Isn't that the story of pretty much every for-profit company in existence?
No, there are some responsible ones. Though admittedly not too many. Still, there is a choice.
As an engineer I have a front-row seat to this nonsense with customers pushing me to design stuff on a timeframe where I often can't get all the kinks out. I know lots of engineers chase perfection to the exclusion of all else but I'm not one of them. I know when something is "good enough" for mass production, and when it still needs a little work. The bean counters at big corporations weigh the cost of warranty failures versus lost profits by waiting for further development. Usually they come in on the side of losing fewer profits by prematurely releasing products before engineers say they're ready.
I hear you regarding the bean counters. Ford knew that a certain model of theirs' was prone to gas-tank explosions after being ruptured from a rear collision. Did nothing about it. Early on, a Ford engineer came up with a part that cost a few cents, literally that if retrofitted could have fixed the issue. But the bean counters decided it would be less expensive to pay out settlement claims to surviving family members than reto-fit the part. Ford executives went with the cheaper option. One of the reasons why I will NEVER own a Blue Oval vehicle again.
If you look at my posting history for a really long time I was hesitant to use lithium-ion batteries at all. I would often shun devices with built-in lithium batteries in favor of those which could take Eneloops. I figured let the early adopters be guinea pigs.
Exactly!
One of my concerns had nothing to do with safety, but rather calendar life. In the past, lithium cells would often lose capacity after a few years, even with low numbers of cycles. I had no desire to buy something which might be a brick in a few years. Lithium-ion finally reached a state of development where I feel comfortable using it, but only in the last 5 years or so. I still gravitate towards LFP for larger power storage applications for its inherent safety.
Just another reason why you did the right thing, and waited.
Sure, breathing in fumes from a vented lithium-ion battery is far worse per minute of exposure than breathing auto exhaust fumes. No argument there. However, cumulative exposure to auto exhaust causes millions of premature deaths worldwide.
Unfortunately, no way to tell if it's the fumes or other unhealthy issues combined that causes those deaths in tightly packed urban areas. But having someone report their horrific health issues after a cell vented in front of them, leaves no doubts which is more dangerous. Especially with a 10 year update in which their health has barely improved at all.
EVs solve a large portion of that problem, plus the noise pollution of ICEs. The latter isn't something to gloss over, either.
But they don't solve the problem. That's the big thing. Again, if we're talking about a solution that the masses can embrace to replace their ICE vehicles, EVs are not it! Massive lack of infrastructure for public charging. Impossible for apartment dwellers (where the vast majority of the general Public lives) to charge up an EV overnight. EVs don't solve the problem at all. Hybrids do. Noise pollution is aggravating but for the masses, re-fueling an ICE vehicle is easy as hell.
Funny you mentioned this. For starters, usually when I have something new in the pipeline I tell nobody about it until it's ready. I don't like to be rushed with people screaming at me to start making it before I'm ready. As for the rest, that's wonderful humanity for you. When people are sick, they'll grasp at straws for any cure. Do you remember the AIDs fiasco with Chapstick? For those not familiar Chapstick had "Aids prevention and cure of chapped lips" written on their products. Some idiots thought this meant it prevents and cures AIDS. I'm only guessing what part of their anatomy they probably applied Chapstick to. Human stupidity is boundless. It really is.
Sadly, forced to agree with you there. Don't forget everyone who chugged hand sanitizer during the height of the COVID19 epidemic.
I agree the execution has been flawed. For starters if we really want to phase out ICEs by 2035 or whenever, we should be upgrading the grid now, and adding generating capacity via solar, wind, and nuclear. That's just part one. Then we need to be installing lots of charging stations, particularly in large cities like New York with apartment dwellers lacking a driveway or garage to recharge.
To be honest, I don't think we can add enough outdoor charging stations to meet the demand. I still think hybrids will be the best solution for the masses living mostly in apartments. Those who own an actual house with a garage, should enjoy the benefits of EVs.
And then as I already mentioned, we should have been using mostly LFP batteries, except for vehicles which really, really needed the additional range of lithium-ion (that would be mostly commercial vehicles). Thankfully we're now heading this way with stuff like CATL's new 200 Wh/kg LFP battery. The good news is given the current small EV market share, by the time EVs are common most will be LFP or sodium-ion. The bad news is we'll have a small number of the dangerous ones around for a while.
