September 29th, 2020 was the one year anniversary of driving the Earthshine Nature Programs (ENP) Chevrolet Bolt EV – The “Mighty Bolt” as we lovingly call her – as our dedicated environmental outreach education and wildlife rescue vehicle.
Mighty Bolt meets young Eastern ratsnake.
3/31/21 Update: We continue to love our little Bolt EV and everything I noted in my earlier Bolt Report still holds true today. In the following video I go over all the things I like about the Bolt, a few of its odd points, and some of the modifications I have made to the vehicle to better fit our needs.
The Chevy Bolt Battery Recall: In the fall of 2020, 2017-2019 Bolt owners were notified by GM that their cars were under a recall. The issue was with the traction battery and apparently, a small number of Bolts had caught fire shortly after their batteries had been charged to 100%, driven a short distance, then parked. Chevy stated that in order to reduce the risk of battery failure/fire Bolt owners should only charge to 90% and/or take their cars to the dealership service department and have the battery limited to a 90% charge with a software patch. I did not opt for the software upgrade…or downgrade as it should have been called… since it intentionally limited the vehicles driving range. I just set my Bolt’s built-in “Hilltop Reserve” charge limiter to 90% and drove on. This situation was obviously concerning to me so for several months I rarely charged over 90% – just to be safe. Then, in March of 2021, I noticed via the MyChevrolet App that the recall had been rescinded for my specific vehicle’s VIN number. I called Chevrolet’s EV Concierge, they asked for my VIN number, and confirmed that yes, my Bolt was not one of the cars impacted by the recall issue. This was great news for sure. At least something went back to some kind of “normal” for 2021.
Since my previous blog post and the earlier video, I have also added a unique modification to the Mighty Bolt.
A 2″ receiver hitch.
Yes, that’s right – we are now able to pull small trailers with our Bolt.
We installed the hitch so we could tow our Sylvan Sport GO camper and it has worked perfectly. Fully loaded the camper weighs 1300 lbs. and the tongue weight on the back of the Bolt is only around 120lbs. – the little car can hardly tell the camper is back there. So far we have towed the GO all over western NC and even over the Smoky mountains into Tennessee – twice – without any issues at all.
While most of the trips are local – to and from work and visiting family in nearby towns – and a little bit longer with the GO – most are less than 200 miles before we return home and charge up over night. We have also taken our Bolt – sans GO – on a few long distance highway runs and it has performed admirably. On several occasions We have traveled to Chattanooga, TN, Murphy, NC, and Savannah, GA without any issue. This was possible due to the continuing build-out of the nation’s fast charging EVSE infrastructure as well a bit of route planning on our part.
Our camping set-up fully deployed with the Mighty Bolt EV charging from the campground RV plug
We truly love the Mighty Bolt EV!
Keep reading for some mighty cool “Mighty Bolt” fuel/charging stats from the first year of driving the ENP Mighty Bolt EV: Total miles driven: 14,356 That’s an average of: 1,196.33 miles per month. 299.08 miles per week. 42.72 miles per day.
Estimated Gallons of Hydrocarbon Fuel Saved: 613 Estimated CO2 Avoided: 12,153 lbs.
Fuel costs: For the 14,356 total miles traveled: $176.71 – or, $14.71 per month. $3.68 per week. $.52 per day.
So that breaks down to an average of $0.012 cents per mile for the Mighty Bolt’s electron fuel.
$0.01 cents per mile! I will let that sink in for a moment.
The math: 176.71(fuel cost)/14,356(miles driven) = .0123 (cost/mile)
Photo: Mighty Bolt meets Box turtle.
I have calculated that if ENP were still using a gasoline powered vehicle for our work, its fuel costs would have been around .13 cents per mile which would add up to around $1,800 for one year of use – and that is not including repairs, ”tune ups,” and maintenance costs! The ENP outreach EV is over 75% solar charged so its operational costs are lower than if it were to be charged only on grid power. Even if we had charged the Mighty Bolt EV on grid power alone it would have only increased our operational costs to: $433.017 – wow! Still a much better deal than anything powered by fossil fuels. The math: 4,330.17(kWh used to fuel EV) x .10(energy cost/kWh) = 433.017
Driving electric over the last year has given ENP an operational cost savings of over $1,600! No matter who you are, where you are from, or how much money you have to burn – you must logically agree the choice is mighty clear: the Mighty Bolt EV is the best choice for ENP in getting from point A to point B!
A very revealing energy use chart for year one with the Mighty Bolt EV.
The Bolt truly is mighty. It is over 75% solar charged and therefore costs ENP only .01 cents/mile to drive, it has a very small environmental footprint, and it serves as a wonderful energy education teaching tool inspiring the next generation to think above and beyond the status quo.
The Mighty Bolt’s fuel station – the ENP classroom and office/Trails Science solar array!
SO COOL!
The ENP EV Motto: Drive electric to preserve nature, wildlife, and wild places. Drive electric for the health of you and your family. Drive electric for freedom from dependence on expensive, polluting fossil fuels. Drive electric for energy independence. Drive electric for a better future for all.
This EV is owned by ENP and is used primarily as the ENP company outreach vehicle. It is charged and fueled mostly with cleanly generated electricity provided by the ENP/Trails student-built classroom solar array. It also serves as an outstanding teaching tool for our Trails students, ENP outreach program participants, and everyone we meet.
SPECIAL THANKS to everyone who helped make the Mighty Bolt EV possible for ENP.
Darwinian Evolution is defined as: “descent with modification from preexisting species : cumulative inherited change in a population of organisms through time leading to the appearance of new forms : the process by which new species or populations of living things develop from preexisting forms through successive generations” – From Merriam-Webster
In Automotive Evolution we might say the following: automotive technologies descend with modification and enhancement from earlier preexisting forms and technologies : cumulative inherited change of traits occur within a population of automobiles/automakers through time leading to the appearance of new and often more evolved/advanced automotive forms : the process by which new automotive systems and/or collections of systems – as dictated by necessity and/or markets – lead to novel and more advanced automotive systems and/or collections of systems developed from preexisting forms through successive generations often (but not always) leading to more superior technological adaptations : those forms and technologies deemed inferior by function/markets are quickly weeded out of the population by the process that drives both automotive and Darwinian evolution – Natural Selection. Those forms and technologies deemed superior and that perform at or above their design will survive and their technological traits will be passed down to future populations.
Recently, I made the EVolutionary choice and I EVolved my automotive system.
In late September 2019 I purchased a 2019 Chevrolet Bolt.
Yep. The days of the BlueWaterLeaf are over.
My trusty old 2012 LEAF “Elektra” served me well for a little over six years but due to her failing battery chemistry and resulting limited driving range of only around 45-50 miles – natural selection prevailed and I was forced to automotively EVolve.
Yesterday meets today.
The old LEAF found a new home with a wonderful couple in a nearby town. Since they only drive around 25 miles per day I believe it will serve them well for many years to come.
For my needs, I require a vehicle that will travel more than 50 miles per day and sometimes upwards of 200 miles at a time. I also needed a vehicle that I can afford to fuel, maintain, and pay for as a company vehicle. Now that we have EV’s I feel that it is not logical nor is it a good use of funds for a small nonprofit organization to pay large amounts of money for fossil fuel powered vehicles and their fuels. Essentially, using a fossil fuel powered vehicle for a nonprofit – or any business for that matter – is like lighting generously donated and/or hard earned money on fire, then tossing it out the window. It is not only a garish waste of funds but it also pollutes the environment – the very thing my organization is working so hard to protect, conserve, understand, and share.
So, after extensive research and planning, I decided to purchase a new 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV – Premier edition as a replacement outreach vehicle for my small, non profit organization Earthshine Nature Programs (501c3) – www.earthshinenature.com
I have owned the Bolt EV now for four months and during that time I have driven the little EV close to 6500 miles! It is a remarkable car that makes the old LEAF seem, well, – like ancient technology – or, in keeping with the EVolutionary theme – an earlier form of life.
The last solar charge for Elektra.
