Charging Electric Cars Is Far From Easy

On August 22, 2022 By Steven SymesIn Automotive

This might make you think twice about taking the plunge.

Right now, the pressure inside the auto industry to cheerlead electric vehicles is tremendous. Automakers see this as a chance to make tons of money while weeding out smaller competitors since only the mega automakers can achieve the economies of scale apparently needed to profitably manufacturer EVs. The “green energy” industry also stands to gain tremendously from the push as people are told they need to go with solar or wind energy to further shrink their carbon footprint. But all of this comes at a tremendous cost, one of which you might not realize until it’s too late.

A new report from The Verge highlights a survey done by JD Power of EV and plug-in hybrid car owners. They contacted 11,554 people from January through June of this year, learning that overall people absolutely hate using public charging stations.

Automotive News Roundup 8/19/2022

On August 19, 2022 By Steven SymesIn Automotive

Here are the automotive news stories you might have missed this week.

1. NHTSA boss steps down.

Steven Cliff, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, has stepped down to take a job as executive officer at the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Confirmed by the Senate in May, Cliff’s tenure is shockingly short.

Ralph Nader Wants Everyone To Panic About Tesla

On August 11, 2022 By Steven SymesIn Uncategorized

The DC establishment’s falling out of love with Elon Musk continues.

As I’ve pointed out before, Washington, D.C. has fallen out of love with Tesla, once its golden child, thanks to behavior it simply cannot tolerate from CEO Elon Musk. Adding to the recent dogpiling on the American automaker is Ralph Nader, a man who rose to prominence by sounding the alarm about the Chevy Corvair.

Some call Nader an opportunist. That’s a cynical take, but it’s understandable why. After all, the man nuked from existence a car he unclaimed was “unsafe at any speed.” That statement was categorically false and the Corvair has since been vindicated. Still, in many people’s minds, the Nader smear job sticks readily.

Automotive News Roundup 8/5/2022

On August 6, 2022 By Steven SymesIn Uncategorized

Here’s what you need to know about what’s happening in the industry.

I haven’t been able to get a post up for a couple of days and have several interesting items I want everyone to be aware of since they could have a huge impact on the automotive industry in the near future. Click on any of the links to get more info from the source for each story and don’t be scared to leave a comment below – I like discussing topics, even if you don’t entirely agree with my take.

1. Tesla Is On A Roll

Last night was the Tesla annual stockholders meeting and it was a pretty wild time. Yet again, many are comparing Musk to Steve Jobs, especially as he came out on stage almost an hour late and wearing black head to toe. Still, he gave quite the presentation, making the automaker’s challenges seem like mere anthills.

One of the more troubling items presented during the meeting, at least for luxury automakers, is Tesla’s forecast that it will build 1.5 million vehicles in 2022. The company also believes at the end of the year it will be building EVs at an annualized rate of 2 million units. To put that into perspective, last year BMW delivered 2,521,179 vehicles to customers last year. In other words, Tesla is almost on its heels.