Yes, headed that way now. But again, far too early. That's what worries me.
E-bike batteries are a much bigger problem on a per capita basis given that this market caters to the bottom. That means cheap cells and poor battery management.
The fact that the masses don't know the dangers involved is shocking.
The thing is hybrids don't really solve the problems EVs solve. You still burn fossil fuel, they still pollute. Plug-in hybrids partially fix things if they allow most short trips to be done on the battery, but at the expense of extra complexity.
From a pragmatic point of view, hybrids are the best solution for the masses instead of ICE vehicles. No, they are not perfect.... but they are a practical stop-gap measure. EVs don't solve the problems at all
as far as the masses are concerned. An EV that can't be reliably recharged at home is a massive paperweight. A car that doesn't run, solves no issues at all. A plug-in hybrid? Why have something that gives you the worst of both worlds?
Well, you're right here but it represented a way to electrify an auto-based transportation system with far smaller batteries. The real solution to electrifying our transportation system would be electric trains and getting away from mass auto dependency. Unfortunately, that ship sailed when the government bankrolled massive highway construction/suburbanization in the 1950s while letting the railroads rot. Other countries electrified and upgraded their railways. For those countries the path to electrifying transportation is far easier.
True. The U.S. messed up in the 1950s.
Actually, many did ask for it. I for one am sick and tired of OPEC playing us like a harp from hell. Now they're making noise about lowering production to get oil prices up yet again. How many times have they pulled this nonsense? Oil companies are among the greediest going, along with being the worst polluters. So yeah, lots of us want to thumb our noses at them, tell them to stick their oil you know where. Getting rid of ICEs is a good start provided we execute EVs right (we largely haven't so far). When the $20K or lower EVs with LFP batteries hit the market then we'll be finally making stuff the masses can safely use.
People wanted it because they were lied to with regards to climate change. Which used to be global warming, but Mother Nature refused to cooperate. Before that it was the coming of the 2nd Ice-Age. But again, Mother Nature refused to cooperate. Policies should not be based on junk science and fear mongering. Yes, the Earth goes through cycles of heat and cold on a regular basis. Has nothing to do with Humanity nor the ICE vehicles we drive. But the masses were lied to believing otherwise.
I'm no fan of OPEC. And, I know individuals who own houses and are serious about getting an EV just to give OPEC and its members the finger. Though again, national policy should not be based on junk science, hidden political agends, and fear mongering directed towards the masses.
There's actually a dirty little secret why the automakers had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the EV business. They make lots of their money on spare parts. Battery fires notwithstanding, EVs just don't break often enough for their tastes. For the same reason car dealers claim nobody wants to buy EVs, but in reality they don't want to sell them because they're less profitable.
Not really much of a secret there. You buy a vehicle comprised of less moving parts, you have less parts that can fail/wear out. Less parts that need replacing years down the road. Thing is, car dealerships make a tiny amount of money selling or financing, or leasing cars. Roughly 75% of their profits come from their Service bays. Repairing cars, and replacing parts. Of course EVs are going to be less profitable for them. Who'd want to willingly give up roughly 75% of their income?
It's no secret that often the products which are best for the end user don't get made under a capitalist system without prodding by governments. As flawed as the execution of EVs has been, in the long run they're still a much better deal for the vast majority of people in terms of TCO, plus the reductions in air pollution. The keys are get rid of the dangerous batteries, bring the price at least to parity with ICE vehicles, if not lower, and install lots of charging stations.
I'm sorry but again, I can't agree. If we're talking about replacing ICE vehicles entirely among the masses.... EVs will never be the best option. Just by their very nature of needing to be plugged in. The masses literally have no where to plug them in to. If your options are an e-reader with a depleted battery and no place to charge up, you're better off with an old-fashioned book that requires turning the pages by hand. Thankfully with cars, we have Hybrids as a stop-gap measure until something pragmatic comes along. Right now EVs are not that pragmatic option.
Edit:
Clarification.
