this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2024
122 points (97.7% liked)

Fuck Cars

9356 readers
587 users here now

A place to discuss problems of car centric infrastructure or how it hurts us all. Let's explore the bad world of Cars!

Rules

1. Be CivilYou may not agree on ideas, but please do not be needlessly rude or insulting to other people in this community.

2. No hate speechDon't discriminate or disparage people on the basis of sex, gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or sexuality.

3. Don't harass peopleDon't follow people you disagree with into multiple threads or into PMs to insult, disparage, or otherwise attack them. And certainly don't doxx any non-public figures.

4. Stay on topicThis community is about cars, their externalities in society, car-dependency, and solutions to these.

5. No repostsDo not repost content that has already been posted in this community.

Moderator discretion will be used to judge reports with regard to the above rules.

Posting Guidelines

In the absence of a flair system on lemmy yet, let’s try to make it easier to scan through posts by type in here by using tags:

Recommended communities:

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
all 29 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 33 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The bikes are sold under an affordable payment plan of around $23 per month for 18-24 months. They cost around $13.5 per month in electricity to charge, a huge drop from the $250 in gasoline that comparative petrol-powered delivery bikes cost.

Now that's a real cost saving right there! Wow.

But I think it's going a bit far to say she'll revolutionize transportation for all of Africa. They are present, from what the article seems to imply, in a single city in Ghana and only just expanding.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

But I think it’s going a bit far to say she’ll revolutionize transportation for all of Africa.

Maybe going a bit far to say she will do it, but they're right that what she's doing will do it. That is, of course, because e-bikes will revolutionize transportation on all the continents (except Antarctica) and there's no reason for Africa to be an exception to that.

Shame about the "plan to launch a four-wheeled vehicle" part, though -- that's just trying to repeat North America's mistakes.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

If only people would realise that going electric has so many benefits. But people are so heavily propagandised that they just refuse to see the simple truth.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

going electric has so many benefits

It has the lot of downsides too. Like charging time, or high battery cost

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 weeks ago

An electric car uses 10-20x more batteries than a PEV, the downside is cars, not EVs.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Have you ever driven an EV or where do you get this sort of "information"?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

where do you get this sort of "information"?

Look at the specs sheet of EV cars. The best case fast charging scenario is like 20 minutes to 60-80%. And you can't count on the best case scenario every time. Gas station refueling is just much faster.

As for cost, literally 60 seconds of searching:

https://www.cbtnews.com/replacing-a-tesla-battery-costs-and-options-explained/

"Estimates suggest that the batteries for the Model S cost between $12,000 and $15,000. After labor charges, the total repair cost is about $20,000 to $22,000"

I did my research - and ultimately decided public transport is the best solution where I live.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Most of the time you charge an EV at home or at a level 2 charger nearby. Fast charging is rarely required, except when travelling long distances where it can be a factor, but that's largely overblown. Also, battery swaps after very rarely required and noisy if there time the battery will last the lifetime of the vehicle.

My point is that you're cherry picking negative points here while it's obvious that you have no practical knowledge of the topic. And of course public transport is always a better option, if that is available to you.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Most of the time you charge an EV at home or at a level 2 charger nearby.

I have neither a house, nor I have access to any fast charging station nearby.

the battery will last the lifetime of the vehicle

That's not given some battery packs will last long, some won't. Warranty on batteries is a sketchy thing because it's difficult to say whether capacity drop is a design flaw or just wear and tear from heavy usage

you have no practical knowledge of the topic

I have as much knowledge as I researched the topic. EV is a big nope for me.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

Assuming off street parking, you may still convince your landlord or HOA to install chargers - make a business case for it.

My ex’s HOA just took such a proposal seriously: they got quotes, explained it’s covered by the reserve, and put it up to vote. It did get voted down by the membership, but it’s up to you to convince enough members

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I always find it funny when people go through a lot of contortions to explain why they don't want an EV. If you don't want an EV don't buy one. Nobody cares.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Uh, if you look at the top of the thread, blacklazor just said there are downsides to EVs in response to a post that made it sound like it's all upside. They're not "going through a lot of contortions", they're answering questions in good faith. They don't have to have driven an EV to know it won't work for their situation, and they detailed why.

Me, I want an EV, I just don't have the money and I need at least 300 miles of range before having to charge. It's not "range anxiety", I do long road trips annually so I need to drive that far on a single charge no matter what my fuel is.

If you don't want an EV don't buy one.

They already said they aren't.

Nobody cares.

The number of replies to the guy in this thread show that to be a lie.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Just curious on why you need to drive 300 miles on a single charge? Is it because you don’t wish to stop during the trip, is there no charging infrastructure along this particular route, or something else?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

Like @[email protected] said, I work 5 days. This road trip is a thousand miles, at least; I have done it in a single stretch, but that would be even less possible in an EV just because of the increased charge times. I do it in two days now, which means a stop every ~250 miles, and I like a healthy ~50 mile margin of error because I don't wanna get stranded in the desert if the battery capacity dropped without my noticing somehow.

So, four stops over two days - that's reasonable, that's what I've got with my gas car which gets me there Sunday evening if I leave Saturday morning, in time to start work Monday. More stops means I get in later and have less time to get settled, or maybe I can't make the trip in two days at all, so no trip.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

Charging at home most of the time means no wait, plus much cheaper. I’m so happy to never again have to goto a local gas station!

Battery replacement could be expensive but probably not necessary. A recent survey found tenants of my car still had 85% battery capacity after 250,000 miles - most people never put that kind of mileage on a car.

I was on a recent road trip where the route planner recommended stops as short as 4 minutes to optimize total travel time. For the longest I’ve, it scheduled a charge at a mall, and was ready before we even got to the food court.

Sure, on the few days a year I’m on a road trip more than 150 miles each way, charging takes longer than gas fill ups but it’s really no big deal, plus more than made up for by charging at home most of the year

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago

Early this year, GNN reported on the woman behind the wheels of Wahu!, an electric bicycle company and the only native electric vehicle manufacturer in Ghana, Valerie Labi.

From 100 bikes sold to delivery drivers on a pay-per-week basis, Wahu! has shifted another 200 units, driven down the cost of insurance, and is set in the coming months to unleash Africa’s first native 4-wheeled electric vehicle.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Okay, but why does the gender need to be mentioned?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 weeks ago
  1. it is more impressive due to gender gap and gender inequality indexes on Ghana.

  2. It makes her a positive role model for women in Ghana and other countries.

  3. It's more flavour to the story.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago

Sex even. Apparently it is too hard to call someone a woman.