59 Replies to “We Don’t Need No Flaming Sparky Cars”

  1. As I’ve pointed out before- when you see a base model F-150 with the base V6 engine, steel wheels and a SIXTY-SIX THOUSAND dollar sticker, remember this.

    1. Didn’t I just see elsewhere that Ford is getting nine billion to “keep America ahead of China in the e-car business”? Or it might have only been six billion.

      Money laundering. Toss three billion in the incinerator, wait five minutes, government covers your three billion and gives you three more. Profit!

      Best part, you can keep charging $60K for an aluminum V6 truck that can’t pull a decent camping trailer. (I mean they can, technically, but how long before that poor little thing blows up? Just after the warranty expires, that’s how long.)

      One wonders how long these psychopaths think they can keep doing it.

    3. I relate to that as a current 2010 Ranger owner looking to upgrade ….. not now.

      bverwey

      1. Trust me- if you don’t need a bigger truck- you keep that one maintained and hang onto it.

  2. Indeed. You should be able to claim semi-virtue signaller status by helping out the F-150 Lightning buyers with their purchases.

  3. There are plenty of reasons to dislike electric cars and resist the push to buy one. That they start on fire and explode is not one of them. Pease stop using this as a title for your stories. Fact is, electric cars burn substantially less that fuel powered vehicles. The data and facts are out there. You just make yourself look stupid when you keep using the ‘flaming sparky cars’ narrative. Take some advice.

    1. Not sure anyone is claiming they explode but battery fires are a thing. That much is true.
      2021saw a recall from two manufacturers for exactly the same issue – battery fires.
      That doesn’t happen too often.

      1. Jeez, Burton. We’ve covered this already.

        Don’t you know that e-bikes and e-scooters and e-cars (and e-trucks, buses, backhoes, etc.) Never ever -ever- go on fire unless hackers mangle their charging circuits for more power?

        Recalls? Unpossible, dude. Hackers! It’s them hackers, I tells ya. D@mn kids with their logic probes and their darkweb software patches!

    2. Paul.

      First of all. As a fire fighter the numbers you give are wrong. Yes their are small number of EV fires because they are nothing compared to ICE cars.
      But when a ICE cars or truck catches fire, you have a good chance of getting away from it. Battery fire are run away and quite hot. Your typical fire bottle is worthless in a battery fire.
      So Paul, take some advice.

      1. You would also have to consider the age of many ICE cars on the road.
        Even if the ratio is less, its not pertinent.
        How many EV cars from the 90’s, 80’s, 70’s and 60’s are still driving around?

    3. Paul,

      The cost of mining the extra copper, lithium, cobalt etc., and the consequent pollution makes the breakeven for an electric vehicle around 75,000 miles. They burn less fuel. Seriously? How the hell do think the electricity they use is generated? Not windmills and solar but mostly natural gas and coal.

      By the way there is no way in hell that the requisite amount of metals will be mined to go all electric because the same Eco-Communists who push EV’s do not want any new mines.

      https://www.city-journal.org/article/electric-vehicles-and-carbon-emissions

    4. The post title remains unchanged so that previously posted items can be pulled up for review. link back, etc. under a single search string.

      2. Plus the fact that I LOVE IT. We probably need a new title though for the future, “Lithium Death Watch.” Reference this year’s lithium fire fatalities in NYC.

    1. If you only drive the kids to their nearby private school and pick them up again, hit the nail salon and the local Winners to browse for frocks, maybe a bite of lunch with the girls, an electric Mustang is just the thing.

      It isn’t until you have to drive to the next city to go see Mom that the trouble starts to happen. Or winter.

      So the MachE or the Tesla is perfect for stupid people who can’t think ahead. And that’s who I see driving the d@mn things.

      1. Saw a dead Tesla roadside about halfway on the 97c connector.
        Not much around there for charging. Can see the forest for the trees.

        1. “Saw a dead Tesla roadside about halfway on the 97c connector.
          Not much around there for charging. Can see the forest for the trees.”

          Only a fool would take one of those up there. Long stretches without cell coverage, too.

          I assume you’ve been on it in the winter? Both beautiful (Brenda Mine, for one) and scary at the same time…

      2. And with each stop on your suburban errands … the range anxiety builds … like a pounding headache. You know that 250 mi range is utterly bogus … but the ‘true believer’ e-drivers will never admit the folly of their purchase.

        And let’s be honest … there’s a REASON Ford is losing money on these crippled cars

        1. ” … the ‘true believer’ e-drivers will never admit the folly of their purchase.”

          Amen. Like the guys who bought Ladas.

    2. As well Kenji, it looks like a dog screwing a football!
      We Mustang owners are not impressed. I wouldn’t allow a friend to park one on my driveway.

      1. The mach-e killed the real Mustang. Now it’s just another CUV. I figure the Mustang two door coupe/convertible will not make 2027.

        1. “Almost as bad as a Mustang II boredom 0”

          It looked identical to a Pinto under the hood, but was much heavier. Even the 302 version was a dog…and I’m not sure how they managed that with such a small car and large engine.