I really loved my LEAF but the primary reason I decided to go with a Chevrolet over another Nissan was mainly due to the ongoing terrible experience I had with Nissan HQ. Despite my detailed record keeping, sticking with the car’s dealer defined maintenance/warranty schedule, countless service visits/inquiries/emails/phone calls with Nissan HQ about my LEAF’s battery degradation issue, and even working tirelessly to promote the LEAF to many people online via this blog and in person via my nonprofit programming through EV education classes, and through the Blue Ridge Electric Vehicle Club at EV car shows during National Drive Electric week – all of these things lead up to many people I knew and many I did not who then purchased Nissan LEAF’s for themselves. Despite all this Nissan still refused to stand by their product and would not offer to replace my car’s degrading battery. Then, to make matters worse – just when I was about to consider the purchase of a new battery for my LEAF – Nissan raised the price by thousands of dollars as if trying to force owners of the first generation LEAF’s to upgrade to a newer car!
On top of all this madness, Nissan opted to forgo the implementation of an active battery management system that would extend the useful life of their EV batteries in favor of keeping the costs down so they could then sell more new LEAF’s using an out-dated technology while making a higher profit.
All these reasons pushed me over the edge so I decided that I was finished with Nissan and chose to look elsewhere. I looked at Tesla, Hyundai, Kia and then Chevrolet. Chevrolet already had several years of EV experience with the Volt and the Bolt’s technology was a few years old therefore giving them some time to weed out any major issues with the newer Bolt. Chevrolet also opted to go with a battery management system similar to Tesla’s that would keep the battery at the optimum operating temperature extending its driving range and its useful life. The bolt also has amazing driving range second only to Tesla (at the time) – at 238 it was a massive improvement over the old gen one LEAF which would only travel 73 miles before needing a charge. Another big deciding factor for me was the fact that at the time I was shopping there were some really nice end of model year deals on the Bolt so, for all these reasons, I chose the Bolt EV.
Taking ownership of the new “MIGHTY BOLT” from Walker Chevrolet in Franklin, Tennessee…interestingly enough only a few miles from where I purchased the Nissan Leaf in 2013.With the new Bolt at the Nissan HQ saying goodbye Nissan!
So far I love the little EV – although, it does have a few odd issues that need mentioning. These are issues that I believe need some real attention from Chevrolet – so let us get those out of the way first.
1: Ultra reflective dashboard deck. The windshield facing side of the dashboard (in my car) is light colored so it reflects sunlight onto the underside of the windshield making it almost impossible to drive without visual discomfort from the “flashing” reflections. This creates an unsafe and uncomfortable driving experience. During the test drive I did not notice this phenomenon – possibly due to the sun angle at the time – or I would have chosen a vehicle with a dark colored dashboard. To remedy the situation I purchased a custom fit charcoal black, non-reflective dash cover from Covercraft.com and the problem was solved.
2: Thin driver’s seat bottom cushion. I am a relatively thin person so the narrowness of the seats do not bother me as they do for some people. However, the thin cushion and adjacent plastic framework of the seat near the seat adjusting levers puts pressure on my left outer thigh region as I exit the vehicle. Over time this fact began to cause my left upper leg to ache. I fixed the issue with a simple pool noodle slipped over the plastic piece. It worked for me but GM should really work to remedy this problem as it may be a deal breaker for some buyers especially those who do not want a pool noodle flopping about in their new car.
This added pool noodle cushion ended all discomfort and is removable if need be.
3: Cargo space. For many people the Bolt will be perfect in size for town runs etc but I needed more carying capacity so I opted to install a roof basket.
This allows me to carry much more cargo when I take long trips and even lumber 🙂
Or bales of straw for the chickens 🙂
And even more lumber and conduit 🙂 !
Things I LOVE about this little car.
238 miles of range – and more depending on conditions! WOW! It is a real car!!
Range anxiety is a thing of the past!
Cool UI. I love all the data and functionality the UI provides and it is pretty.
One pedal driving – SO COOL!!! (and the brakes will last MUCH longer!)
Awesome stereo system with the option of SiriusXM.
Roof rack ready.
The three level cargo area.
Arm rest/drink holder in the rear seat.
Heated seats and steering wheel.
USB charging ports everywhere.
Qi/wireless phone charger.
Wonderful windshield wipers that really work well.
Deep, multi-level storage in center console.
Sliding sun visors.
Built-in rear-view mirror backup camera.
Surround view camera.
Automatic headlights.
Automatic Emergency Braking.
Lane keep assist.
Android Auto.
The hulkingly huge 60 kWH battery that lets me go for days without needing to charge.
The insanely low cost to fuel and operate.
In fact, lets look at some numbers on that last topic.
I am not bragging but I feel that I need to share this very revealing automotive data with you should you be considering EVolving up to a Bolt or other EV.
I have calculated the fuel costs to drive the car the 6500 miles I have traveled up to this point.
Are you ready for this?
Are you sitting down?
Here it is.
$119.71
Those costs come primarily from the five “quick charge” sessions I needed during these first four months of ownership. Those sessions resulted in a total charge of $77.95 or and average of $15.59 per charge.
The remaining $41.76 comes from multiple “Level 2” charge sessions on the road and from several overnight “Level 1” and “Level 2” charging sessions at home.
In summary, during the last four months, I have driven an average of
1,625 miles per month. 406.25 miles per week. 58.03 miles per day.
At a cost of –
$32.60 per month. $8.15 per week. $1.16 per day.
119.71/6500 = .0184
So that breaks down to be $0.0184 cents per mile for the Mighty Bolt’s electron fuel.
$0.2 cents per mile! I will let that sink in for a moment.
Those numbers are accurate as I keep detailed notes on all charge sessions/energy costs.
My EV’s electric fuel costs are much lower than many EV drivers since I am able to use locally generated renewably produced solar electricity as my EV’s primary fuel source. The largest percentage of my Bolt EV’s electron fuel comes from the classroom solar array my students, interns, volunteers and I installed on my nonprofit office/classroom.
For the average US homeowner without solar who is charging their EV at home using the local power utility energy mix (US average @ .12/kWh), their costs would be a bit higher than my numbers.
The fact remains that no matter an EV’s fuel source – fueling, maintaining, and driving an EV will always be much lower than anything powered by dirty, toxic, nature, life, earth, and future polluting fossil fuels.
It is very interesting and revealing to note that if I had driven those 6500 miles in my only remaining gas guzzler – a 2013 Honda Pilot – I would have needed to stop maybe 15 – 20 times to refill the gas tank (and change the oil and oil filter one and possibly the air filter once) and therefore my gasoline fuel bill (maybe we should call it a conveyance convenience cost) would have been a massive $812.50 or around 0.13/mile! …then add in the cost of the oil/filter change of around $50 and that’s $862.50!!
I do not care who you are, where you are from, or how much money you have to burn but you must logically agree with me – that is a CRAZY STUPID expense for anyone to spend just to get from point A to point B!
In fact, below is a photo of the gas pump the last time I filled up the Honda’s fuel tank…YIKES!
That $47 will push the Honda Pilot around 360 miles but it will also push the Chevy Bolt EV over 2300 miles!!!
Some Maths
6500 miles at an average of 20mpg = 325 gallons x $2.50 (per gasbuddy.com) = $812.50
Or 812.50/6500 = .125 (per mile)
(812.50 (gas) – 119.71(electricity))
That is a fuel only cost savings of $692.79!!
No one can deny the fuel savings of driving electric – but what about the grossly unacceptable downsides of driving EV’s:
THE DIRTY DOWNSIDES OF DRIVING ELECTRIC
Charging: What about the horrible inconvenience of charging my EV while I sleep…It is just so difficult and time-consuming to need to remember to plug in the car before going on to other things…oh the horror!
First quick charge!
Stopping: The painfully needling fact that when on a road trip I always need to stop driving every 200 miles or so to plug in my car while I take a break, read a book, surf the net, take a nap, graze on food, have a cold one, get some exercise, go shopping, fish for lunch, fly a drone, watch a movie, spend time with friends and family, listen to live music, rride a zipline, pet a dog, horse, pig, or goat, pick some fruit, or just smell the flowers (these are just a few of the terribly inconvenient things I have been forced to do or could do while waiting for my EV to charge)…I just can’t take this intolerable electric car life of any longer!
Gas Stations: What about the hot insanity of never ever again needing to stop at dirty gas stations*? I so greatly miss the ritual of waiting in line for a pump, grasping the infectious germ and “booger” covered gas nozzle, shoving it into my legacy vehicle’s fuel port, engaging the trigger, inhaling deeply of the toxic and highly flammable hydrocarbon fumes while watching other oil addicted users doing the very same – oh and sometimes some of them leave their engines running and/or are even smoking while fueling – WTF!!! All this time our tanks fill up and our bank accounts drain…oh and let’s not forget the great fun of shopping in the station’s store for low quality overly processed foodstuffs…oh how I miss those days. *Ok, so I do occasionally stop at filling stations – but only if they have EV charging stations and/or to use their bathrooms or squeegee my EV’s windshield 🙂 (Read one of my earlier posts about an earlier and most unusual filling station experience.)
