New electric Ram

[BigLazer4u]

Infrastructure Package Includes Vehicle Mileage Tax Program

Do you have to pay a fee for every mile you drive? This is what the new infrastructure package says.

www.forbes.com

 

[tjfdesmo]

Infrastructure Package Includes Vehicle Mileage Tax Program

Do you have to pay a fee for every mile you drive? This is what the new infrastructure package says.

www.forbes.com

There definitely needs to be a way to make EV drivers contribute to the roads, since they are not paying fuel tax, and size for size they are generally heavier than an IC vehicle. I don't want to pay both.

 

[LugsLeadOut84]

I don't know why everyone is so electric vehicle happy ?

Say that you buy a brand new electric car for $35,000
Then you have to buy a Battery Charger or other power source. You would want to have 220 Volt, because it cheaper.
Now you have tripled your power bill.
When you are on a trip, where will you charge up ? Is there an armed guard at the location, because there are going to be irritated drivers that are in a rush & you are in the way.
Are those charging stations going to be open 24/7
You are forced to evacuate & you need to charge up to leave the area.
You have had your electric vehicle for 3 1/2 years, it is almost paid off & your Battery takes a crap. Do you buy another electric vehicle, or do you pay $15,000 for another battery ?

Those issues are exactly what is slowing down the momentum of EV's.
I'll add some:
There is huge concern about how city dwellers will charge their vehicles (NYC, etc.). Many people do not have garages and rely on finding street parking. Some planners are urging cities to deploy curbside charging stations but the logistics is a nightmare. Is two per block enough, should it be 3 or 5, etc.? What if you need to go somewhere the next day and can't find an open charging station? What if the spots aren't used? Undoubtedly, a non-EV vehicle parked in the spot will be treated as an immediate tow, but you have the potential of having open spaces when non-EV vehicles have nowhere to park.

I see some shopping centers are installing charging stations in their lots (typically 2). Great for now because today you're basically guaranteed a spot, but what if more and more people need them? Now you'll have people outraged at how long someone is in the spot, etc. Let me guess....it will eventually turn into "Pay to Charge".

It takes some planning today to go on a long-distance trip. Imagine having to plot out charging stations every 200 miles. And even fast-charge stations take a few hours. How long will it take to travel 600 miles?

 

[turkeybird56]

That’s the thing, they want you to be on electric… so you will not drive far or leave your area of which you reside. It’s all part of the mind control.

More like $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$, IMHO... Not for dis BOIRD ref EV.

 

[turkeybird56]

There definitely needs to be a way to make EV drivers contribute to the roads, since they are not paying fuel tax, and size for size they are generally heavier than an IC vehicle. I don't want to pay both.

Wat about that plan that has been "touted" in a few places of taxing on the amount of miles you drive? Boy is dat a bunch of Hokey !!!

 

[tjfdesmo]

Wat about that plan that has been "touted" in a few places of taxing on the amount of miles you drive? Boy is dat a bunch of Hokey !!!

In essence, though, that's what the current fuel tax does. The more you drive, the more fuel you buy, the more fuel/road tax you pay.

 

[turkeybird56]

In essence, though, that's what the current fuel tax does. The more you drive, the more fuel you buy, the more fuel/road tax you pay.

YEAH, but the EV's not be part of that, LOL. Should all be interesting where all this Smart Stuff/Dumb Stuff and all in-between pans out.

 

[GTyankee]

San Diego County wanted a fuel tax of 4 cents per mile
They had not figured out how to know if you were to drive into Mexico, or into the next County, which would be Imperial County, Riverside County & Orange County.
Would they do it on the Honor System or make you buy a high dollar GPS machine to install in your vehicle.
It was shot down, but you can bet that they will force something down our throats.

By the way, in California we pay a State & Federal Fuel Tax

• The federal government charges an excise tax of 18.4 cents per gallon. ( this tax is suppose to go to the Interstate Highway System on a Federal Highway mileage scale )

California State Fuel Tax
Californians pay 79.6 cents per gallon in State gas taxes.

 

[mcarey]

I don't know why everyone is so electric vehicle happy ?

Say that you buy a brand new electric car for $35,000
Then you have to buy a Battery Charger or other power source. You would want to have 220 Volt, because it cheaper.
Now you have tripled your power bill.
When you are on a trip, where will you charge up ? Is there an armed guard at the location, because there are going to be irritated drivers that are in a rush & you are in the way.
Are those charging stations going to be open 24/7
You are forced to evacuate & you need to charge up to leave the area.
You have had your electric vehicle for 3 1/2 years, it is almost paid off & your Battery takes a crap. Do you buy another electric vehicle, or do you pay $15,000 for another battery ?

My neighbor said his bill has gone up roughly 45 bucks a month. I spend double that nearly every week in fuel.

I have no idea why there would be armed guards, lol. You pull into a parking space. Not up to a charger/fuel pump combo where you would be slowing others down or whatever.

I also have no idea why a charging facility couldn't be open 24/7. It's a bunch of plugs, and no different than a gas station either.

The charge before an emergency evac is a reality, but you'll face the same problem with a fuel vehicle unless your comparing a full fuel vehicle to an empty EV. And filling up during an evac will be a disaster, similarly to charging, so I think this fringe case is a bit wonky really. I'd say the likelihood of being full charge, and having a full tank, are probably similar enough, though I'd personally err on the side of the EV being charged as a more likely outcome.