    3. I wish FORD a delightful bankruptcy for the sheer lunacy of appending the brilliant, and once-valuable Mustang model name to that ugly POS. Modern marketing is just dreck.

  6. Your government will decide exactly what you can buy serfs. Atlas Shrugged was prescient.

  7. Batteries are fantastic, even magical to idiots like myself.
    And you won’t find a contractor or tradesmen or anyone in the vibrator industry who will say anything bad about them.
    Funny how they’re not subsidized.

    1. There’s not enough electric generating or distribution capacity for everyone to have an electric car.

      The Trudeau/Biden plan is for people to take public transit.

      1. Spot on. The electric grid struggles to service existing load. The problem is rapidly made worse by replacing reliable thermal generation with unreliable wind / solar. Add a huge EV load increase and disaster is imminent.

  9. Fire smire…my main problem with electric vehicles is the battery scam. The average cost of a battery on a standard electric vehicle (we’re not even talking the high end units) is about $12,000. These batteries don’t function at 100% up until the moment that they don’t function at all. What that means is that they gradually lose the ability to hold a charge over time and use. So, your efficiency will go down as time progresses. Eventually, the battery will require replacement (to the tune of about $12k large).

    The warranty on these batteries through the car manufacturers average about 100,000 miles or 8 years. However, the batteries (standard) on average start losing charge at about 60,000 miles. And, the previous is only on an extended warranty (which means you have to pay more for it).

    Simply put. You are guaranteed a real hefty cost on your vehicle no matter how well you take care of it. And it’s not something you can pull out of a salvage yard like we do on gasoline run engines. And, due to the cost of the vehicles in the first place, you will be more dependent on keeping it as long as you can (which will exceed the length of the extended warranty and guarantee you a $12,000 bill just for the battery).

    1. I’d add to the above that the hoops and conditions they will make you jump through in order to collect on an extended warranty is dictated by the bean counters at the manufacturer since it is such an exorbitant cost. I assure you that the pressure on the warranty companies to pay as few of these “claims” as possible will be an ongoing focus (and not to the consumer’s benefit).

    2. I asked the viewer to click onto the footnote provided after Ford’s claim of a 250mi range for their Mustang. They set the popup window so I could not copy and paste … so I have had to type this out myself:

      Based on full charge of Standard Range battery (Usable Battery Capacity 72kWh). US EPA-targeted range based on analytical projection consistent with US EPA combined drive cycle. Actual range varies with conditions such as external environment, vehicle use, vehicle maintenance, lithium-ion battery age and state of health.

      Analytical projection !? battery age !?

      My suggestion? Run. Run as far away from the deception of e-cars as possible.

  10. EV’s will become a dead end for the automotive industry.
    They will never be able to make or sell enough to make up for the ICE business they are abandoning. It will be physically impossible to supply the raw materials for them. Or for the grid infrastructure that would be needed. There will never be the market.

    EVs are a rich person’s plaything. Like large yachts and private jets. That’s the real market. Even if they eliminate ICE vehicles. Most people will not be able to afford modern independent transportation. Get ready to ride on the tops of trains like they do in India. You will denied transportation that they cannot control.

    The only way this prophecy does not hold true is if they can siphon enough wealth from every one else to subsidize EVs. And they are already doing that, and it won’t be enough.

  11. “At Ford, Government Is Now Job One.” Government is bad at picking winners but losers are good at picking government.

    From the WSJ article which imho bears repeating (one of few somewhat trustworthy media these days):

    “The Mercatus Center’s Christine McDaniel estimates the IRA battery production tax credit will cost $152.8 billion—more than five times as much as Congress’s Joint Tax committee estimated last year. That’s because so many auto makers are rushing to cash in.”

    But government subsidies always come with strings. The Energy Department hasn’t released the Ford loan terms, but the Administration has sought to attach project labor agreements, profit-sharing and child-care mandates to grants for chip makers.”

    Ford has already agreed to a union “neutrality” agreement at the battery factories that will make it easier for the United Auto Workers to organize workers. But the union wants more. The UAW agreements with the Big Three auto makers expire in September, and new union president Shawn Fain is using government subsidies in negotiations.”

  12. There will never be enough electricity generation to charge all the EVs that our brilliant leaders wish to foist upon us.

    We can barely keep the lights on in many places as things are now. We are not keeping up.

    They don’t want plebs in cars drinking coffee. Our future is within the 15 minute walking distance from our homes or should I say hovels. We will have our very own shopping carts … non electric of course.

    This planet is heading into a very bad time … we are already in it … get a helmet.

  13. There isn’t enough lithium in the world to do a one for one swap with ICE vehicles. And once demand increases, which it will, it’ll drive the price of Li through the roof making them even more cost prohibitive for the Joe Lunchbuckets of the world. And I haven’t even touched on the electrical grid yet. They know this…you should too. And until the technology changes that’s how it’s going down.
    So what’s that mean? EV’s for me…not for thee. Substitute “me” with Globalist elites…uber wealthy technocrats and a whole assortment of the world’s movers and shakers. Just not you.

