Am I going crazy of has the amount of anti-EV “articles” started to skyrocket. Just today, I’ve seen a “Why I’m not buying an EV” concern article, some accusing Biden of killing EVs, “The true costs of buying an EV,” and my favorite: “Study: The True Cost of Charging an EV: $17/gallon.” (That study was funded by Exxon Mobil, lol).
What’s going on? Why is all the EV hate in the media ramping up?

  • Car-face@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    If you’re seeing this on some form of social media, it’s because it prompts engagement, and you’re probably now tagged as someone “interested in EVs” so you’re getting served up that content.

  • DamnUOnions@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    People are scared by new technologies and when they have to change. So the media creates clicks with these articles to confirm the bias of their readers.

    Did you click on the article? Yes? Goal achieved.

  • CaManAboutaDog@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    From article:

    Adding the costs of the subsidies to the true cost of fueling an EV…

    Ooh ooh, now do oil subsidies!

  • takesavillager@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    Thank you for posting this. I tried getting this article on here but was shut down by the mods (not sure what I did wrong). But I fully agree there is an increase in anti-EV press thse days. What is the true cost of gas when we have to fund all kinds of oils company subsidies and the US military to protect the oil supply? Way higher than $17/gal I would wager.

  • 0235@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    Mate, a diesel car exploded and destroyed 1300 other vehicles in Luton. Minute by minute coverage of the blaze claiming it was an EV.

    The millisecond it was confirmed to be a diesel the caused it… Zero news articles for 3 weeks.

    They are even blaming the 12v lead acid battery to fool people into thinking it was an EV

  • LankyGuitar6528@alien.topB
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    1 year ago
    1. Big Tobacco was looking at a report from the Surgeon General says cigarettes cause cancer. Weirdly, articles started turning up saying 9 out 10 doctors recommend menthol brand cigarettes to sooth your throat. A zillion other ads and articles promoting cigarettes, blaming various chemicals for cancer and lots and lots and lots of garbage. Big Tobacco has been found guilty many times in court but they are still trying to get new smokers by targeting kids with fruit and candy flavored vape products. Money makes people do evil things.

    Today we are seeing warnings that Big Oil is literally killing the entire Biosphere. It’s big tobacco all over again. But unlike tobacco, we are all breathing in the smoke and we can’t quit. Worse, the industry makes 4 trillion dollars a year. That makes Tobacco look like a kids lemon-aid stand. They aren’t just going to close up shop and go away.

    If you weren’t seeing FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) articles I’d be really worried. It would mean Big Oil didn’t see a threat. But they ARE worried. And rightly so. Every EV driver is a customer lost for life. Same as when somebody quits smoking.

    You know the truth. Don’t fall for the lies.

    • pasdedeuxchump@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      And the Dairy Council and Beef Council saw the reports about saturated fat in the 70s, and successfully buried the info, and their misinformation campaign (that meat and dairy are healthy foods) is going strong to this day.

      • LankyGuitar6528@alien.topB
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        1 year ago

        Too bad there isn’t an “everything in moderation” council. Because some meat and dairy is perfectly fine. A bit of unrefined sugar… no problem. But a diet of mainly fats and refined sugars… not so good.

    • SleepEatLift@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      Big Oil is literally killing the entire Biosphere.

      WE are killing the biosphere. We are the ones hooked on buying things made across the country, or worse, across the planet. All those semi-trucks you see on the road? Stop buying stuff, and they’ll disappear.

  • mr444guy@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    Oil companies see the end is coming for them. They are making a desperate attempt to stop progress.

    • Gadgetman_1@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      They’re all effing idiots.
      (Assuming we’re talking about US-based oil companies)

      In other parts of the world, oil companies are refocusing as energy companies and spreading their focus to hydro, solar, wind, wave, and so on.

      Also, where do they think the power to charge all those EVs are coming from?

      It’s NOT just appearing out of the blue. Well, wind and solar maybe…

      There’s also the fact that we’ll have a need for liquid fuels for a long time still, so the end isn’t near for them. Unfortunately.

      It’ll take a long time before shipping becomes independent of oil.

      Sure, we’ve got over 80 car ferries running solely on electricity here in Norway, But those generally have routes with no more than 30minutes sailing time. and 1.2MW contactless chargers on the docks…

      That’s not going to amount for much with a Panamax or larger cargo ship is it?

    • LuigiDaMan@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      Yes. Most newspapers & related media can’t afford real journalists anymore. So the hacks take the PR releases, rewrite them a little and send them out. What you’re seeing is pure unadulterated BS from the oil companies. They know it’s gamel over for them.

    • LeftToaster@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      Imagine if you made the world’s best horse carriages in about 1910. Early model “horseless carriages” were unreliable, noisy, smelling and the road and fuel infrastructure was not well built out for many years. Horse owners probably felt pretty smug trotting by a Model T owner stuck in the mud or out of gas. They probably yelled “get a horse” as they trotted by.

      Fossil fuels and internal combustion engines have had a really long run, but this is coming to an end. So the oil companies and conventional automotive groups who don’t have a compelling EV strategy are desperately trying to delay the transition to milk a few more years of profits out of consumers. So every customer that they manage to convince that EVs are unreliable, or don’t have enough range, or are too expensive, or lack infrastructure, or produce more pollution than conventional cars, etc. is another potential sale of their legacy, sunset products.

      BTW - oil will never go away - we need petroleum products to produce most of our plastics, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, etc. But as a transport fuel, it is a sunset industry.

      • Wizardgherkin@alien.topB
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        1 year ago

        carriage builders like pininfarina did just fine when automobiles came along, so far as styling was concerned good design always has a demand.

