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Fre'd Bennett, MAHA's avatar

I'm a huge fan of Tesla. And they made sense when we lived in Wa state, where the electricity comes from hydro and nuclear.

Here in Oklahoma tho, most all of our electricity is produced from burning coal. So a Tesla here is literally a "coal-burning vehicle."

(Eat your heart out, all you dually-diesel truck owners!)

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Willing Spirit's avatar

Giving people choice through the free market would be an awesome idea.

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Roger Beal's avatar

That's exactly what Mr. Toyoda says he is doing and plans to continue doing. He knows many folks that buy Toyotas are in tenth-world nations that don't have much pavement, let alone an electric power grid. And of course, the Greta-Bots are screaming bloody murder at him for his failure to kowtow to the 100% green agenda.

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Fla Mom's avatar

I don't think that Tesla would haul a trailer full of cattle down our dirt road after a heavy rain, though, so no heart-eating going on here.

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Fre'd Bennett, MAHA's avatar

Saw a review of the Ford Lightning EV pickup. The owner reviewer had taken it to pick up a trailered Model T he'd bought. Allegedly, the F-150 Lightning has a towing capacity of 5,000 lbs and a range of 240 miles.

IIRC, the new EV truck owner couldn't even make it 50 miles with a much less than 5,000 lb payload;

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Fla Mom's avatar

We considered getting an 'Eco' model of the F150 long ago, but even it can't tow enough.

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Roger Beal's avatar

Not tryin' to be nasty, but ... Are you enjoying your double tax breaks - the EV purchase credit from Uncle Sugar, and the avoidance of state highway excise tax on gasoline?

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Fre'd Bennett, MAHA's avatar

I've rented them on vacation, but I never bought one. Two things hold me back: (1) the human and ecological damage that the lithium mines produce, and (2) the whole problem of trying to fight for electric power which is in increasingly short supply.

That said, they are awesome vehicles at least 50 years ahead of their competitors. Insanely fast and powerful.

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Roger Beal's avatar

But, according to Mr. Toyoda, the wet lithium battery will be (thankfully) obsolete by 2029 or thereabouts. Toyota is in development of a dry storage battery that offers 800 - 900 miles/charge, has zero flammability risk, and does not use lithium.

As during the late days of carbureted ICE engines while fuel injection was being perfected, just wait a bit for EV tech to catch up to real-world market demands, before plunking down your cash. Just IMO ...

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Fre'd Bennett, MAHA's avatar

Thanks; hope springs eternal.... They better hurry; my wife really wants the Tesla Model Y

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