Senator Stabenow is in love with her car
Senator Stabenow of Michigan bragged about her electric car:
“I just have to say just on the issue of that at gas prices; after waiting for a long time to have enough chips in this country to finally get my electric vehicle, I got it and drove it from Michigan to here this last weekend and went by every single gas station. It didn’t matter how high it was.”
The Senator then added, “So I’m looking forward to the opportunity for us to move to vehicles that aren’t going to be dependent on the whims of the oil companies and the international markets.”
How nice for you, senator. That electric car of course cost a ton more then the non-electric cars most of us peasants drive,
Plus, you mention zipping past the gas stations (chortling with glee and self-satisfaction?), but what about the fact that you had to stop to – you know – charge your electric car? Or does it run on Hope and Change?
According to this website, electric cars must be charged every 250 to 350 miles depending on the make (the Tesla has the 350-mile range). A trip from Michigan to DC is about 720 miles, so that probably means two charging stops (if you start out with a full charge). Charging such a car is not expensive (see this), but a person must find a charging station and then there’s time spent charging.
How much time? A lot of time:
The time it takes to charge an electric car can be as little as 30 minutes or more than 12 hours. This depends on the size of the battery and the speed of the charging point.
–A typical electric car (60kWh battery) takes just under 8 hours to charge from empty-to-full with a 7kW charging point.
–Most drivers top up charge rather than waiting for their battery to recharge from empty-to-full.
–For many electric cars, you can add up to 100 miles of range in ~35 minutes with a 50kW rapid charger.
–The bigger your car’s battery and the slower the charging point, the longer it takes to charge from empty to full.
I don’t know which approach Stabenow used for her trip, full charge or topping off more frequently, but neither sound like great solutions for a lengthy trip such as from Michigan to DC.
I’ll add that her statement about gas prices being dependent on the “whims of the oil companies and the international markets” is inflammatory and ignorant. Does she really think the big bad oil companies and the international markets (or whoever runs them in her fevered imagination) just wake up in the morning and decide on whim to jack up the prices? That there are no market forces at work? I don’t believe she really thinks that. I believe she wants American consumers to think that.
Just for fun:
Lyrics here. An excerpt:
The machine of a dream
Such a clean machine
With the pistons a-pumping
And the hubcaps all gleamWhen I’m holding your wheel
All I hear is your gear
When my hand’s on your grease gun
Oh it’s like a disease, sonI’m in love with my car
Got a feel for my automobile…
This from a GM exec goes right along with the story.
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1534534390029733889
There was a very interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal the other day written by a woman that went on a road trip from New Orleans to Chicago and back in her EV. The trip was filled with lots of stress and delays trying to find charging stations and the sometimes hours it took to charge the car. The woman did estimate that it cost $165 to charge her car for the trip as opposed to about $275 for gas but a lot of added stress and time for that $100,
For some reason when I clicked on it I bypassed the paywall but I don’t know how so I won’t bother linking to it.
I won’t bore everyone with the details here, but it’s a very easy calculation to do. Take the total gas/diesel consumption in the US for the year (from DoE energy info site) . Then convert to kWh, and compare to current generating capacity. We would need about 50% more generation to power all electric fleet. And, no, solar and wind don’t cut it.
These people live in non-reality. Never has stopped them before.
Does she really think the big bad oil companies and the international markets (or whoever runs them in her fevered imagination) just wake up in the morning and decide on whim to jack up the prices? That there are no market forces at work? I don’t believe she really thinks that.
She’s 72 and has been in public office since she was 24. It’s not clear from her capsule biographies whether she was a social worker ‘ere entering elective office, or just aspired to be one. Business and economics are a blank to her.
Art Deco:
I’ve not had careers or training connected with business and finance, but even I know better than that stupidity she uttered.
I believe she knows it’s false but is demagoguing it.
And mention the high rate of conversion from coal fired electric generation to natural gas fired turbine electrical generation in the past 20+ years, all while anti-fracking and anti-fossil fuel propaganda blasts away 24/7/365. Build nuclear powered steam generators? Over their dead bodies you will.
What a risibly unserious nation ours is.
“vehicles that aren’t going to be dependent on the whims of the oil companies and the international markets”
Doesn’t know too much about what goes into a battery, does she?
Speaking of which, the EU is looking at declaring Lithium as a Hazardous Material. If they do that, then Albermarle Corp, one of the word’s largest lithium producers, says they may have to close their processing plant in Langelsheim, Germany.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3846440-albemarle-could-shut-german-plant-if-eu-declares-lithium-a-hazard-cfo-says
I agree, Art Deco. I think Neo might giving the Senator too much credit. She’s a social worker by training, but largely a career politician on the left. There’s little in her background to suggest she understands basic business and economics.