Fueling up on electrons at a Dandridge, Tennessee Exxon station – maybe one day the pump locations will be reversed 🙂
Cash Flow: How about the fact that driving electric means you will never again be forever stuck in the endless “subscription to dependency” that owning and driving petroleum-powered vehicles truly is. Therefore, I will be FORCED to stop endlessly paying out loads and loads of cash for gas/oil only to just burn it up over and over again harming our individual lungs and our shared environment. Whatever will I do with all this extra cash???
Health: When my asthma and the seasonal ozone/fossil fuel pollution-induced respiratory inflammation and distress go away – I will shed a great and lonely tear of loss. What will I ever do with all this improved health I just do not know…
Maintenance: Then there is the unbelievable madness of having virtually no maintenance costs/repair downtime on the EV’s motor, battery, brakes, and drive systems…like the LEAF before it, this BOLT EV (and all EV’s) are virtually maintenance-free. I am going to really miss the time-honored ritual of raising the hood and/or crawling under my vehicle on the side of a busy road – in the rain, mud, ice, snow, and boiling summer heat (been there done all that many, many times) – to fix some failing component such as a faulty belt/hose/fuel line/fuel tank/plug wire/radiator/thermostat/clutch/carburetor/alternator/exhaust/intake manifold/”johnson rod” and on an on…and/or wiring up a broken exhaust pipe/muffler…and/or adjusting some broken or maladjusted linkage/shaft in 20-degree weather then bashing my knuckles on a cross member etc…or having my old beater car towed to a repair shop and then waiting hours or days for it to be professionally repaired and then receiving the huge charge $$$$$$ for all those frequent repair/labor costs…again, what will I ever do with all this extra money and time? Note: I really do love working on older, classic cars – especially with my dad. However, working on a classic car at home in the garage or in the driveway/yard on a nice day is a totally different animal than what I described above – which is a fresh hell I would not wish on anyone.
Efficiency: Oh, and what about the insanely stupid fact that EVs produce a portion of their own electron fuel through the process of regenerative braking thereby extending their driving range by hundreds to thousands of free driving miles each year and therefore lowering my fuel costs even more…how will I ever adapt to all this egg-headed science nerd tech geek madness saving me loads of money and making my life easier, faster, stronger, better?!
The first road trip from Franklin, TN to Chattanooga, TN – a Bolt and a Tesla Model 3 – so cool! Photo by Bob Harris of Black Bear Solar Institute
Sound of silence: How about the unbearable and unbelievably smooth, quiet ride? I just cannot handle all this calmness, comfort, and serenity. Oh, how I miss the endless internal combustion engine drone drowning out the silence and/or the nuances of my favorite songs, audiobooks, and podcasts. Then there are the random noises, sudden jerks, squeaks, rattles, bangs, parts falling off (yes, that really happened), and body wrenching lurches that used to assault my ears, muddle my thought processes, and often torque my spine in all my previous legacy vehicles…
…all this EVolved silence is just so unbearable – oh, the humanity!
Convenience: What about that ridiculous one pedal driving thing! It is just so bizarre and inconvenient to only need to use one pedal instead of two. Not having to step on the brake all the time means my brake pads may last over one hundred thousand miles – how will I ever adapt to all this efficient madness? What will I ever do with all the extra money that I would have spent on brake jobs? My foot really misses stepping on the brake all the time so sometimes I do it out of nostalgia.
High above my EV’s fuel refinery. Note how clean the air is 🙂
Safety: I am not at all comfortable with the increased safety of this car. It will automatically and without asking me to authorize it – put on the brakes to avoid a collision!! What a HUGE compromisation of my freedoms to stop whenever I want to and under my own power and control!!! …oh and then there are all the airbags – they wrap around me on all sides – and then there’s the seatbelts holding me down keeping me from flying through the windshield in an accident – I feel so invaded!! …and what about all the CAMERAS!!! Giving over control to the machines – we all know where that leads!! It all must be a conspiracy…a plot fabricated by the Russians or maybe the Chinese…NO it is the greenies working with the Russians, the Chinese, the North Koreans and the DUTCH!!!! (To be clear: I am not racist and this was not a racial slur – it was a cheezy reference to an obscure comedy movie series staring Mike Myers.)
Furthermore!
I will not stand for all the EV safety madness!!!!
Give me back my 1969 Vista Cruiser!!
That 70’s Show photo courtesy of Carsey-Warner.
Fuel: How about the garishly un-American ability to charge an EV’s traction battery with home-grown electron fuel made on my own soil – be that electron fuel renewably generated by sun, wind, water, landfill gas, cow farts, or even the dirtiest hulking coal-fired power plant.
It is all domestically produced American made energy that does not require dirty deals, endless wars, and the terrible loss of our brave loved ones in the service just to keep it flowing into our tanks.
Nor does all this locally grown renewable energy destroy the very environment that gives all of us clean air, clean water, healthy food, diverse wildlife, our own lives, and a healthy future.
Driving electric vehicles powered by renewable energy is obviously such an un-American, un-patriotic sacrilege that our founding fathers must be spinning like oil-soaked V8 crankshafts in their graves!
__________________________________________
Ok, so for those of you that somehow missed it – I absolutely LOVE my Chevrolet Bolt EV and I absolutely LOVE driving electric. I was attempting to be overly and intentionally sarcastic and humorous with my previous outline of EV shortcomings. From my point of view and over six years of EV driving experience – there really are no EV shortcomings.
Driving electric is simply a better way to drive.
Despite my bizarre attempt at humor aside, and despite all the mostly manufactured EV shortcomings you may encounter from the deniers, doubters, Luddites, and FUD generators – and those with money/politics tied up in the legacy automakers and fossil fuel economy – I fail to see how anyone can rationally dispute the massive cost savings of driving electric vehicles as daily driver commuter vehicles and soon, much, much, more…and all this before we have even looked at the significant reductions to toxic air and water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions saved by driving electric vehicles especially when they are charged by locally grown renewably generated 100% energy secure electricity – but that is another long-winded data-rich topic for yet another blog posting on yet another day.
Final Question:
How much does it cost you to drive your fossil burner 6500 miles?
Charging with my cousin the Chevy Volt
So, suffice it to say that I absolutely LOVE my Chevrolet Bolt EV.
I will keep you posted on my newly EVolved EV life with the “Mighty Bolt” EV and hopefully I will be able to offer you some insight into the world of the Electric Vehicle, renewable energy, and maybe, if you have not already, you will take the necessary steps toward your own automotive EVolution.
SPECIAL THANKS to Bob Harris of Black Bear Solar Institute, Jim Hardy, Catherine O’Neil, Jewell Mimms, Marian O’Neil, and the Blue Ridge EV Club, my awesome students, and everyone who worked with me to make all of this possible – you know who you are!
Note: I do not work for, receive compensation from, or own stock in GM, Chevrolet, Tesla, or any electric vehicle or electric vehicle supply equipment company or renewable energy technology or company. I do however support all of these technologies, companies, and ways of life as long as they stay focused on their goals and work to help more than harm and because they are all working toward a better, cleaner, more energy secure, lower ecological footprint, science-focused way of life that supports everyone everywhere.
Note #2: I have no control of, nor do I receive any compensation from, any marketing or advertisements you may see on this blog site.
Yes, when it comes to the internet the truth is out there, somewhere…but to uncover it you often find yourself digging through stacks and heaps of total lies, outright fabrications, and willful small-minded ignorance.
And now for a lesson in the realities of the internet.
Recently a friend of mine found a meme* online that disturbed her, knowing that I had some experience in the matter she asked me if the meme was accurate. As I was already familiar with the meme and I responded that it was a pure fabrication trumped up by an organization with an agenda and something to loose.
I could have left it at that but no, I cannot.
I must dig deeper, citing the sources and the science behind the matter in order to reveal and support the truth and lay the lies it to rest for anyone that may read these words. Sadly, in this day and time of crooks, villains, charlatans, snake oil salesmen and selfish outright lairs only out for themselves – I and others like me must stay vigilant and work to expose the real truths behind this terribly inaccurate meme and all the other lies that the “merchants of doubt” spin on an almost daily basis. (The term Merchants of doubt is from the book and must see documentary by the same name – Merchants of Doubt.)
