liberties like travel or driving a car… Its all about you sitting in your FEMA tent eating your government given soy bug protein bar as you get ready for your shift in the tent next to you pulling the legs off of farm raised grasshoppers.
Neighbor has new VW EV SUV with two years free juice at the charging stations. At home San Diego Gas & Electric charges $40 to fuel the car midnight rates. He gets 200 miles from the charge . Equals $6/gal
A significant number of people who buy electric cars go right back to gasoline. Fact.
Electric cars aren’t currently paying the road taxes like the gas powered mileage tax. Wait until they start charging $2K+ per year for that privilege for electric cars.
In Iowa they charge them an extra $400 at vehicle registration (every year) to compensate for loss of road tax.
The California Public Utilities Commission noted in a May 2021 industry report that it is “cheaper to fuel a conventional internal combustion engine vehicle than it is to charge an EV.”
Southern California Edison Co. (SCE), Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) and San Diego Gas & Electric ( SDG&E) — the state’s three largest utility companies which provide more than 65% of California residents with power — said their average March bills were $149, $165 and $150 respectively, according to E&E News.
That means SCE, PG&E and SDG&E customers paid 33 cents, 30 cents and 38 cents per kWh respectively in March.
Force peopl onto EV’s and then make electricity so expensive only the rich can afford it. Their plan is coming together nicely.
People have to breathe the waste products of your filthy nickel smelting. Farmers have no water because of your ****-filthy lithium extraction. Others have no drinking water because of your copper slag runoff. But a little green hypocrite like yourself doesn’t care because it’s somebody else’s problem.
‘People have to breathe the waste products of your filthy nickel smelting. Farmers have no water because of your ****-filthy lithium extraction. Others have no drinking water because of your copper slag runoff. But a little green hypocrite like yourself doesn’t care because it’s somebody else’s problem.’
But they don’t SEEEEEEE any of that. They see a lovely plug with no stinky exhaust and drippy oil. They SEEEEE unicorns and rainbows. So therefore it is a FACT that it is cleaner and better for ‘The Environment’.
Excellent citation on that ZH article, Anon!
Yes, the once “Golden” State of Californi(cate) has significant issues with electricity, part of it ongoing HOSTILITY towards nuclear power, or construction of ANY power generating stations, of which NONE have gone in since Diablo Canyon, yet the state’s population has increased by some sixty percent since then. Just as how it treats the disposal of hazardous waste (something I do a lot of work in), it prefers to foist them on OTHER states, as well as still getting a cut of the Colorado River for water. Even most of the electronics recycling is shipped off to CHINA. Like so many other things, the elitist libtards in CA want all the benefits but don’t want to share in the issues that their “high tech” lifestyle involves.
As for charging, there’d have to be charge stations at workplaces, EVERYWHERE, just to facilitate the daily commute reliably. And what of when the EV user gets HOME? One of the big issues with electricity generation and distribution is the PEAK power, which ramps up as folks get home in the evening, and especially in the summer, turn on the AC, operate appliances, and so on. Most utility companies solve this problem by peak rates during those heavy demand time, to discourage casual use and cause consumers to shift their habits to move demand to “off peak” hours. I can see where EV charging might actually be BANNED during peak hours, to avoid blowing up the grid!
And the other issue is how much each household can handle. Trust me, there’s simply no 115 VAC outlet that could handle EV charging with any “plug in”. They have to be 220/230, and in a lot of residences, there’s no enough capacity, so you have to sacrifice running the AC, dryer, or range/oven. Even then, a heavy demand device like an EV works better with HIGHER voltages, like 480. This all will likely require extensive and EXPENSIVE reworking of most residential wiring to accomadate home EV charging.
This is what happens when you get the “Gubmint” involved in a decision driven (literally) by the consumer…and EVs were mostly REJECTED over a century ago in favor of the ICE.
On a related note:
I just saw a commercial for an electric BMW (100% Electric!), and every time they showed a closeup of the car driving, you hear the sound of a revving engine. Curious how an electric sounds that way…
Well, they’re required to make SOME sound.
Most EV owners have an ICE vehicle, often a “Cowboy Cadillac”, luxury sedan, or SUV. I guess they make great commuter rides, but it’s mostly virtue-signaling that motivates those types.