I have known and worked with many social workers in my career. Many of them are passionate, empathic, dedicated people. While the profession is overwhelmingly progressive in scope and outlook, I’ve also known a few conservatives (most likely red pilled by the nature of their work). If asked about the high price of gas, I think most of them would indeed blame big bad corporate greed, followed by evil Putin (but that would be a distant second). I think many would also endorse government price controls as a solution.
Never ever assume someone has even basic knowledge of a subject just because they’re in a position of power and importance and can effectively recite the talking points prepared for them
Perhaps some day there would be some kind of standardized , quick disconnect battery cells for all autos where you drive up to the service station and an attendant pulls out your depleted cells and replaces them with charged ones.
But as physicsguy points out, we would need more power generation stations.
And law and order.
Maybe someday somebody will get helium 3 reactors running to the point of practicality . By then the Chinese and others may have claimed the entire surface rights of helium mining on the moon and we are so broke from “ fighting climate change” while they rushed ahead we still have to buy from them.
Ackler; Art Deco:
I’m not giving her too much credit. What I’m accusing her of is worse than ignorance. I’m accusing her of knowing something and purposely lying about it to deceive the public and to advance her own political career with the leftist Democrat base.
She’s not a social worker – she’s a career politician. She has had to vote on appropriations bills for her entire career. She knows oil and gas prices are not based on whims.
Ackler; Art Deco:
Also see this:
Besides the hazardous materials that go into the construction and make up of electric car batteries, they wear out and have to be replaced at considerable cost.
Increased use of electric cars will place an increasing strain upon the ability of the electrical grid to meet demand. Transitioning the electrical grid to solar and wind will greatly reduce supply. A formula for economic collapse.
“I’m accusing her of knowing something and purposely lying about it to deceive the public and to advance her own political career with the leftist Democrat base.” neo
“Lord, what fools these mortals be!” That they would risk eternity for transitory gratification.
I recall a NYTimes article from many years ago, about when the Tesla Model S had been selling for a year or two. Some columnist borrowed or rented a model S which had a rated range of 250 mi I believe. So the columnist planned out a trip of 225 mi.
I had to laugh when I got to sentence #3 and I read that. Do you think they rate the range conservatively? After doing a little hot rodding in the car, the guy settled down for the rest of the trip, running the heater a little because it was cold. Yes, he was stranded on the roadside.
after waiting for a long time to have enough chips in this country to finally get my electric vehicle, … — Stabenow
Who talks like that, and why in this case? The poor little senator has to save her pennies? People don’t earn income, the casino of life bestows it upon you? Or maybe it’s just that I’m (Stabenow) a casual and cool cat? Was it a waiting list thing?
Drive
TommyJay- that confused me too, but I’m guessing that she was talking about computer chips. My wife is still waiting for a car she ordered from Ford because of a lack of computer chips which come from other countries.
I live in Michigan and Stabenow is an embarrassment.
CHiPs
Ohh! Thanks Chris B. That actually makes sense. Silly me.
______
I love The Cars.
This one, “Red Barchetta” is great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjjNvjURS-s
Besides, I haven’t heard Rush hatred in a while. It’s about the love of racing little sports cars, in a weird futuristic setting. Little Italian sports/racing cars were made without any opening doors so you had to jump in over the top which was analogous to a little speed boat; hence the name “barchetta”
But what is it with Brits or Canadians in this case about mispronouncing things? It’s pronounced “barketta” in Italian.
She’s the Terror of Colorado Blvd
Stabenow needs a chauffeur– may I suggest Toonces?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fvsItXYgzk&ab_channel=SaturdayNightLive
Heh
Junior Brown’zagonnagetcha
Her family owned the local Oldsmobile dealership, and her mother was Director of Nursing at the local hospital…
I gather her father was quite modest. His obituary in 1982 listed his survivors and the time and place of his funeral. No mention of any business he owned. He spent his last years in a ranch house in Lansing that I’m guessing had about 1,200 sq feet of interior space. They owned some other piece of property near Lake Lansing, perhaps a cottage or a storage unit. Her brother, or someone with the same name lives in Lansing and drives for UPS.
Her mother was admitted to the nursing school at Western Oklahoma State Hospital in Clinton on 1 September 1944, expected to graduate on 1 March 1947. Her mother is apparently still alive and residing at Grandhaven Manor, which appears to be an independent living facility.
Neo,
Read the “who is” you posted just above re Stabenow. Still have the dry heaves.
Someone in Michigan should total up all the wonderful stuff she has actually done. Probably would not take long.
One who virtue signals the most has the least virtue.
Someone in Michigan should total up all the wonderful stuff she has actually done. Probably would not take long.
She has two children. One lives in an exurb of Detroit, in the northern part of Macomb County. The other lives in Lansing. Both have been married and may still be married.
“Told my girl, I had to forget her.
Rather buy me a new carburettor”
It was a surprise to me in the movie Bohemian Rhapsody to find out the drummer often sang the highest falsetto notes – and liked this song quite a bit (which I’ve long thought mostly a nothing song, with some fun lyrics.)
Michigan voters should stop voting for ‘her’ – but very likely won’t stop.
