A Problem with Virtue Signaling

A few months ago, GM CEO Mary Barra, announced that the company will discontinue with most of the ICE (internal combustion engines) in 2035. GM will put all their technology strictly into electric vehicles (EVs). There is a few problems with this strategy.

Back in GM’s heyday, their slogan was ‘A Chevy for every purse.’ Which was a great way of thinking. Not everyone can afford SUVs that start around $40K before taxes. Unfortunately, the US’s Big 3 have decided to cut down on most of their cars, and have put most their productions lines behind trucks and SUVs. With that, more Americans have to buy foreign cars to drive themselves to work.

Here’s a few reasons that I personally have an issue with this. Currently, the world is facing a semiconductor shortage. The vehicle manufacturers need these to run the computers so they engine can make the cars/SUVs/trucks go. A lot of vehicle plants are having layoffs due to this shortage. Will they ever catch up and keep up production for all the electric vehicles?

Then there’s the lithium harvesting for the batteries. It takes 500,000 gallons of water to gather one ton of lithium. This leaves the water polluted, not to mention the air, which can result in famine and drought. There’s a chance that the earth will be depleted of lithium shortly after 2025. Also, these batteries need nickel, cobalt, manganese, and aluminum. Cobalt farming is mainly done in the Congo using child labor.

How about battery life? If you live in extreme temperatures (hot or cold), just like a phone battery, the charge can be cut by 20-50%. That would make for interesting drive home in a middle of a snow storm. You start out with a full charge, only run out of juice a mile or two from your house. Or living in the middle of the desert and being stuck because your car overheated at noontime. Sounds like fun! Sign me up!

Let’s talk about how long it will take to charge. I can go from an empty gas tank to a full one in less than 5 minutes. I’m sure I can’t get a full charge in that time. My phone takes almost 2 hours to go to a full charge. Plus, where is all the electricity going to come from to charge all these vehicles? The US is no where near having that kind of infrastructure to keep up with the electric fleet of vehicles that are wanted on the roads in 15 years.

Ooh! One last thing, once your vehicle’s lithium-ion battery loses 20% of its capacity, you need to replace it. The batteries alone will cost over a $1000 and at this time, they don’t have a good way to recycle or reuse the battery. The battery is located on the wheel chassis of the vehicle. So I’m not sure of how much it the labor cost will be to change the battery.

It sounds nice and planet saving until you find out what they hide under the promotions. Parts of Africa is being destroyed so Americans can feel better. I know there are better solutions out there, but the big corporations of the world don’t want them. I remember hearing when I was younger there was something that could be done to a carburetor to produce more than 50 miles a gallon. I know, they don’t use carburetors in engines anymore, but that’s not the whole point. The powers that be didn’t want that information getting out. Oil companies would lose big money on that. What I’m saying is always look behind the curtain to find the truth.