Got money? You’re gonna need it!
Just when you thought the Peoples Democratic Republic of New Jersey was going to force us all to either buy an electric car (EV) or ride on top of the bus with the chickens, Gov. Phil Murphy has signed into law a $250-a-year road tax on all EVs (https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4230000/posts).
What? Huh? Wasn’t Murphy, just a few weeks ago. cozying up to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, plotting against normal people driving normal cars?
As if the road tax weren’t bad enough, there’s also going to be a four years’ registration fee paid up front and (hold on to your hat!) a phasing out of the sales tax exemption for EV batteries.
I have so lost track of what it would cost to own and operate an EV…
What do those batteries cost? Up to $20,000, last I heard. As for the road tax, well, EVs weigh a lot more than normal people’s cars, putting extra stress on the roads–so maybe they should be taxed for it.
How about a “Serves You Right for Electing These Parasites” tax?
It is to laugh.
The emperor has no clothes, and the house of cards is falling down.
Our governing class is an international disgrace.
If they could come up with a truly viable electric car, I’d be fine with it. For people who drive short distances, and don’t travel on long trips, there is a degree of sense to them, but even at that, the materials required and the potential problem of disposing spent batteries are two wide open questions.
The lithium and cobalt required are said to be taxing the supplies of these materials, and I doubt that they will scale up anytime soon.
I wonder what the situation will be for current EV buyers, 10 years from now. I fear that there will be a massive disposal problem. It wouldn’t be the first time that a product held some surprises that were not broadly anticipated.
But the disposal problem is abundantly anticipated, warned against, etc. Globalists refuse to listen.
I try to be measured in my responses, and not to be alarmist, but I don’t see an upside to this. Best case scenario, a lot of people will be stuck with cars that have deteriorating batteries, which are expensive to replace, quite possibly expensive to dispose of, and I fear that as these battery packs age, we will see more cell voltage imbalance, which can lead to fires.
Lithium is highly flammable and metallic fires tend to be violent in nature. (Ever use a sparkler?) I saw a video of a fire which started in one EV at a charging station, and spread to several others, quickly. Such fires are difficult to extinguish, and can flare up again without warning. If I had one of these things, I would not park it within 100’ of my home, which on my lot, would mean that I would have to leave it at the far end of my driveway, or possibly park it on the back property line. Either location is next to groves of mesquite which would burn like tissue paper. IOW, with the layout of my property, I’d either have to leave it down by the road, or leave it somewhere where it could endanger several neighbor’s homes, were it to catch fire.
I hope I am wrong, because I don’t wish anyone ill, but if battery fires become more common as these vehicles age, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine these cars becoming a serious problem. I know of at least one ship fire caused by an EV it was carrying. People don’t realize how much energy can be released in an uncontrolled manner with large lithium based batteries. Lithium ion batteries being transported by air have downed entire aircraft.
And guess what? Democrat politicians DO NOT CARE!
… ‘cause they are the party of the people, and stand up to big business. 🙂