    • chucchinchilla@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      Last week I had dinner with a friend who works high up in corporate at a major oil company. They absolutely see the end coming not just based on theoretical stuff but in their current sales figures. I learned that California had already experienced peak gas. Miles traveled is back to pre covid levels but consumption has dropped thanks to EVs, WFH, etc.

      • snoogins355@alien.topB
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        1 year ago

        WFH

        So much more productive at home. We came back to the office a few days a week and I do zoom calls from a cubicle. WTF!

        • brownhotdogwater@alien.topB
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          1 year ago

          Haha this is me. Half the office is remote and I work with people across the country. There are times I would come in and only see the receptionist. It’s pointless for me.

          The receptionist is only there to make reports and ship them. Government agencies want thier reports shipped in paper. It’s silly.

    • vt8919@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      The whole “clean coal” and “clean natural gas” propaganda reeks similarly to how companies spun cigarettes in the 20th century.

      • bluebelt@alien.topB
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        1 year ago

        In many cases they’re using the same think tanks and PR firms so it’s really no surprise.

    • nikatnight@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      But it is interesting how many dummies fall for it. The typical people that you’d expect. The ones that fall for everything and don’t understand there’s a difference between NBC Nightly News and some guy on a YouTube video saying dumb shit.

      The tide has turned though so any skeptics have friends like us that drive EVs so we counter the propaganda easily.

      • bluebelt@alien.topB
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        1 year ago

        But it is interesting how many dummies fall for it. The typical people that you’d expect. The ones that fall for everything and don’t understand there’s a difference between NBC Nightly News and some guy on a YouTube video saying dumb shit.

        People don’t just fall for it, they teach others. My daughter came home from school and told me about her classmate who started in on her when that classmate found out we have an entirely EV household. All the usual myths plus some brand new stuff only kids (or Alex Jones) could make up. I took it as a learning opportunity to do some critical thinking with her… But her classmate didn’t invent that on the spot; other parents are absorbing the disinformation and teaching it to their kids uncritically as a fact

        I’d say it’s depressing but I’ve resigned myself to it just being human nature at this point.

  • slbkmb@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    If EVs were as good as enthusiasts think they are, the USA would not have to pay the $7,500 federal tax credit of other incentives to sell them. Some people bought the Prius so they could drive in the carpool lane in California. I don’t think EVs will become mainstream until the purchase price falls below $30,000, and charging is as fast as filling up a gasoline powered vehicle, and charging stations are plentiful, like gas stations. But EVs are another option for those that chose to buy them.

  • mrpickleby@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    I see your subsidies and raise you. The article states, “Adding the costs of the subsidies to the true cost of fueling an EV would equate to an EV owner paying $17.33 per gallon of gasoline,” study authors Brent Bennett and Jason Isaac write. "

    However, here fossil fuels have their own subsidy amounting to $7 trillion/year.

    https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/climate-change/energy-subsidies

    An implicit subsidy of $0.75/liter or $2.84/gallon.

  • likewut@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    I did just realize how bad the high interest rates are for many kinds of environmental progress. When interest rates were half what they are now, a higher SEER heat pump made a ton of sense financially, you’d come out ahead immediately. Now, the math just doesn’t work to justify it financially. To spend an extra $2000 on it, I’d need to save $20 every month to break even on the interest alone, and that’s not happening from a few SEER points and a 15 year life span.

    EVs are the same deal. They cost more up front but less ongoing - but the interest rates really reduce the ROI. Yeah Lightnings and Bolts still have the lowest TCO of vehicles in their class, but a lot of EVs just don’t quite beat ICE equivalents at 8% interest as they would at 4% interest.

    • RockinRobin-69@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      If you are getting a car with a loan, then there is almost no difference. Particularly now that a m3 is cheaper than a Camry and a my is cheaper than a rav4.

      • likewut@alien.topB
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        1 year ago

        I’m just saying the EV paradigm in general is more upfront cost, with long term fuel and maintenance savings. But high interest rates make upfront costs a bigger part of the equation than if interest rates were lower.

        This post compared a ton of EVs with non-EV equivalents. There’s still a lot of red in there, and an extra $10k is one thing, but when that $10k costs an extra $1k a year in interest, that wipes out a big more of the cost savings. If interest rates were really low again, people would be more likely to get EVs with 8 year loans and experience immediate cost savings.

        • RockinRobin-69@alien.topB
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          1 year ago

          Thanks for the link. Very cool!

          I was really surprised at how many were less that the ice version before the rebates. BMW and Porsche were within 4% across the lineup, with many costing less.

          Also some have come down in price. The id4 pro and pro s are listed as $4k over the current price and don’t include the rebate. Depending what state you’re in they might cost less and they were among the worst price difference offenders.

          Also some are a roughly comparable vehicles, but also not. The ioniq 5 was pared with the Tucson, which is a good fit for size. But, one has smooth acceleration and a 0-60 of 4.4s and the other is clunky ice and 8-13 seconds to 60!

          • hutacars@alien.topB
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            1 year ago

            The ioniq 5 was pared with the Tucson, which is a good fit for size. But, one has smooth acceleration and a 0-60 of 4.4s and the other is clunky ice and 8-13 seconds to 60!

            Have you driven both? Other than acceleration, they drive shockingly similarly.

            • RockinRobin-69@alien.topB
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              1 year ago

              I haven’t driven either. Though now that I drive an ev, all shift points bother me and clunky ones really bother me.

              Just the shifting and crazy difference in acceleration would make the ev worth the price premium for me.