Don't worry, widespread usage of electric vehicles is a long way off. No way to even charge them. California is already telling electric car owners to stop charging their electric cars recently because the grid can't keep up.

 

But, that is only from 4 to 8PM they can charge them at other times. It's also cheaper to have them on a timer and charge them over night when the rates are lower in some area's. My sister does that with her pool filter, it runs when the rates are lower.

 

They can't even let people run their air conditioning normally. Do you think if everyone in your neighborhood had one or two electric cars, that the electrical system has enough capacity to charge them? And guess where the electricity comes from.....fossil fuels. That is why California is having problems, they shut down a bunch of their natural gas generation plants. You can't make this stuff up.

 

Ya… stupid promotes stupid in some places…

California announces its going all electric by 2035 (or something like that) and in the same week starts telling people they will be having rolling blackouts and to turn AC off during the day 😂…. Maybe they should ban the use of all private aircraft in and out instead, and limit shipping to sailboats…. And make sure no giant government office buildings have the AC turned on (with the 3 people not working from home inside).

Unfortunately what people don’t understand scares them, otherwise we would have nuclear power plants in every state. They are safe, efficient, and powerful… I slept next to one for 6 years. Every naval submarine and ship in the fleet has one (or 2 in most aircraft carriers). And guess what… no emissions for those climate freaks.

… just don’t put one in the path of a earthquake & tsunami or let a bunch of rookie Ukrainians stress test shoddy Russian engineering in the middle of the night…

 

I'm sure their answer would be solar panels on every one's house, not to mention the $10,000 solar battery wall. I'm sure all those rich Californians can easily afford that.

Hey, I don't want one of those big wind turbines blocking my view, and killing all the birds that fly into them. So those are out... Though, I don't mind seeing off in the distance Mt. tops in NH when I'm in VT skiing.

Remember the Ukrainians were running that plant safely for many years before this.

 

Think about it; The sun shines during the day when everyone is at work. They have already ran into trouble with this, everyone gets up early to go to work and the sun is not out yet. They work long hours and in the wintertime the day is short. So they get home and the sun is at a very low angle, getting ready to set. No power to be had when you really need it. They claimed they were going to have battery banks put in to help the problem, but that sounds like a awfully big and expensive project.

 

I did the math a couple years back. The country would need to produce at least double the electricity it does now to replace auto gas. We have dammed up all the rivers we can, so no more hydro. Windmills could be added, but no where the enlightened folk can see the.... and there aren't many of those places left. That leaves dyno and nukes. Or, as the World Economic Forum stated in a commercial a few years back, "you will own nothing and be happy. "

 

Regarding the original subject of this thread, the problem of chip availability won't be resolved any time soon. Just Google 'auto chip availability'. Manufacturers are saying a year at best to get caught up.

Big problem with automotive "chips" is that they are ancient technology. Auto makers don't want to bear the expense of changing to modern, smaller and more powerful chips. The ones that they've been using for decades are durable and proven. Another cost of switching is testing which would take years.

Chip makers have been prodding the auto industry to make the switch for years. Materials for making chips are expensive. They can make many more modern chips with the same amount of material required for one standard automotive chip.

When auto manufacturers cancelled their chip orders at the beginning of COVID, chip makers switched to electronics where there was already a strong demand that was forecast to (and did) grow.

The just in time manufacturing process pioneered by Toyota and adopted industry wide has shown its downside.

Off subject regarding EVs and hybrids: EVs and Hybrids were in very high demand even before Covid. Our local Lexus/Toyota dealership had many, but not all hybrids presold. My wife bought a UX hybrid off the lot. A UX is Lexus' compact offering and perhaps the least popular model they sell. She got it in January, pre Covid. The state of Indiana penalizes her each year for purchasing a hybrid. A $50 fee to counter lost gas tax revenue. This even though many straight gas powered vehicles get better fuel economy.

Tesla EVs, my sister has had one for years and loves it. I drove it and I understand why. Tesla barely felt a hiccup in manufacturing due to their ability to use any available chip. Tesla in reality is a technology company first and auto manufacturer second. You can turn a runabout a lot faster than a battleship.

Fun fact: It takes 1000 to 3000 chips to manufacturer a modern automobile.

 

The just in time manufacturing process pioneered by Toyota and adopted industry wide has shown its downside.

I have to agree with you on that. Again, most working people knew that. That's why the two of us buy toilet paper in one of those big 32 roll packs. There are something's you don't want to run out of...

 

I knew a guy who flew hot shot cargo for Ford. One particular trip he took was to fly about 20 pounds of a particular fastener from Mexico to Detroit. It was about 15 years ago, and Ford paid roughly $35,000 for a case of nuts and bolts. I forget the amount of money it cost to shut down the line for half a shift waiting for the regular delivery, but it justified the shipping cost.

Think about that the next time you grumble about paying 8 bucks to ship a new set of ignition wires.