In the world of the internet and TV, and to some extent the movies, there are many people today who sadly believe what they see without doing any further research at all. This trend is dangerous and as the great Carl Sagan once said;
The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counter-intuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what’s true.
And as Mr. Spock once said: “Humans are illogical beings, they believe what they want to even when they know it to not be true.”
To find the truth we cannot stop there because in the world of scientifically accurate journalism (which we desperately need more of) we need to dig much deeper in order to find the concrete truth and cite the sources as we go…so let’s do this thing.
PLEASE NOTE: It is most important to not just view and accept the following photograph at face value because it is horribly inaccurate and an outright lie. Therefore, the author of this blog (and others) are exposing the below meme as 100% erroneous, unsupported, and fabricated, illogical nonsense and supporting this exposure with scientifically supported resources to validate it.
The meme in question is below.
This meme was obviously designed to;
1. Attack people and organizations who either drive and/or support Electric Vehicles (EV’s) and/or renewable energy and attempt to tarnish the science and fast growing good reputations behind these transportation and energy sources with a poorly researched graphic.
2. Spread manufactured outright lies and disinformation propaganda designed by individuals and/or organizations with ties to the fossil fuel industry, in the attempt to spread doubt with the goal of negatively and falsely influencing uneducated or uninformed people into continuing to support fossil fuel companies by driving petroleum powered vehicles, using electricity produced from coal and other fossil fuel sources, and voting for candidates that support these outdated, dirty, polluting, finite, technologies.
3. Or all of the above.
As you will see by my research in the following paragraphs, images and videos, this meme is 100% inaccurate and garishly untruthful and, while I have done the research, anyone reading this, with a half a neuron’s worth of research ability, is capable of finding the same information that I found online by initiating a simple Google search.
My revealing findings and facts of oil sands and/or lithium mining can be found in the following photographs from various sources and the associated links to detailed information on the subject matter.
To begin with the images below show the realities of tar sands mining.
To get at the oil sands the mining company must first remove the “overburden.” This “overburden” as they call it – was once a thriving boreal forest ecosystem. Please tell me how that is a good thing in any way.
I believe the photographs and articles effectively show that Alberta oil sands extraction is one of the most environmentally destructive and toxic mining operations on earth.
The erroneous meme in question seems to have originated from a Facebook group called Saskatchewan Proud (SP). From what I can deduce after visiting the SP Facebook page they seem to be an organization that is against anything related to renewable energy. They seem to be working to sow doubt, disinformation, and falsehoods in the feeble attempt to protect their poisonous and destructive way of life. I also believe they are fearful of the growing support and adoption of electric vehicles (EV’s) and renewable energy sources by individuals, businesses, municipalities, and governments all around the world and they see these trends as a threat to their toxic and destructive livelihood. They are right in that the growing renewable energy sector will end our dependence on fossil fuels but I fail to see how that is a bad thing that requires the creation of lies and propaganda. If they know what is good for them (and from the visible evidence on their Facebook page it appears that they do not or that they are living is denial or both) they would leave the fossil fuels in the ground and embrace the amazing wealth of renewable energy resources found all around them in the beautiful land called Saskatchewan.
.
If they are not careful they will one day find themselves fat, rich, and sick, living in their own self-created version of hell on earth.
But you may still be asking
“Where does the Lithium come from?”
I have worked to dig up the truth.
Yes, Lithium must be mined from the earth just like any other natural resource however, it has a much lower environmental impact than almost any other type of mining.
Below are a few very good short videos on the subject of Lithium mining and its use.
When Lithium is applied and used in batteries for computers, phones, tablets, cameras, and other mobile devices – and electric vehicles – it does not give off any toxic pollution, in other words it’s end-use is 100% emissions free. That fact can never be applied to fossil fuels such as gasoline and diesel fuels in any way.
Nissan produced a great video a few years ago eluding to this fact.
Also, once a lithium battery reaches the end of its usable life, it’s components and chemicals can then be recycled into another battery or application–try that with fossil fuels, it is just not possible–the end results of burning fossil fuels is only a ride down the road, trail, rail, waterway or airway – in return for the undeniable toxic and deadly byproducts listed below –
Wars and lives lost in the dirty deals and twisted politics relating to the expensive acquisition of the raw materials (coal, oil, natural gas). If you need an example think: Gulf War.
2. Environmental degradation, destruction, human suffering, and death (think: Exxon Deepwater Horizon) from the mining and extraction.
3. Expensive and dangerous shipping and transportation by ship, pipeline, train and/or truck with the inevitable life-killing oil and fuel spills that happen regularly and without fail (Think: Exxon Valdez).
4. The billions of BTU’s of waste heat from the inefficient combustion of fossil fuels.
5. The atmospheric poisoning and warming, and the resulting anthropogenic climate change from the billions of tons of CO2 and other toxic gasses released by the end use burning of fossil fuels.
6. Let us not forget the health and the future of our children and grandchildren and beyond who will be forced to live in the world we have created, and polluted just for them.
Using fossil fuels is an addiction. It is like using tobacco – a very bad experiment.
We should be very ashamed of ourselves for continuing this very bad experiment to the detriment of the prosperity of future generations.
Let’s get back to the lithium.
Lithium extraction takes place in environments that are mostly uninhabitable by man or wildlife such as the Atacama Desert in South America.
The fact remains that while lithium extraction and processing does have an environmental impact (as does almost everything we do), that impact takes place in some of the most physically and biologically remote places on earth. When compared to fossil fuel extraction, the processing and end use lithium requires very little energy to extract and process it into a usable final product. Therefore, lithium extraction is far less damaging to the environment than fossil fuel extraction ever has been or ever will be. Furthermore, the end use of lithium-based products is clean and zero emission – try to say that about any fossil fuels, it is impossible. However, lithium battery reclamation and recycling programs – which currently are few and far between – do in fact need to be strengthened in order to make sure spent lithium batteries (and batteries from all sources) are properly recycled instead of being tossed into the garbage only to end up in landfills.
Here are a few more links to other good lithium mining resources.
I believe we have sufficiently busted the myth that lithium mining is worse than tar sands extraction and have therefore destroyed the meme in question.
OK, so I covered Lithium – but what about the Cobalt issues? Cobalt is used in many lithium-ion batteries and you may say that you have seen memes and stories implicating cobalt mining in child labor and other issues.
In other words, just over 10 percent of the world’s cobalt supply is currently being used for batteries to power electric cars.
The bigger culprits are portable consumer electronics — like cell phones and laptop computers — which use around 72 percent of the cobalt that goes into lithium ion batteries, or roughly 30 percent of all cobalt mined.
The production of carbides and diamond drills for industrial operations currently uses the same amount of cobalt, 10 percent, as electric vehicles do.
Other major uses are for manufacturing steel, magnets, and medical equipment.”
In other words – only 10% of all the cobalt mined in the world ends up in an electric vehicle battery – the remainder is used in everything else – and I would bet my EV – that many things you own/use/rely upon in your daily lives contain some of that cobalt.
The problem and the blame is not with Electric Vehicles – it is with the way the cobalt is mined and the people running the mines. It is a human rights issue and it must be dealt with at the source and throughout the entire supply chain.
But that is not all we must address from the ignorant meme generators.
Let us look again at our friends at Saskatchewan Proud. They have also created two other anti-renewable energy propaganda memes designed to spread lies and sow doubt in the truth of clean, renewable energy technologies.
Some of their other irrational, poorly researched and poorly worded memes follow.
Really? Are they really that ignorant?
To begin with – steel and iron are not mined. Iron ore is mined and then refined into iron and steel. (See this link for the facts) Secondly, while wind turbine support structures, generators and other support structures do contain structural steel they also contain aluminum, copper and other metals most of which is first mined from the earth in a manner similar to iron ore. Yes, these mining operations do have impact as does everything we do however, the meme in question is simply an unwarranted and poorly researched over-dramatization of the fear that the people behind SP have toward renewable energy technologies.
Much of the metals that are used in modern wind turbine manufacturing can also be sourced from recycled sources. The blades of modern turbines are not even made from steel or iron, instead they are often “Made from composite materials – these blades are usually made of a polyester resin, a vinyl resin, and epoxy thermosetting matrix resin and E-glass fibers, S- glass fibers and carbon fiber reinforced materials.” Source: Wikipedia.
SP also tried to take another stab at a the fast-growing wind energy…
…and they failed miserably.
(I do not see any dead birds in the lower photo…do you?)
