Are Electric Vehicles really the perfect combination of freedom and environmental conscience on four wheels?
by Martin Harris
Several times now, I have mentioned in blogs the subject of the future of personal transportation and the erosion of personal freedom and mobility, mostly in the context of Light Rail and other public transportation systems, making a connection not just with tracking and surveillance, but also with Social Credit.
No doubt many astute readers are wondering about Electric Vehicles and Hybrids. Surely this counts as “personal” transportation and is a vehicle one purchases, owns, and uses freely? And not only that, but it is environmentally friendly too?
There’s more to the picture than meets the eye.
When I’m not slaving for a large corporation or administrating here at Uncensored, I enjoy tinkering, modifying and creating in the shed. A time-honoured Kiwi tradition. I love human powered vehicles, and having constructed several pushbikes, my eldest son and I are working on a pedal-powered, propeller driven pontoon boat. All very environmentally friendly, zero pollution and all that.
Now here’s the guilty admission: I am a hot rod and classic car enthusiast and I love the smell of oil and hot metal. Sorry Greenpeace.
So, a couple of years back, after consultation with the family about a “second car” that would be a fun classic vehicle for weekend drives and car shows, we decided to purchase a 1968 VW Beetle. 
The car was alive and kicking but in dire need of restoration. While mulling over the future direction of this new project, I was faced with a couple of alternatives: Rebuild the air cooled factory engine, or replace with a modern electric motor. Both options are equally do-able. Full kits are available to transform one’s classic VW to an EV http://www.ev4unow.com/BugKitParts.html , and all the parts are readily available to keep your old bug running as the factory intended (plus performance upgrades to keep pace with modern traffic!). https://buzzbug1.myshopify.com/
Scratching beneath the surface however, the hidden costs of the EV option began to mount up. Aside from the staggering cost of the basic conversion, (perspective: The Bug cost $1500 to purchase and approx. $1000 to restore to factory spec.) which one supposedly recoups by not having to pay for petrol (gasoline to US readers), one soon discovers that the required batteries take up all the car’s luggage space, and weigh many times more than the lightweight Flat 4 factory engine. This means the car needs a full suspension and braking upgrade: BIG $$$!
When all the number crunching and logistics were done, it turned out I could restore the entire car several times over and keep it maintained for years to come for what a basic EV conversion would cost. And the supposed “no more fill-ups” recoup? Turns out that by the time the conversion had paid for itself, I’d be forking out for replacement batteries! And another important factor for the home mechanic: I can repair, maintain and modify the internal combustion powered Bug with basic tools in the driveway. Try that with your Prius! Your EV is more reliable you think? Let’s see if its still ticking along in half a century!
So leaving aside classic car conversions, what about your brand new, 21st Century EV family car?
“…The day Hawkins took the Leaf for a test drive around Christchurch, the “state of health” of its 30 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery – a measure of its ability to hold energy – was at 97%. A few days later when he checked again, the figure had dropped to 94%.
“Fairly rapidly over the next month, it kept going down,” says Hawkins. “By the time it was past 90%, I contacted the dealer and told them what was going on.”Leaf owners tend to fixate on the 12 blue and red “bars” on their dashboard display that indicate their battery’s health. Dropping a bar is cause for concern – it means the resale value of the car could drop. Hawkins’ Leaf never dropped a bar, but the steadily declining battery capacity reading led him to ask his dealer to fix the problem.
The dealer opted to give him his money back in full and the story could have ended there. But Hawkins also contributed his Leaf’s battery health statistics to a New Zealand citizen science project called Flip the Fleet.
Last week, in what the authors believe is a world first, the Flip the Fleet team published online a study examining the battery State of Health results from 283 Nissan Leafs, using data gathered from Leaf owners around the country such as Hawkins.
The results, claims Flip the Fleet co-founder and University of Otago emeritus professor Henrik Moller, are alarming. The researchers found that the 30kWh model of the Leaf, which went on sale in 2016 and offers greater driving range than the 24kWh version, was rapidly declining in its ability to hold electric charge.
“By two years, the 30kWh vehicles are dropping their ability to hold energy by about 10% per year,” says Moller. “The 24kWh Leafs are dropping at 3% per year.”
Nissan estimates that the battery on the 30kWh Leaf should reach about 80% of its energy-holding capacity after five years of use. But Moller’s team were seeing them reach that point in just over two years. Even worse, the rate of decline appears to be accelerating as the batteries get older…..”
