Tag: Soap Box

Forget the One Percent, Opinions on the 3.1 Percent…

I’m not writing to defend the “One Percent”, but to question the “3.1 Percent.” (I’ve been ornery lately, several “Soap Box” posts for the past week. Must be the Summer…)

Several weeks ago there have been various tweets and write-ups regarding one of the latest findings from Pluginsights Managing Director and current Guinness World Record Holder for longest EV drive (non solar), Norman Hajjar.

Per articles reported on torquenews.com and electricvehicleparade.com on May 23rd, and even one on CleanTechnica today, 96.9% of EV and PHEV drivers would buy an EV or PHEV again. The number that would return to an internal combustion engine was 1.9%. So, the question to me is not the 96.9%, but the 3.1%, and by extension the 1.9%, what the heck?

On Twitter –

I’ve replied to one of the tweets, with questioning why the 3.1% still have drivers licenses.

After driving an EV or PHEV, why is the number that would go back to a conventional ICE vehicle so high? The only thing I can think of is insanity, and I believe that the privilege to have a drivers license requires one to pass certain tests and I would hope that sanity is one of those measures.

So, an explanation, albeit a facetious one, for this dissatisfied group could be insanity.

If they’re not insane, perhaps another reason would be these people purchased or leased vehicles that were “oversold” to them by their various “independent” dealers. Perhaps at purchase, the dealers promised the customer that the vehicle recharges in 10% of the time that it actually takes to charge the car. Perhaps the purchaser did not understand that batteries degrade and that weather affects it. Aside from Tesla, which does not have dealers, all the other car manufacturers sell through dealers. There have been numerous articles on the failures of these same dealers in understanding the basic functions of their vehicles. Even the Federal Trade Commission supports Tesla and its direct sales model.

Another guess on why people might move off EVs might be because they really would prefer to drive all eletric between 100-200 miles and don’t want to buy a Tesla (or Model S based Electric Mercedes B-Class or Toyota RAV4EV 2nd Generation) and perhaps move to an ICE car in the short-run until the 100-200 mile vehicle is available. Now, this is not quite insane, just illogical. Some solutions others have done include getting a lower range 80-100 mile EV for daily use and then an ICE rental car for when they need to travel further than the range that their EV can travel. Now this is a solution that requires a little bit more dedication, but should work with most.

Additionally, it would seem that it is exactly this group that PHEVs have gained greater acceptance, after all, if we look at PHEVs as transitional vehicles, when used properly, it truly does enable the owners to travel on electric most of the time. There was even a report of a particular individual traveling over 80 miles on EV mode in a Chevy Volt. Now, this is NOT the norm, but kudos to them. The BMW i3 with REX can go 72 miles on electric before switching on the gasoline engine to get a few more miles.

Some might point out that am I being a BMW “Homer” or “Fanboy” in picking the 60 mile limit since the BMW i3 with REX with its 72 mile all electric range is the only existing PHEV that satisfies the limit I propose. Perhaps, however, as I’ve explained earlier, I am compromising a bit in that the stretch here is a 50% bump above the purported 40 mile average American commute figure that is often used as the basis for the glut in pure EVs at the 70-100 mile range.

Perhaps you have ideas on why the 3.1 percent exist? I’m tapped out.

[ADDED 2014-06-03 7:15 AM Pacific Time]

A fellow EV supporter (whose permission to use his comments) on Google Plus commented on my cross-post over there with the following very good point –

Case in point: There is a user on the [Full Electric] forums that leased a [Full Electric] and hates it. Every time they post its about how [Full Electric] aren’t for everyone, have sucky range, have no room, etc. They live in an apartment complex which won’t let them install a Level 2 charger and thus have to find ways of charging at public stations every day. Seems to me that would lead someone to not get a plugin car again!

[All great points, I wonder how the lessors of this [Full Electric] were convinced to get the car to begin with. Why did they feel empowered enough to do it without researching charging options in their housing location. This just stresses the need to provide support for folks in multi-unit/family locations with EV charging. There are efforts and laws either proposed or passed that allows people to do this. That’s another Soap Box for the future.]

Memorial Day 2014… (as much a soapbox as you’ll ever see from me)


I’ve never really given much thought to our addiction to Oil and Gas.

As I’ve mentioned previously, I joined the rEVolution because I had a few goals initially:

  • I wanted to get on the HOV lane by myself. After all, time is money.
  • The EVs that we’ve chosen for our garage are all pretty fun to drive.
  • and lastly, I save a lot of money on my cost per mile. (and maintenance).

    • That was it… Not really anything “enlightened” about it. All pretty much self interest and lots of it.

    I haven’t fundamentally changed. I am still pretty much the same self-interested, profit minded person that I have been. However, after all the years being involved with my many new environmental friends, I’ve grown from being a “Climate Agnostic” to someone who accepts it and helps a little.

    I had called myself a Climate Agnostic because, I didn’t really care. At the end of it all, it didn’t matter to me whether or not Climate Change was occurring. Now, I do care and am doing a little to help stop the change. Driving electric and installing solar are a few of the things, and trying to convince others to do the same is another. I have always taken the economic route, because that is the route that got me here.

    Spolier alert, I’ve figured driving electric after installing my solar panels that it costs me approximately a penny a mile vs. fifteen to eighteen cents a mile or even a quarter to thirty cents a mile depending on which of my ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) cars I’m driving.

    But why am I posting today, well, it’s to refer you to a post that made me stop and think. This post is from about two years ago, very early on my journey in the rEVolution. At that time, I kept up on things regarding my Active E by reading Tom Moloughney’s blog and his Memorial Day post was one that helped me think about the effects of our addiction to Oil and Gas. I try not to be political on my blog because it’s not really me. I prefer a laissez-faire attitude between government and business… And you can guess where I lie in that process. However, it is often not the case that the government leaves business alone, and I, these past two years, around Memorial Day, think of Tom’s post and thought that I’d do my part in having my reader’s look at something that moved me.

    And if you, dear reader, served in protecting my freedom to express myself, I appreciate that which you did and do. Furthermore I hope that we don’t have to send you in harms way just to feed our addiction to oil and gas.