$8 a Gallon here

[redmt]

Lets look at "what is" instead of "what if". Speaking only about the peoples republic of CA, the electric grid is pathetic. To localize it more I'll speak of my local grid. We are very remote being about 15-18 air miles east of San Jose. There is a SINGLE 12kv line that was built to power the Lick Observatory. It has never been upgraded to handle the loads placed on it now. It constantly fails. We were without power for 500+ hours in 2021. As we are barely into this year the power has been down for a total of 24+ hours already. That is "what is". They are NOT going to improve our power line, in fact they discourage any new customers and make the application process incredibly lengthy and expensive. "what is" is the fact that CA is trying to move everyone to smart meters so they can control the rate you pay at certain times of the day. The "cheap rate" is an attempt to make power so expensive that people won't be able to afford it during the expensive part of the day. Why? Because the power grid will not support the demand placed on it. There's the Rolling Blackouts to try and relieve pressure on the grid during peak usage. There's the PSPS shutdowns. The grid is so poorly maintained that they have installed Weather stations all over rural areas to shut the power off if the weather hits certain parameters. During 'fire season' if there a PSPS the entire line has to be MANUALLY INSPECTED before they will heat the line back up. Depending on the weather it can and has taken days.
I'll say for the very, very small minority of residents that the electric cars may work, but for the other billion or so, it's a joke.

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by redmt

...
We were without power for 500+ hours in 2021.
...

That is the whole issue with trying totally electrify rural American. I grew up on a farm - dairy farm - and several times a year we would have to milk the cows by hand. It wasn't fun. I know I couldn't plow one acre with an electric tractor let alone 160. Range is improving (if you pay for it) but I knew people out in the middle of Nebraska where an electric vehicle wouldn't make it one way to the nearest town. I'd wager that's true in Texas even with the better range.

Yes, you could do a generator (do you have one?) but I saw that California is outlawing gas powered generators because they are unregulated polluters...

I know how to summarize this. The politicians that are pushing this new agenda aren't paid to think. And they clearly aren't seeing the big picture.

Sure it will happen - every technology ever invented has been retired by a newer bigger, faster, better, cheaper one. But the electrification of transportation just isn't ready for prime time. Keep the government out of it. The places where it makes sense will adopt it. And it'll flow to the others when its time. Don't make it "law".