My lawnmower died. I only mow -8000 ft2 so tried a battery powered lawnmower last week. It sucked and is going back to Lowesto be replaced with a gas powered Honda. The volk are going to be kicked in the head when the reality of how bad battery powered cars are.
Hey, funny one – just met a friend of mine who has a plug in hybrid. Funnily enough – due to the current spike in energy cost out here, particularly in electricity, he was telling me it costs him the SAME to run his car on petrol or electricity!! Despite all the handicap petrol has in terms of taxes and tariffs that electricity doesnt…
The Secular Ruling Families and Billionaires have been saying for years that They want to CHANGE Their Planet/Civilization to what They see will assure a Future without many problems!
Of course that the herds of modern moron slaves don’t know and don’t care.
No cars for you. And for those that can afford the EV, they will be so inconvenient that you will choose mass transit.
Then the world will be saved.
But why would auto makers go along with this? Have governments made them deals as to contracts to make up for the loss?
There was a time when I would have said this is tun foil hat territory. That was before the world elites were publicly admitting they do plan on running your life like a machine.
Bingo Dan,
The Great Reset ….is in motion and unfortunately, a billion dollars…1,000..million bucks (pocket change)….goes a long way to …keep the proles in check.
The powers that be are Ecstatic about the reaction they got from the CSM (Corporate Shout Machine)…weaponized cold and flu season propaganda with 50% of the clowns conditioned to face diaper and social distancing.
Divide and Conquer….has worked throughout history and it’s working today.
I’m ready to flush the Dominican Republic
retiree visa process down the drain..(will save over 1,400 dollars.. everything has to be translated into Spanish prior to presentation in Santo Domingo)…and just go rogue, i.e. overstay…the situation with 90% of the expats I met….
With respect to “The Resistance”….Canadian Truckers?…ignore the proles and distract them with a US instigated war…my how convenient!
Question the authorities…you are Doxxed, Censored and demonetized…..tell me with a straight face that something is NOT UP.
Semper Fi
The reason auto makers go along with this is because they believe the narrative that in ten years the vast majority of the unwashed masses will be either dead or destitute. No sense marketing to them so might as well market to those who might have some money ten years from now. That’s my theory.
I still do not understand why VW didnt fight back….by the time all of this is over they may wish they had.
I’ve always wondered the same thing. VW could have hammered our gov/epa over the diesel debacle/scam. I’m guessing they were given ‘options’, but then they still should have spilled the beans.
They’re in bed wif da gubmint. That’s why.
Tesla Owner EXPOSES Major Flaw In Electric Cars In Viral Vid Comparing Them To Gas Powered
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMKQdhjDySg
Banning ice powered vehicles to be replaced with EV’s that use twice as much fuel = insanity.
Should be still selling these:
the all-new 2014 Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion diesel, capable of a claimed 88.3 mpg imperial, or 73.5 mpg U.S.
https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1079454_vw-unveils-high-mileage-diesel-golf-in-paris-that-the-u-s-wont-get
should be driving these cars:
Model HP Lt./100km mpg U.S.
Fiat 500 1.3 JTD Multijet 16V Pop DPF 75 4.2 56
VW Golf 1.6 TDI BlueMotion DPF 105 4.1 57
Skoda Fabia 1.4 TDI GreenLine DPF 80 4.1 57
Opel Corsa 1.3 CDTI ecoFlex CO2 Pack DPF 75 4.1 57
Audi A3 1.6 TDI Attraction DPF 105 4.1 57
Toyota iQ 1.4 D-4D DPF 90 4.0 59
Renault Twingo 1.5 dCi Rip Curl 84 4.0 59
Volvo S40 / V50 1.6D DRIVe Start/Stop DPF 109 3.9 60
Volvo C30 1.6D DRIVe Start/Stop DPF 109 3.9 60
Mini One D DPF 90 3.9 60
VW Polo 1.6 TDI BlueMotion 90 3.7 64
Seat Ibiza 1.4 TDI Ecomotive DPF 80 3.7 64
Ford Fiesta 1.6 TDCi ECOnetic DPF 90 3.7 64
smart fortwo coupé 0.8 cdi pure softip DPF 54 3.4 69
https://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/02/report-all-of-europes-15-most-fuel-efficient-cars-get-better-t/
They are forcing EV’s on everybody that burn twice as much fuel and pollute twice as much:
So to end up with 34.7 kwh of electricity which is equivalent to 1.02 gallons of gas to push the EV 100 miles down the road 4.08 gallons of fuel were burnt to generate the electricity in the power station, remember net 25% efficiency of EV’s (under not ideal conditions they might be 10% efficient.)