The truth is that your pet housecat, cellular telephone towers that let your mobile device make calls, connect to the internet and text your friends and check your Facebook…your own house’s glass windows reflecting the forest and sky outside…and all the toxic emissions/spills/mishaps directly or indirectly related to the entire fossil fuel industry – kill millions upon millions more birds, bats, other wildlife species – and humans – annually than wind turbines have ever killed.
Now hold on you might be saying – my cats, cell phone towers, and windows are not killing people. Yes, that may be true – but fossil fuel use and their associated environmental degradation and pollution (and the wars and land grabs fought to keep them flowing) – are indirectly and directly harming – and killing – humans all over the planet.
UPDATE 2/15/2021: In fact, new research outlined in this article from The Guardian suggests that human deaths directly connected to fossil fuels and their environmental impacts are in the millions…with a death toll that “exceeds the combined total of people who die globally each year from smoking tobacco plus those who die of malaria.”
If you do not believe me then please, take a look at my sources following this paragraph…or just do your own research. My sources come from the media, independent science organizations, and the wind energy sector – and they all agree that yes, wind turbines do kill some animals – but far less than the dramatized numbers purported by Saskatchewan Proud and other supporters of the fading fossil fuel industry.
If SP really wants to attack the industry responsible for killing the most animals – then I suggest they should attack themselves and the other fossil fuel companies that are quickly destroying our shared planet in the name of massive profit. I am sure that is what this pelican would like to do – but he cannot, because he is a pelican. This is why we humans must be a voice for the voiceless. This is exactly why I write posts such as this – I do it for them, and for you.
The fact is that the oil spill resulting from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident killed or injured an estimated 82,000 birds alone (far, far, more than the purported few dozen as described by SP in the previous meme). Recent estimates indicate that over 1 million birds and over 1,400 dolphins have died as a result of the disaster. The deaths of wildlife and the resulting environmental damage and economic damage to the livelihoods of so many fishermen and tourism providers along the gulf coast is in the billions of dollars. The damage to the ecosystem of the gulf is so great that scientists have yet to fully estimate the true damage and cost of what was the USA’s greatest environmental disaster.
Obviously, the individuals behind Saskatchewan Proud have knowingly and purposefully created this erroneous and totally false propaganda in the attempt to somehow build support for their fossil fuel supporting organization. They have succeeded greatly, not in propping up their destructive, toxic, earth and life killing industry – but in showing their infantile ignorance, denial of the truth, and complete willful disregard for the future of their own beautiful country and its people.
Good job SP you must be really proud.
There are countless erroneous and outright ignorant “memes” circulating on the internet that have been created to spread FUD around electric vehicles and renewable energy sources. One of the most recent I have seen involves the following:
From Diego Loredan on Facebook: “This is a used car dump near Paris, France with hundreds of electric cars. Please note, these are only used cars of the city of Paris and not personal vehicles. Everyone has the same problem …. the battery storage cells are dead and need to be replaced. Why not replace them, you ask yourself? Well, there are two reasons. One, battery storage cells cost almost twice what a new vehicle costs, and two, no landfill or landfill will allow you to dump batteries there. So these green fairy electric cars are dumping toxins from the battery right into the ground. Still think we need to think green ???” Very interesting!!??
I did a quick and simple Google fact check and discovered the following about these cars:
“The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
News reports from France say the cars are part of a fleet from a failed car-sharing service, and the vehicles shown in the field are being resold or sold for parts.
A French television news report in April, with photos like those appearing with the Facebook post, said more than 1,000 vehicles used in the Autolib program are being stored on a lot in Romorantin-Lanthenay, an area about 130 miles southwest of Paris.
The Bolloré company had a contract with local authorities in and around Paris to provide the vehicles, which people could borrow for a fee. That ended in 2018 when the service was in debt and failing.
Some 4,000 of the vehicles were sold, mainly to two companies that have been reselling them, according to the report. That includes the ones shown in the Facebook post.
The TV stories and a French newspaper article noted the claims on social media. “Unlike what buzzes on social media, this is not a cemetery,” the newspaper report said.
We rate the post False.” – From Politifact
Another thing to note is the following from Reuters:
“French media reports here , here and here which show pictures of the cars lined up in a field like those in the social media posts, explain that the termination of the contract meant that Bollore had to remove its 4,000 vehicles from the Paris region to Romorantin-Lanthenay, 200 kms (124 miles) south of Paris. Bollore sold the cars, most of them going to two companies, Autopuzz, which resells the cars throughout France, and Atis Production.
On claims about soil pollution risk posed by the cars, Paul Aouizerate, head of Atis Production, told France Info here “Our vehicles are properly stored. The firefighters are aware, the construction site is well organized. All the batteries have been removed and the connectors are isolated.”
He added that the cars were not going to a junkyard. Autopuzz told France TV Info it is reselling the cars to buyers across France at a rate of 50 per month (here).
VERDICT
Partly false. These are genuine photos of electric cars in France, but they were taken off the road due to financial difficulties, not problems with the battery storage cells. More than 2,500 of the cars have been resold.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.”
If you remain unconvinced – do your own simple research.
This erroneous meme and many like it have been manufactured/miscaptioned in the attempt to illicit FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt) about electric vehicles. More than likely the FUD generators that made this meme have money tied up in fossil fuels/fossil fuel infrastructure and are terrified at the prospect of losing their nest eggs.
And then there is this next meme.
I was unable to locate a source for this one but I would bet it was from our friends at Saskatchewan Proud or a similar organization.
The oil companies and their supporters must really be deeply afraid of the coming global shift to electric vehicles and renewable energy to create such ignorant memes such as these.
I could outline in even more exhaustive detail how blatantly ignorant their memes are but I really do not believe I need to go into such detail when their ignorance in the matter is so unbelievably obvious and when the editor of Cleantechnica has also written an article debunking this very same meme. To that end, I have included many references from many different sources and studies (see below) that I have found online that will sufficiently and accurately debunk and disprove all of SP’s ignorant postings. It is obvious to me that Saskatchewan Proud did not do any research at all on any of their memes before they posted them. It looks like they whipped together their propaganda on Photoshop and dropped them online in the hopes that someone out there would believe their inane childish ignorant drool as fact and then share and spout their nonsense far and wide on social media in the hopes of bolstering their position.
The truly sad thing is that there will be good people out there who will choose to believe them because they are either inexperienced at simple research or just willingly gullible and will believe many things they see online without question or without doing any further research on their own to confirm or deny the wrongful allegations of SP and others like them.
To further debunk and bust these mythical memes I offer these sources:
Yet another way many people come to misunderstand and misinterpret the truth of renewable energy and science, in general, is the use of satire, as seen in the following meme. It was designed to parody the typically outrageous followers of lunatic fringe right-wing ideologies yet, parody posts such as this are sometimes mistaken as genuine by those who do not take the time to investigate the source, fail to read all the way to the end of the article, do not read the credits, or just look at the pictures and ignore the text associated with the photo.
The meme below was developed by a popular satire site known as Christians for Michelle Bachmann aka C4MB. When C4MB posted it on their Facebook page many uneducated or uninformed people took it at face value, believed it, and shared it all over the internet.
…and furthermore, this article outlines how many big fossil fuel corporations are working to slow the growth of solar energy in North Carolina and all over the country.
It is sad that the renewable energy sector has so many opponents – like SP and others listed here, and many more. From the big fossil fuel corporations and their think tanks spinning out disinformation, to the spoon-fed politicians on both sides with oil, coal, and blood-soaked money in their bank accounts propping up the fossil fuel industry with massive subsidies, and getting wealthy in the process – to the common citizen that may not have all the facts about all the amazing renewable energy options and incentives offered to help us make the switch to clean, “locally-grown,” energy-secure, renewable energy sources.
The great thing is that although there are many naysayers and deniers out there working hard in the attempt to keep renewable energy from becoming “a thing” the reality is – it is already a thing, it is a really big thing, and a really good thing. Since 2010 the renewable energy industry has grown by leaps and bounds and now it is building an unstoppable momentum that will allow it to one day completely burst the fossil fuel-fired and funded carbon bubble and soon replace toxic life and future-killing fossil fuels with clean, sustainable, locally sourced, renewable energy.
So let us all work together and do this thing!
