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A driver charges an electric car at a parking lot of a shopping mall last year in Tallinn, Estonia. Many electric vehicle batteries lose power when it’s very cold.
A driver charges an electric car at a parking lot of a shopping mall last year in Tallinn, Estonia. Many electric vehicle batteries lose power when it’s very cold.
Electric cars are like frogs. It’s not easy being green, and they don’t like the cold. This might explain the sluggish performance of e-car sales under the Green New Deal.
Warnings of this weekend’s arctic vortex came the day Colorado Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper joined Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse to celebrate more funding for e-car charging stations from Fort Collins to Pueblo.
Their news release explains how $13.8 million from the infrastructure law would “help build a national EV charging network to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create jobs while making EVs more accessible to drivers.”
“As our energy economy transitions, advances like electric vehicles are essential for cleaner air and fighting climate change,” Hickenlooper said.
Deadly winter weather tests the wisdom of running cars, trucks, and much of our society on power transferred to and from batteries.
A dead battery, like an empty gas tank, delivers no heat. This makes the need for more charging stations essential — for a minority of wealthy, subsidized buyers of high-end cars.
Like the other cash our government spends proliferating battery cars, the $13.8 million will benefit owners of 1.1% of cars on Colorado roads.
A recent report by the Colorado Energy Office found of Colorado’s electric cars, 75% of owners are men, 72% “hold moderate or conservative views,” 84% own real estate, and 63% report household incomes of $100,000 and up.
The nonprofit media group CalMatters reports that communities with high concentrations of electric cars “are affluent, college-educated and at least 75% White and Asian.”
That means low- and mid-income households pay for affluent center-right successful men to buy status-symbol cars.
Bennet says in the news release that charging stations will make “EVs more accessible” to “low-income communities.” That’s odd. New fuel pumps don’t help the poor buy cars.
As we fund more infrastructure for the 1.1% — with the Energy Office promoting subsidies of up to $18,500 for each — we should contemplate where the e-car market might go when the novelty wears off.
Indications are not great. Last week’s celebration of the subsidy came as Hertz planned to sell 20,000 battery cars and reinvest in gasoline models. The company cited “high repair costs, low demand and rapid depreciation.” The move comes after the White House praised Hertz for embracing e-cars.
Ford is postponing $12 billion in planned electric vehicle production. General Motors scrapped plans to build 400,000 e-vehicles through mid-2024.
Volkswagen canceled a $2 billion e-car factory in Germany. Honda, Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz are easing off electric cars, with Mercedes CFO Harald Wilhelm calling the EV market a “brutal space.” Tesla shares dipped Friday to nearly half their $407 peak in 2021.
One reason these cars are not more popular is the weather we have today, throughout much of the country.
“Vehicle (electric) range drops 20% when temperatures start hitting the 32 degrees Fahrenheit mark,” explains HERE.com, a Dutch multinational group specializing in mapping technologies, location data and automotive services. “If it drops another 10 degrees Fahrenheit, that number slumps to 40%.”
As cold strains batteries, cabin heaters drain them at a higher-than-normal rate.
We are happy for Coloradans who love their electric cars, even in the cold. We know of more who can’t afford their electric bills “as our energy economy transitions” and they pay for a fortunate few to drive while feeling green.
Welcome to the benevolent, compassionate Green New Deal.
The Gazette Editorial Board
Ryan McKibben, Chairman
Christian Anschutz, Vice Chairman
Chris Reen, Publisher
Wayne Laugesen, Editorial Page Editor
Pula Davis, Newsroom Operations Director
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