travelling 100 miles in a 50 mpg diesel powered ice vehicle uses 2 gallons of fuel, it converts chemical energy, the fuel, into mechanical energy inside the engine, to turn the wheels.
So why are they pushing for high fuel economy in ice vehicles? Are they worried about conserving fuel? Then why are they pushing EV’s that burn twice as much fuel?
They say they are worried about global warming and emissions, that can’t be true because the emissions at the power plant (used to produce electricity for EV’s) are higher then the emissions in the exhaust of the ice powered vehicles.
The real agenda:
If you survive the cull you will forced into living in a tiny soviet style 250 sq, ft. slum apartment in a s..hi…th….ole leftist city, you will walk everywhere, own nothing and be unhappy, you would be better off dead…….gates will still drive his 959 Porsche….
“..you will forced into living in a tiny soviet style 250 sq, ft. slum apartment in a s..hi…th….ole leftist city..
I will tell TPTB that big buildings and too many people trigger my issue. The issue being I’m not going.
“They are forcing EV’s on everybody that burn twice as much fuel and pollute twice as much”
But, there will be far less than half the cars on the road, because those unsilver spooned will be walking, biking, or bussing. Or if current trends continue, they’ll be out in the woods looking for bugs to eat.
That’s what they want.
The irony is, that those who survive the culling will not have done so by being obsequious toadies and lickspittles, and will not be in any kind of mood to comply with much of anything.
All the mask wearers will buy the EV’s just as they are told to do so. Since the Maskers eagerly took the vaccines, their death rate will be much higher over the next 10 years and be less of them. (Think about that Volkswagen)
The non-maskers will not buy EV’s. Half the country will be like Cuba and keep our old cars going well beyond their years. The other half will either buy EV’s and be indentured to debt (slavery) or will take the bus because they are scared and cowards and do what they are told.
Rush’s song the Red Barchetta may be very poignant in that we all might be out running the law driving our classics or motorcycles. As they said in Braveheart: playing outlawed tunes on outlawed pipes.
‘VW was becoming too successful – selling people’s cars such as its TDI diesel-powered lineup of affordable cars.’ — eric
‘Too successful’ is an alien concept to those who have always worked for what they’ve got.
Yet as Kurt Vonnegut showed in Harrison Bergeron, social levelers unable to raise up the incompetent and unmotivated instead resort to handicapping and tearing down the successful, as in today’s diversity programs.
But on a grander scale, Report From Iron Mountain (1967) asserted that the US fedgov needs a permanent, credible threat to justify vast spending that acts as a flywheel or brake on the economy. Pollution (now restyled as ‘climate change’), drugs (a war just starting in 1967), and hostile foreign regimes (Russia, then and now) all served.
Result? US living standards have been stalled for fifty years. The Sixties dream of making a good living by working three days a week, and enjoying luxuries such as flying cars, never materialized.
Instead, half the US population collects government benefits, getting by but remaining dependent. Even if it doesn’t promote human happiness, from a control point of view such quasi-serfdom is ideal.
I was just standing turning around
That’s when they caught me heading down
Keep on going don’t look away
That’s what they tell me, that’s what they say
— Calexico, Fortune Teller
Word is, around the industry, that by 2030 new cars will be 30% electric.
I don’t see the electric car market growing all that much in the next 10 years.
Which, maybe, ties into Eric’s point. Maybe it’s not that electric is growing, so much as that the rest of the industry—for various reasons—is shrinking?
The EV market doesn’t need to grow at all to achieve that, it might even decline and do so, since the decline in ICEs will be more than enough to make it happen.