To recap: yes, mining lithium does have an environmental impact as does almost everything we do on a daily basis. However, that impact is so much smaller than the impact of all aspects of the fossil fuel culture. The oppression, dirty deals, wars fabricated and fought to access, protect, extract, and transport carbon-based resources. The toxic emissions and byproducts are released into the environment (land, waters, and atmosphere) during extraction, transportation, refinement, shipping, and transportation. Then finally, the end use of fossil fuel products with all of their toxic byproducts that by their very nature cause environmental destruction, degradation and alteration, pain, sickness and death – and the resulting lasting environmental and human cultural damage.
Recently a gas pipeline ruptured in Alabama, USA – spilling over a quarter of a million gallons of gasoline into the environment and raising gas prices across the south, and causing a state of emergency for the economy and more importantly, for the environment. Read more about this event in my previous blog posting: “Now I Know why Max was Mad.“
People are protesting and petitioning the White House and demanding an end to our dangerous addiction to fossil fuels.
While President Obama acknowledges the realities of anthropogenic climate change…will he be able to do anything about it? He must, we must or we will all suffer.
As I wrote this original story thousands of Native Americans, their supporters, friends, and ranchers are massing in the American west in opposition to yet another pipeline that is designed to carry dangerous and dirty fracked oil to access points for the big oil companies with deep pockets and not a care in the world for the rights of indigenous peoples, landowners and the very environment that supports them all.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and Rezpect Our Water has been peacefully working to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) from destroying their land, waters, and atmosphere, and recently, actress and environmentalist Shailene Woodley, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, and Deia Schlosberg were arrested for peacefully trespassing, supporting, and documenting activities in DAPL pipeline construction zones. The truth of the matter is that they were arrested because they were documenting the truth of the situation and the pipeline organization and their supporters felt threatened by their actions that reveal the truth. In Woodley’s case, she was broadcasting live to over 40,000 viewers on Facebook and was arrested by militarized police toting assault weapons and wearing body armor. Obviously, their serious overkill of dress and arms was an attempt to intimidate and exert power and instill fear in the protesters in the hopes they would leave the scene. The real reason they arrested these well-known activists and journalists was to silence them from speaking out and showing the truth of the situation. See the below TYT video for an overview of Shailene’s story and arrest as she filmed it.
Shailene was arrested, strip-searched, and eventually released and later had this to say about her ordeal.
The always eloquent and thought-provoking PrinceEa (Richard Williams) has some great and powerful words to say about our relationship with our home planet.
The Earth Guardians is a growing movement of passionate young people who care about their future and are working in so many ways to protect it from the toxic damage of the past. Watch this compilation of their passionate and powerful youth director Xiuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez in his quest to raise support for change from world leaders and people of all ages from all walks of life.
Leo has become a great spokesman for the Earth. We must all be concerned citizens and work together to solve the crisis that is before us. Most recently DiCaprio produced and starred in the groundbreaking documentary Before the Flood which is a must-see for all humans on Planet Earth.
The Pope recently issued his encyclical in support of nature.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu calls for the end of the fossil fuel era.
The Dalai Lama said – “This is not a question of one nation or two nations. This is a question of humanity affecting the whole world,” the Dalai Lama said in a statement, adding that people are responsible for global warming. “We have to take serious concern about the protection of the environment.”
Even some of our most famous Hollywood and other stars and personalities are speaking out against our destruction of the environment.
PrinceEa with more to say
350.org fought phase 4 of the Keystone Pipeline and together with millions of other supporters, including the author of this blog, the KxL Pipeline was shut down.
In Germany and all over the world people are standing up and taking action against fossil fuels and the pollution, pain, and suffering their use brings upon us all.
In 2014 over 400,000 gathered to peacefully march through the streets in NYC to let world leaders know they want change that works toward the reduction of anthropogenic climate change.
NASCAR driver Lelani Munter is working to change the nature of auto racing via her activism and role in the recent must-see documentary Racing Extinction.
Bill Nye the Science Guy is always speaking out against climate change denial and backing up all his claims with science!
Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s explanation of Climate Change is spot on.
And those are just a few of the organizations, famous people, and countless everyday citizens standing up for the future by working to keep fossil fuels deep in the ground where they belong and make the switch to 100% renewable energy.
THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE.
DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH.
FIND YOUR OWN ANSWERS.
BE THE CHANGE.
JOIN THE MOVEMENT.
GO GREEN.
*Definition of meme:
MEME
: an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from one person to another in a culture
: an amusing or interesting picture, video, etc., that is spread widely through the Internet
NOTE: In his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, British scientist Richard Dawkins defended his newly coined word meme, which he defined as “a unit of cultural transmission.” Having first considered, then rejected, “mimeme,” he wrote: “‘Mimeme’ comes from a suitable Greek root, but I want a monosyllable that sounds a bit like ‘gene.’ I hope my classicist friends will forgive me if I abbreviate ‘mimeme’ to ‘meme.’” (The suitable Greek root was mim-, meaning “mime” or “mimic.” The English suffix -eme indicates a distinctive unit of language structure, as in “grapheme,” “lexeme,” and “phoneme.”) “Meme” itself, like any good meme, caught on fairly quickly, spreading from person to person as it established itself in the language. Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meme
NOTE: I am not perfect. If you find an error in my content, spelling, or grammar please do let me know and I will correct it. This way we can work together to help each other discover the evidence-supported facts that bury the disinformation and misinformation, and answer our questions with accurate data.
The way I see the relationship of debt to owning a car – petroleum or electric powered – is, simply put:
Either one is a subscription to dependency
No matter the car, just the act of buying the thing means you will have to pay weekly, monthly and yearly “subscriptions” for the fuel, repairs, tax, insurance etc…just for the privilege of owning and driving the thing.
To me the logical choice is to buy the one that fits your needs and is more, well…logical.
When buying a vehicle I take a scientific approach and try to leave emotion out of the decision so as not to be swayed by peer pressure (from friends, coworkers and the myriad of flashy automotive ads that saturate the mass media) or manufactured conformity (buy this car to be cool, look good, or “fit in” to some imaginary status caste) or manufactured demand (you need this-you need that–because without it you will be nothing so buy,buy,buy!).
Nor do I listen to annoying, obnoxious, car salespersons like this guy. I listen more to owners who post their stories and experiences on automotive blogs such as this one 🙂 and then I do all of my own extensive research and crunch my own numbers before making a final decision based on my findings.
So, in my rationale I could either;
Buy a gas powered car and pay the (higher) subscription fee for the gas, oil and tune-ups and resulting environmental damage cost caused by the cradle to grave environmental and human cost of the mining, shipment, refining, and distribution of those petroleum products that the vehicle requires to operate.
A blast from the past a 1970 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser
Also, when I drive a petroleum powered vehicle I am willingly but not happily forced to accept the sad but true fact that the actual end use of all petroleum based fuels requires much less time to actually burn the fuel to propel the vehicle down the road from point A to point B…than the entire complicated and precarious supply chain that has been constructed to bring that fuel to my car’s fuel tank.
In other words depending on the country of origin of the crude oil it can take weeks to months to explore, deal, mine, protect, trade, ship, refine, store, and transport the fuel to the station where I finally pump it into my tank and then burn it up in only a few days or even a few hours. Then there is the sad facts that it takes 44 gallons of water and around 15 kilowatts of energy to mine, ship and refine just one gallon of gasoline–ONE GALLON! That is about half of the amount of water I use in a day and that 15kw of electricity would push my Nissan Leaf EV about 50 miles down the road! Now if you really want a shocker multiply the above numbers times how many gallons of gas your car holds and if that does not make you furious with the oil companies I do not know what will? I did the math for my 1999 Toyota 4Runner and the results are shocking: the amount of water required to produce just one tank of gas is: 814 gallons!!! The electricity needed: 277.5 kW!!! WOW! By my calculations that amount of water and electricity would supply my wife and I, our house and EV for over 2 weeks (with my car going an average of 200 miles/week)!! Now, figure that for a month…a year…or a decade…of petroleum powered vehicle ownership…it just makes me want to cry.
The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon incident
My rather long-winded but valid point here is that the amount of energy and waste required just to get us down the road in gasoline powered vehicles is just incredible!
There is also the huge cost in human damage, suffering, pain and death caused by the fact that the acquisition of a portion of those petroleum products come from powers and factions that may support terrorism with some of that money. These powers and factions often become involved in wars that drag us into the melee because we are addicted to their product for which many of us cannot live without due to our societal dictated and manufactured purchasing choices so we are forced to fight in their wars in order to keep the oil flowing to feed our sickening dependency.
We are shamefully and totally hooked on oil.