“Ackler; Art Deco,
Also see this”
That is a very impressive biography, providing powerful evidence she is capable of assembling a staff that really knows how to sling the BS.
Stabenow. What a fool.
Against my wishes my husband bought a Tesla instead of a Toyota. I’ve adjusted to the new tech – the regenerative braking is wonderful – but I’m not fool enough to think I’m saving the planet. All of Hawaii’s electricity is generated by oil.
That is a very impressive biography, providing powerful evidence she is capable of assembling a staff that really knows how to sling the BS.
No, it’s much too unsubtle.
Michigan voters should stop voting for ‘her’ – but very likely won’t stop.
One of the curios about Michigan politics is that the U.S. Senate seats seem to be owned by the Democratic Party. The Republicans currently have a majority in both chambers of the state legislature, have half the seats in the U.S. House delegation and have for 30 years taken the state executive offices more often than not. However, there have since the end of the Korean War been about two-dozen elections for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, of which the Republicans have won three. Of the last four Republican senators from Michigan, three were voted out of office after one term and the fourth after two terms.
I think this song is much better:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIS3opnMQYo
}}} Neo: I believe she knows it’s false but is demagoguing it.
She’s a senator. They’ve been known to be convinced that Guam could tip over.
I would not assume she knows this at all. 😉
She’s a senator. They’ve been known to be convinced that Guam could tip over.
Hank Johnson’s in the House, not the Senate. IMO, the House is generally less pathological than is the Senate, but not in every way.
If she really loves her car, she gets a new set of pronouns, no?
}}} Maybe someday somebody will get helium 3 reactors running to the point of practicality . By then the Chinese and others may have claimed the entire surface rights of helium mining on the moon and we are so broke from “ fighting climate change” while they rushed ahead we still have to buy from them.
All we need is compact modular thorium molten-salt reactors.
Fusion is not all that likely to be the “clean panacea” that it is often sold as.
Most of the basic fusion operations throw off their energy in the form of neutrons (protons are much better, but that involves some heavier atoms, and we are only likely to tackle that once we actually get to the point where we can do it at all)
The problem with neutrons is that we really have no mechanism for capturing their kinetic energy except to slam them into a substance and then use the heat that generates (with protons, you could capture them in a magnetic torus and then slow them down which would convert the energy more effectively.)
Now, when you slam neutrons into something, what is the typical result?
Yyyyup. The substance turns radioactive.
This is something never discussed in public.
Thorium molten-salt. We already know how to do it, the products are easily dealt with. It’s the short and mid-term future.
The Senator reminds me of the Ides of March.
Things are very Stabenow.
The CEO of Ford was recently predicting that he’s going to eliminate the dealers. Buy direct from Ford. Fixed prices.
The EU Parliament is banning all new ICE car sales by 2035.
I’ve looked at the numbers. The reason why all the car makers want to move to EV’s is that they make way more money on an EV than an ICE.
The Green New Deal is all about the right people making more money. Forget about “saving the planet.”
Of course the government wants everyone in electric cars. They would be able to shut them off remotely. How many people who buy them know that?
There are so many practical issues to switching from ICE to electric that are never addressed. For example; a single family homeowner will have no problem charging his car, but what happens when all the residents of a high rise condo building need to charge theirs overnight? Who is going to pay for the power upgrade to enable that?
Extend your thoughts, people!
ObloodyHell on June 9, 2022 at 9:50 am
All we need is compact modular thorium molten-salt reactors.
From what I have read to date, I agree this is a very promising way to go.
But perhaps you can answer a few questions I have not yet had time to ck into myself:
1) If Fluorine is a very reactive chemical, does using it as a salt fully remove its reactivity in regard to corroding piping and values, etc.?
2) what materials do they use for the piping and valves, etc.? Are they expensive and/or rare themselves?
3) if they have an issue that requires draining the molten salts into the “safety tank”, what happens to that material once the system is being put back on line? Remelted and repumped back into the system somehow? Pictures I have seen don’t suggest that option.
Thanks for any feedback you can supply.
Molly+Brown: Extend your thoughts, people!
Can we get that emblazoned on our baseball caps?
Perhaps in lieu of MAGA?
They don’t make bands like Queen anymore. 🙁
Buckeye here.
Sister is Meatcicken grad. Flaming radical then, flaming radical now.
What is with you people up there? How does a basically common sense midwestern state put such horrors as Wretched Gretchen Whitmer and Debbie Stab Her Now in office again and again and again?
“…corroding piping and values…”
Now THAT was truly inspired!!
Thanks….
heh
Cappy
Michigan resident here
The one word answer to both questions posed: Detroit.
What Stabenow was doing came through to me as a twisted gloat, a notch above (or below depending on viewpoint) a brag or boast.
To gloat: to contemplate or dwell on one’s own success or another’s misfortune with smugness or malignant pleasure, often with a conspicuous sense of self-satisfaction.