And the battery dying fear is pretty silly. 3.5 years is very short, based on current vehicle performance hiatory, but we can run with it for fun. Today, I paid 3.30 for fuel, and I'm averaging 12mpg in my power wagon right now. Average American drives 12,000 miles a year. 12000/12 * 3.3 = 3300 in gas a year. (Again, ballpark figures but close enough for fun.) 3300x3.5=9900. Throw in oil changes, other ICE maintenance, and you're suddenly rapidly approaching that 15K figure. And thats based off the incredibly short lifespan you've came up with. Oh, and at least with Tesla the warranty on batteries is 4 years, so it'd be covered anyways.

Every time I hear this opinion, it's like the writer forgets all the costs involved with operating an ICE, and more importantly seemingly forgets that they also still run the risk of their motor taking a crap too.

I'm all for wanting to keep ICE engines around, but the hatred for EVs is so weird - and for some reason I don't think a lot of it has to actually do with the vehicles. There is definitely going to be a learning curve for society, and we'll figure it out, just like we did with ICEs. I'm sure plenty of horse riders we're aghast with the idea of having to go to a fuel station instead of charging their horses with hay the night before.

 

[Firebird]

There definitely needs to be a way to make EV drivers contribute to the roads, since they are not paying fuel tax, and size for size they are generally heavier than an IC vehicle. I don't want to pay both.

Don't worry, tax by the mile is coming soon

 

[Firebird]

I still don't see EV being viable at all pulling my 10,000 pound camper very far. No thanks, I'll keep my Cummins

 

[Dinky]

Don't worry, tax by the mile is coming soon

Here in oregon there already is a tax and your registration is a lot more. I am located near Portland and it's 78 miles to the coast range. You have to go over a decent pass to get there. I keep laughing the day when electric trucks are pulled over dead on the pass lol. Also the coastal city's are not really rich places very few places to charge once or if you make it. We all know electric motor pull way more power under load towing = no go in my book.

 

[GTyankee]

Mcarey
I am happy that you are lucky enough to live in a peaceful area

In California, for one, we have people shooting other people, because the a customer in the cash register line ahead of them has a folder of food coupons & is taking a seemingly long time to check out.
The same thing happens at the Fuel isle, people get their gas, go inside to pay & then use the restroom & other things, while others are waiting for another customer to move, so that they can pull up to fuel up.

 

[2012RAM1500RT]

For all the electric car lovers who are comparing people going from a horse to a car theory.......... at least they wasn't trying to put the cart in front of the horse!

 

[Goosewhole]

I really hope that's a concept drawing. That thing is fugly, has almost no bed, useless on a job site.

 

[2019RamInSC]

I’m glad I’m 70 and my ‘21 2500 Hemi will be my last truck. We’ll continue to pull the 5th wheel all over the country until I get tired of it in 5 years or so. After that I’ll find a mid 60’s Chevy short bed to restore and pizz off the neighbors with loud mufflers.

Sounds like a plan!

 

[demonram]

We just saw last year what can happen when someone hacks a major oil pipeline and shuts it down for ransom. Will a power grid be any different? And people still don't seem to understand the damage being done to the environment to mine the minerals needed to make the batteries. next comes facilities to dispose of dead batteries, because let's face it, you can only re-manufacture something a limited number of times before it's beyond a redo. And my final point; the last 20 or so years should make it very obvious that we are not prepared with electricity generating facilities, whatever type, be it coal, natural gas, hydro-electric, or nuclear, to meet the demands an all electric vehicle country. Remember rolling blackouts and brownouts, hurricanes damaging the grid, taking weeks or months to restore power, facilities going off grid like Texas because they weren't prepared for extremely cold weather? What about someone hacking the grid, as we have been warned so many times in the recent past? I think we are falling victim to people who are so closed minded and zealous that have gained positions of power and are dictating the future. Gonna drive my gas powered vehicles until I leave this rock.

 

[John Chappell]

Like it or not, electrification is the future. Maybe not today or tomorrow but eventually. Associated costs will decrease as economies of scale are achieved, just as with everything else. And the internal combustion engine will become a relic of the past. Pound for pound, the output of electric motors far exceeds that of IC engines. And it’s available on demand, no need to hit the “power band”. In fact, acceleration has to be governed in order to prevent damage to the drivetrain and/or maintain control.

Solar energy is the future. Our sun produces somewhere on the order of 3.4 yottawatts in perpetuity. That’s a million, billion, billion watts or 1W x 10 to the 24th power. Constantly. And it’ll be here long after we’re gone.

For ***** and giggles Google “Kardashev Scale”. According to this theory we are a type 1 civilization. Which means we’re still diving for energy.

For even ***** and giggles Google “Dyson Sphere”. All we need for this is to create self-replicating autonomous robots which is not as crazy as you might think.

 

[John Chappell]

“Digging” for energy not “diving”

 

[Rzrbrn]

Why would anyone want an EV? That's what horse owners said circa 1896 about gasoline engine cars, as others have noted above. I'm looking forward to having an EV. I hope at least one will have a hood that slopes from the windshield straight down to the front bumper. It would be great to be able to see what is a foot in front of the truck. I really enjoyed the old VW vans and such.

Hopefully the EV won't have a catalytic converter for someone to steal. And in the short term why not have a portable generator in the box, and use it when there is no charging station available.