Last but not least there is the environmental damage and degradation caused by the mining, shipping, refining and burning of petroleum (and all) fossil fuels. We have been burning petroleum as our primary liquid fuel and coal as our primary solid fuel for a little over a century and in that very short time we have polluted our planet’s oh so very fragile atmosphere, oceans and wildlife with toxic compounds from oil spills and copious amounts of carbon dioxide–a naturally occurring and harmless gas when in “normal levels” but when in excessive levels it becomes a potent “greenhouse gas” with disastrous effects on life on earth. It is true that CO2 has positive properties when in “normal levels.” If you think back you learned of this in your high school biology class. You will remember that it’s positive properties are; 1. It allows plants to grow and via photosynthesis create oxygen as a byproduct so animals like puppies and kittens, bunnies and whales, and you and me get to live. 2. Another one of its positive properties is that when it is in the form of atmospheric CO2 it traps heat like a blanket on a bed. This heat trapping ability allows the atmosphere of the earth to stay warm enough for life to exist and that my dear reader is a good thing in every way.
However, due to the continued and rapid burning of fossil fuels (petroleum, coal, and natural gas) what we are doing to the planet is so far above anything that could be ever considered “normal levels” that the planet’s ecosystems are unable to cope with the influx of high levels of carbon pollution and in turn it the climate has begun to heat up. It is as if we are adding more blankets to our bed without thinking about how hot it is going to get and how hard it will be to remove the blankets. This process has often been called “global warming” but a more accurate term that better describes the problem would be anthropogenic climate change. This is climate change caused by things we humans do to the planet such as burning fossil fuels. If you would like a good visual of how this works consider the following video by one of my heroes – Bill Nye “The Science Guy.”
Or, on the other hand I could drive an EV and pay the much lower cost for the electricity subscription, support the hard working Americans that build the cars (in the case of Nissan, Chevy, Ford, Tesla, Apple, Faraday Future and more) mine the coal, install and maintain the solar arrays, wind turbines, hydro-electric and nuclear power plants that provide my car with power to move down the road. The simple fact is that the electricity supply chain is much shorter and more efficient than the petroleum supply chain. In the area where I live, the mountains of western North Carolina, the power used to fuel an EV (and a house) is produced locally by a combination of coal, gas, solar, wind and hydro power plants so is therefore MUCH cleaner than any petroleum product will ever be. (Read the true facts about EV’s here: https://bluewaterleaf.wordpress.com/2016/01/05/just-the-facts/ )
KUWAIT. US soldiers and helicopters in front of burning oil fields. 1991.
The human cost of driving EV is also MUCH more positive in that foreign wars do not need to be fought over their fuel source–electricity–since it is produced domestically, locally and in some cases on your own property! If you have the means to install solar panels or some other form of renewable energy on your property you could easily power your home and EV(s) with clean, unlimited, renewable energy for free (after the cost of the system).
That my friend is brilliant!
Charging up my Leaf at a local solar-electric EV charging station on the campus of UNCA in Asheville, NC.
The sad fact is that now, in many states such as Florida and in my home state of North Carolina, our state government is hell bent on destroying renewable energy development despite the fact that NC is near the top in the nation for new solar installations which, if allowed to continue to grow, our energy grid would continue to get cleaner with each renewable energy installation and in turn the carbon footprint of our homes and our EV’s would just get smaller. There is absolutely no logical reason this kind of backward action should ever be allowed to happen yet our lawmakers and politicians seem to be simply backward thinking Luddites who fear anything new and fear positive change especially when it means good paying jobs, a cleaner environment, and equal rights for all people. If we ever want to progress and if we ever want to break our addiction to fossil fuels we MUST get the fossil fuel fired old fossils out of office and replace them with science minded, educated, caring people who think toward the future and want to make good and lasting change happen for everyone. That change will only happen if we do our research, speak out, vote, and get active.
Either way and whatever car I choose to drive I will always have to pay the subscription to dependency to drive and power the thing…however, I choose the EV because it has a much lower subscription cost* and a much smaller environmental, human and future impact cost and that is as important to me as is the money. *I drive an average of 200 miles/week and my Nissan Leaf EV costs me only about $7-10/week in electricity!!
However, something else to consider is that the EV may initially cost a bit more than the gas car so therefore I may need to finance the EV and go into debt. Yuck…yet another subscription to dependency. However, by buying the EV I would, from day one, have more money in my pocket since I have no gas, oil or maintenance costs typically associated with gas powered vehicles (especially used cars) so…all that money that I would have pumped into the gas tank and crankcase and then burned up and spewed into our shared atmosphere (to the determent of my loved ones, wildlife, the earth and future generations) can now be used to pay off the car loan 🙂
In conclusion; my sleuthing, science and number crunching all allow me to come to the conclusion that I would rather pay for the financing on the EV than drive a lower initial cost yet high operational, high environmental cost, petroleum powered car…but that is my logic, and everyone’s logic is colored and molded by their knowledge, research and experiences so you can take it with a grain of salt if you wish.
Do not believe the fossil fuel fed naysayers who have spent millions on manufactured lies, false advertising through mainstream media outlets and propaganda campaigns (online and on TV) that try to say electric vehicles are dirtier to operate than their petroleum powered counterparts–none of these stories are true.
The oil soaked Koch brothers are some of the worst EV bashers who are spending millions in the attempt to make EV’s and renewable energy look bad. We must do all in our power to end their assault of outright lies against science.
Even in the dirtiest states with the blackest, coal fired grids, an EV powered by 100% coal produced electricity (which is rare now with all the new wind and solar farms going online all the time) is still much cleaner than any gasoline powered vehicle ever will be (especially Volkswagen’s “clean diesels” or any diesel for that matter) and, because the electricity it uses to push it down the road is generated domestically by Americans – it supports American jobs and does not support foreign wars and terrorism…and that is a really good thing. Furthermore, there are those who will say “what happens to the battery when it reaches the end of its life? It must be toxic waste and more dangerous than the emissions generated over the life of a gas powered car?!?! Answer, this is simply more lies and fabrications designed by those who want to keep you addicted to petroleum fuels. The truth is that the lithium-ion batteries that drive an EV are 100% recyclable. Before they are recycled they are often used as back up power supplies for computer data centers and soon even houses just like a back up generator. (Learn more true facts about EV’s here: https://bluewaterleaf.wordpress.com/2016/01/05/just-the-facts/ )
The 215 mile range Tesla Model 3 will be hitting the roads very soon!
I truly believe the day is coming very soon when kids will look to their parents and say “Mom, dad – why are you driving that dirty old gas guzzler when you could save so much money, have a great car, and protect my health and future by driving an EV?” and ” I want my first car to be all electric!” ( I already hear that from students in my middle and high school science classes all the time 🙂 Then there’s this very encouraging article from England: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/most-british-teenagers-expect-their-first-car-be-electric-1524811
Soon, I believe within 3-5 years, the choice will be ours to go electric and support a clean, healthy war-free future for us all or…digress and remain in the past while denying the science and refusing to accept the inevitable truth that driving EV is just a better and more economical way to drive for everyone, for the planet and for the future.
It had to happen eventually…routine maintenance. I have been driving my Leaf now for over 30k miles and the little EV has required no specialized routine maintenance by me other than the occasional washing and vacuuming, a set of new windshield wiper blades, adding a little air to the tires, and the occasional topping off of the washer fluid – you know, the things you would need to do to any type of vehicular construct no matter its fuel source.
Recently however the Leaf popped up a message on the infotainment/nav screen and informed me that it needed maintenance on its Air Conditioner Filter aka: cabin air filter.
Below I have outlined the step by step method I used to change the filter.
Remove the glove box in its entirety–a simple matter of removing a few screws and then gently pulling the unit down and toward the rear. (This does not need to be done if you are a contortionist and want to use the tiny plastic door located on the back left of the inside of the glove box). This is a view with the glove box removed.
2. A look inside reveals the ECM – the “brains” of the beast – bolted to the bulkhead.
3. Looking to the left of the ECM we see the air handler system.
4. Note the white plastic cover (black in some model Leaf’s). You will need to remove this to access the air filter. No tools are needed, just simply locate the tab on the bottom of the cover and lift outward to remove the cover to reveal the air filter. Mine was overdue to be changed so there was an assortment of botanical debris collected around and on the forward side of the filter.
5. Lift the flexible tab near the top of the filter (just above the word front in the above and below photos) and pull gently down and out to dislodge the top of the filter from its housing. Then pop out the bottom and the filter will slide out as in the next photo if you do it properly.