  14. So, a customer has a Lightning that he uses for a 45 mile (one way) commute. His “fuel” cost is about half that of my hemi Ram, using the mileage I routinely get at 75 mph cruise. Now, if he was paying the same per mile in road use taxes that are part of fuel costs, that gap would close to his fuel costs being 2/3 of mine.
    Now, his F150 is similarly equipped to my Ram, but stickered better than 35% more. If we assume a residual value of 30% at 5 years, with 200K on the clock for both units, that almost closes the gap on operating costs, with fuel calculated tax-in. That’s partially offset by a couple grand in oil changes. If we levied road use taxes similar to gasoline taxes, the total cost difference, at five years, would be inside of $5K.
    Now, he also admits that they don’t make the 200 km run into Red Deer with the EV in winter. Nor do they do ANY trailer pulling. I can pull my race car- open trailer, 5000 lbs total- a solid 400 km, and I can pull a 7500 lb enclosed trailer nearly that far. Empty, at 75 mph cruise, I can tickle 450 miles/725 km. (98L tank. The big tank would get me Red Deer-Vegas on two fuel stops, even with the cruise set at 80-85.) That’s two full hours of driving further than the Lightning, and only ten minutes to fill, use the washroom, and buy some road snacks.
    Two things have to hit the EV market, and fast. One is the charging system model. The current one is flat messed up. The other is that road use taxes have to be levied at the “pump”, just as they are with gas purchases. We have $.35/L in direct taxation of gas in Alberta. Anybody with half a brain could come up with a formula to tax similar amounts per Kw/H, using a cost/mile extrapolation.

    1. My 2016 RAM has 267,000 miles on it, still runs like new. All we’ve done is change the oil, and put on two sets of brakes and ones set of shocks. Talked to a guy last week driving a 2000 RAM with the Cummins, his has 670,000 miles.

    2. Texas solves problems Volume #49886:

      “Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 505 into law, which will establish a $400 fee to register an electric vehicle in Texas — in addition to a $200 annual fee. That’s in addition to annual Texas vehicle registration fees, which cost $50.75 for most passenger vehicles/trucks.May 20, 2023.”

  15. I do not need an electric car with a 250-300 mile range and comfortably seats 6.

    I have a gas vehicle for that.

    I want an electric car with a 60-90 mile range, with a reliable, inexpensive battery, that seats 2 comfortably with room for 2 more in a less comfortable back seat.

    This would allow me to go to work and back, make short city trips, and drastically extend the life of my gas vehicle.

    I’m an American. I believe there is nothing wrong with a household having more vehicles than drivers.

    1. Smart Car failed so no one in reality wants that other than a niche group of people.

    2. See, that actually makes a little sense. The vehicles being peddled now are nothing more than massively subsidized, ultra-expensive, ego masturbation devices. Could save everyone time, money and trouble and just buy a magic wand instead.

      Smart cars failed because they were expensive junk that didn’t actually get appreciably better mileage than a regular compact.

      1. Wonko- Bang on about Smart cars. Yet we had Librano and NDP leaders in this country babbling on about how “advanced technologies” like Smart cars needed to be built in Canada.

  16. Doomed to failure.. You cant hijack innovation to fit your politics.. It simply doesn’t work that way.. The answer is not idiot EVs.. But the central planners and their business plan $$$ have other ideas..

    Who said the internal combustion engine was at the end of its development?.. Nobody actually..

    The answer is OBVIOUS.. and the technology is 100 years old.. Electric drive with a small engine to charge the batteries.. Bring the weight way down and extend the range way up.. For a fraction of fossil fuel burnt.. Cleaner, better and cheaper across the board..

    We could also build the electric engines HOT to produce steam to charge the batteries when they are running hot..

    Square peg, round hole.. Innovation is dead because a bunch of dickheads have a business plan.. EVs in their present state are not the answer.. But who said they were looking for one..

  17. One big story EV that is being overlooked (deliberately?) by the MSM is the fact that Toyota refuses to make *any* of them.

    They are sticking with hybrids, and wisely so.

    1. Hmmm …. https://www.toyota.ca/toyota/en/vehicles/bz4x/overview

      Introducing the all-new, all-electric Toyota bZ4X. Fresh and forward-looking by design, bZ4X is loaded with some of our most innovative thinking and advanced technology. The result is a zero emissions vehicle that delivers an exhilarating ride along with the capability and versatility you’d expect in an SUV. Available in Front- and All-Wheel-Drive models.

  18. Could be a warning here somewhere.
    I own two 20 year old Ford Diesels.
    They may be the last trucks I ever buy.
    If Ford is so determined to kill themselves off,it might be time to buy a couple more antiques of the same vintage,as donor trucks..Ford has already started the “I am sorry we don’t stock parts for those,they are too old”.
    I think I will give up Ford,long before I surrender the 7.3s.

  19. Too bad Ford. Will not vote for your government led by you again. Ford lost me when he locked down the truckers, end of story.

    bverwey

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