“They aren’t without maintenance entirely, though, as the batteries inside electric cars have a finite amount of life in them before they need to be replaced. Like any battery, the cells inside an EV only have a certain number of times they can be depleted and recharged before they start to lose their maximum capacity, known as “cycling out”. Although overall reliability is on the way up, an EV owner should still expect their battery to start losing some of its total charging capacity at anywhere from 80,000 miles in the case of the Nissan Leaf up to 125,000 miles in Tesla’s Model S. This figure will vary from car to car, so be sure to check the manufacturer’s specs before making your first EV purchase.
Replacing the battery can be an expensive endeavor if the car isn’t under warranty (a replacement pack can fetch as much as $7500), and should always be factored into the total of how much you think EV ownership will cost in the long run.”
https://www.howtogeek.com/239948/what-to-consider-before-buying-an-electric-car/
So much for “maintenance free”. These cars will be cluttering the roadsides and wrecking yards before the next decade is out!https://www.cartalk.com/blogs/jim-motavalli/pros-and-cons-owning-ev
And the supposed cost savings may be smoke and mirrors:
https://www.corporatemonkeycpa.com/2017/08/09/ev-total-cost-of-ownership/
Freedom? Even newer, conventionally powered cars can be easily tracked and hacked, for those concerned about such things. How much more trackable and hackable will EVs be with their limited range, and will Social Credit punishments extend to remotely disabling your EV? Could you fix it by the roadside if it broke down? Still, it’s yours (or the finance company’s in some cases!). Jump in when you want and go where you please. Or is that car really “yours”? 
Fact is, most EVs are leased rather than owned, as the smartest EV purchasers realise the shot term nature of the current EV market:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-03/why-most-electric-cars-are-leased-not-owned
So, maybe one should stick to purchasing a gas powered vehicle in future?
Sorry, but the door is closing on that option!
Britain to ban sale of gas, diesel vehicles by 2040
And now the options are closing, along come the taxes:
Remember that many countries offer government subsidies to make EV transition attractive: A lure. Once those incentives disappear and the taxes get piled on, you are probably no better off financially with your EV than you were with your gas guzzler.
The fact is, EVs are a short-lived “transition” technology:
Public Transportation by stealth!
Why 95 Percent of Your Driving Won’t Be in Your Own Car by 2030
“When Google’s self-driving program spin-off, Waymo, began offering to let Phoenix-area families try out its vehicle service last month, it touched off what a new study is calling “a historic revolution in transportation.”
While the number of Americans using all forms of ride-sharing — autonomous or otherwise — is currently quite small, RethinkX, an independent think tank that looks at the impact of new technology, says it will grow rapidly. By 2030, it predicts in its new report, 95 percent of the miles traveled in the U.S. will be in self-driving, shared electric vehicles.
As the Electric Car Rises, Car Ownership Dies
Apparently, a lot of folks agree on the economic transformation reshaping the auto industry. There has been explosive growth in investments in alternative powertrain technology, as well as autonomous and fully driverless vehicle systems. And over the last couple of years, Uber and Lyft have become Wall Street darlings, while new ride- and car-sharing competitors are rapidly popping up.”
Now the pieces start to come together.
EVs are simply a step towards the NWO-UN Agenda 2030 plan for mass population control. A way to wean people off their private car addiction and their illusions of freedom. All the while patting us on the head for saving the planet (and our wallets) under the guise of “cost savings” and “emissions reductions” that are as illusory as our freedoms.
Would I like to see an end to oil and gas dependency? Yes, of course.
Would I like to see a clean, efficient source of energy in it’s place? Again of course yes: There are plenty of potential sources of energy waiting for development (some have been supressed by the oil, gas and electricity corporations, others ignored).
BUT I do not want “clean green” transportation that comes with an NWO agenda lurking behind it.
Meanwhile, my humble Volkswagen Beetle remains a defiant symbol of a time when the motor car truly represented freedom and individuality.
A car that can be fixed and maintained at home, that cannot be hacked or tracked or tell me I’m taking the wrong route! And in the 1960s, became the transportation of choice for the Flower Power generation.
How ironic for a car that started life as the brainchild of a fascist dictator!
Thanks for your perspective Josh (British Leyland…I remember my Austin Mini, a real fun and economical car. My C Cab Hot Rod has a 1300 mini motor mounted in the rear BTW).
Don’t get me wrong: If a genuinely clean green solution that is reliable comes along, I’m all for it, and I’m no friend of the oil industry! but clearly the current EV vehicles are not the answer. I honestly believe they are being promoted as a step towards the end of private transportation.
There have been many claims of water powered cars over the years, but as Uncensored Magazine has reported, they seem to disappear from the scene, often under suspicious circumstances.
Meantime, we can keep our old classics running.