6. Continue to slide the filter outward until it stops. You will then need to gently work the other side of the filter loose to get it out of the housing. Once out, you can inspect it for damage and debris.
You may want to take a look inside the air handler box to make sure all is clean and debris free. This is the inside of mine…
The old and new filters compared side by side. The old one (30k miles) is on the left. The new one looks darker due to a coating of charcoal and baking soda that will act as an air freshener apparently.
7. Installing the new filter is the reverse of removal but you will need to be careful in how you insert the filter to get it just right. I found this video tutorial very helpful – especially for this part of the job.
8. The type of filter I used is pictured below.
After the filter is inserted, replace all the parts and you are good to go for another 15k miles or so.
I hope this tutorial has helped guide you in the replacement of your Leaf’s cabin air filter so you can save even more money and grin an even wider EV grin 🙂
Notes.
By replacing the filter myself I saved around $50 labor cost (as quoted by my local Nissan dealership)!
Costs: $35 for the filter and about an hour of my time. This is not that bad considering this is the first in-depth preventative maintenance (that was not covered in the warranty*) that I have completed on the car…in 30k miles! Had this been a gasoline/diesel powered vehicle I would have had to spend far more time and money over the same 30K mile time-frame. For example to keep my 1999 Toyota 4Runner “Godzilla” running in an efficient as possible manner (for a machine with so many miles – 200+k – and so many moving parts that can and will wear out due to constant use thereby lowering the fuel economy of the vehicle and lowering the amount of money in my bank account) I use G-Oil, a bio-based fully synthetic motor oil, and I change the filter when I change the oil. Just the oil/filter changes for my 1999 Toyota 4Runner have cost me $230** over the last 30k miles! Operational costs for user replaceable parts and non warranty covered parts for the Leaf during this same period of time = $55 (wiper blades and cabin air filter)!
The simple fact that EV’s do not have as many many moving parts as ICE (petroleum) powered vehicles makes them much more reliable and cost effective to operate than their fossil fuel powered counterparts. This is one of the many reasons that EV’s are superior to everything else on the road.
* Parts replaced under warranty included one shock absorber, 1 strut, grease for the power window actuators, and two suspension bushings – all of these things are not EV specific and are commonly replaced/repaired items on all road vehicles. Non-warranty covered and non-user replaceable parts that needed replacement due to age/wear = Tires and brake fluid. Total cost = $610.
** Oil change only parts I have purchased for the 4Runner over the last 30k miles – several gallons of GOil and several Oil Filters = $230. Had I included all of the other parts I have replaced myself on the 4Runner over the same time-frame – the costs would have been well over $800! (If I had included the non-user replaceable parts and labor I have given to Larry at the auto repair shop then add another $1200!!!)
Total parts cost to operate Nissan Leaf for $30k miles = $665
Total parts cost to operate 4Runner for 30K miles = $2000
While I am aware that the 4Runner has over 6 times the mileage as the Leaf, the point remains that I have spent over 3X as much money on just parts to keep it on the road during the same period of time so…
After “Godzilla” dies, I will never go back to gas.
“Chapel Hill and back without a drop of gas,” I exclaimed, walking through the door, after traveling from Asheville to Chapel Hill in the electric vehicle. With a “range” of only 85 miles, traversing 500 miles in two days was a significant good achievement. Gone were the days of “range anxiety” as I had mapped out the trip to the last mile.
Two days earlier, after dropping my child to school I headed to Black Mountain. Opposite the visitor center there are two J1772 chargers. Attached to one charger was a red Model S from Georgia. No doubt they were on a road trip. It looked like they had left it there overnight as the screen on the unit indicated “charge complete” with a charge time of 10 hours. I had a mind to pull out the charger from their car in case someone else needed to charge, but decided not to lest they were offended.
Knowing the car would require a few hours on the Level 2, I needed something to do. I strolled downtown Black Mountain and found a café where I grabbed a coffee and bagel while settling into The Martian, by Andy Weir. A friend recommended the story to me after hearing of my adventures on the trip to Atlanta!
After 1 hour and 50 minutes, I returned to the chargers. The red Tesla was gone. My car had 98% charge and 90 miles. I then headed to Ridgecrest – the top of the grade. Regenerative Braking is an aspect of EVs that is unparalleled in gas counterparts. At Ridgecrest the meter read 80% and 77 miles. By the time the car had wound down the 6% grade to Old Fort, the meter was at 83% and 85 miles – a gain of 3% in battery energy – more than 700 watt-hours of energy (about 2400 Btu). Tell me of a gas car that can gain fuel while driving!
The next stop was Hickory, 62 miles from Black Mountain.
One of the disadvantages of electric cars (or me) is that on long trips I tend to drive the speed limit or less, attempting to maximize the range. Thus, it seemed everyone on the highway was passing me. I drifted into strange thought patterns wondering why we were always in a hurry to get somewhere. I drifted to the past: The distance from Toronto to Montreal is about 550 km. In my college days I would boast: “It took me four and half hours” an average speed of 122 km/hour, way above the speed limit of 100km – and never a ticket!
Finally, I pulled into the Hickory dealership with 25% battery. I charged for 30 minutes (CHAdeMO) and left with 91% and 78 miles.
By noon, I was in Statesville with 47% charge and 50 miles. I could have tried to venture to Winston Salem without charging, but the distance from Hickory to Winston Salem is 78 miles, plus the dive to the chargers. I felt this might have been stretching it somewhat since one wrong turn it would be trouble!
The dealership in Statesville had only Level 2 chargers. A friendly sales girl told me where they were and tried to sell me a new Leaf as wellJ One hour later, Watney had almost destroyed the HAB and I left Statesville with the range meter read 77% SOC and 77 miles.
The Winston Salem dealership is far off I40 to the north of the city on University Drive. The CHAdeMO is located behind the service area. When I arrived a car was blocking the unit, but a nice worker noticed I wanted to charge and moved the car. Arriving with 25 miles and 27% charge, I left with 91% charge and 95 miles. NASA had discovered Watney was alive.
Burlington was 53 miles away, however I entered the dealership with 40 miles and 40% SOC. When I plugged into the CHAdemo, the unit showed an error. One of the employees tripped the unit off waited a few minutes and then put it back in. I re-attached the vacuum plug and hit start. It worked! However, I noticed the battery was hot – 1 bar away from the critical zone. Perhaps, the continuous draining and charging to over 80% SOC was heating it up. I hoped it would not hit the critical heat zone which could potentially damage the battery. I was tempted to take the vehicle through an underbody car wash to cool the pack, but luckily the “air cooled” system on the car worked keeping it below critical. I finally arrived at Chapel Hill with 50 miles and 59% SOC. Watney had found the Pathfinder!
The trip back was a retrace of the forward journey with the exception of climbing the mountain at Old Fort. I had planned to charge at a campsite there and had travelled with my Level 2 charger from home to do so.
But, after leaving Hickory, 9 miles out of Old Fort, the sign read “Black Mountain 19 miles”. The car had 37 miles. Sure, a no-brainer, I could make it up without charging. As I entered the grade the meter read 25 miles. Up and up, the car made the hill admirable, but every mile of the 6% grade took away 2 from the meter. By the time I reached the top of the 5 mile grade the meter read 14 miles. Yes, Hickory to Black Mountain was possible using this EV with energy to spare! Having left Chapel Hill at 8:30 am, I arrived home at 5:30 pm, travelling 240 miles with 5 stops and not a drop of gas! Did I mention that even the energy was free on this trip! Tell me gas car that can do as much?
So there you have it. Long distance travel is possible with limited range electric vehicles. All it takes is patience and thought. If anyone tells you about the range of electric cars, you know what to tell them as Watney would: “&* &%(+ & $%^&$#%^!”
The reason for narrating this otherwise routine trip as a story is to being attention to a function what we all take for granted – travelling. Our addiction to oil over the last century and a half, while bringing a lot of positive growth has not been without extreme negative environmental and political consequences. While politicians clamor about spending and national debt, they tap into the non-renewable oil bank at alarming rates. In fact, if the US were to use only its reserves for our consumption, we would run dry within 3 to 5 years! http://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/crudeoilreserves/
It seems that the advent of the electric car will revolutionize transportation and you all are all pioneers of this technology. I apologize to those of you who have not read or seen the Martian for some “spoiler” effect, but the novel seemed to fit well with this narrative.J
The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon incident 
Blue Water Leaf 
