Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Share the pain of a deep green activist politician who desperately wants to attend a climate change rally, but misses out because of her useless electric vehicle.
SLO climate change activist Heidi Harmon’s electric car calamity
January 24, 2022
By KAREN VELIE
Former San Luis Obispo mayor and climate change activist Heidi Harmon attempted to “do the right thing,” and travel to a rally in San Francisco in an electric car. After multiple attempts to find a working charging station in San Jose, Harmon realized charging the car would take up to seven hours and there was no way she could make the rally.
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Read more: https://calcoastnews.com/2022/01/slo-climate-change-activist-heidi-harmons-electric-car-calamity/
The video (h/t Cal Coast News):
I love this story, because it offers a microcosm of why green try to waste so much of your money.
“We need some transition support squads”.
If Harmon wasn’t such a deep green, it might have dawned on her that her experience is unequivocal evidence that EVs are useless.
But the green belief system does not seem to permit such thoughts.
Greens start from the assumption that their vision is inevitable. Then they try to work backwards, to figure out how much of your money they need to throw into the bottomless pit, to fund all the “transition support squads” and other useless green props they hope will help advance society towards their vision of a green nirvana.
Even if their green vision is an economic and engineering impossibility, they don’t hesitate to spend your money, because their belief system does not allow them to accept such negativity. So they just keep spending and spending, until someone cancels their ability to plunder your future financial security.
She’ll find a way to blame it on Trump.
Use her apps to locate electric toy cars and unplug them. Pull it just enough to break contact and leave it there. “Why didn’t my car charge, dude?” Bet that will be a hit movie!
I watched a UK produced documentary recently that featured EV from how one performs to the technology and manufacturing. Very impressive technology and performance, if only they were affordable and competitive in price and convenience of driving range and refuelling time as the ICEV range.
A few comments reinforced my concerns, on was about “thermal runaway” potential if the battery pack gets too hot, so engineers have created a cooling system that also keeps the batteries warmer in very cold conditions. Well internal combustion engines must also have a cooling system, but no thermal runaway potential, or not mentioned in the documentary exothermic reaction in lithium ion batteries and resulting catastrophic fire that is very difficult to extinguish, and can re-ignite many hours after being extinguished.
Next that stood out was the admission that to store energy in batteries and contain them in an EV results in weight far heavier than the liquid fuel and fuel tank in an ICEV to provide the same range. Therefore EV energy is wasted on excess weight.But on the credit side of the EV technology is regenerative braking that was claimed to return about 30% of 100% of energy used driving up a hill, for example.
I believe that when EV technology can compete on price, range, recharging time and noting the limitations of recharging and reducing battery service life, example recharging to 100% capacity regularly, 80% recommended, and highway cruising speed recommended to be below 80 KMH for maximum range, and of course those fire hazard issues – and noting that in Australia LPG fuelled vehicles must display a red sticker on the front and rear registration number plates and EV/Hybrid a blue sticker for the same similar reason, to alert road emergency authorities to what they are dealing with (petrol and diesel are not required to display ID) the present market resistance will decrease.
But in between times governments should back off and stop subsidising EV, using taxpayer’s monies to install recharging infrastructure and penalising ICEV drivers and all to push for an EV transition. Consider the transition to so called renewable energy and how that is working out.
Did they mention that the extra weight requires a heavier suspension that costs more to repair and that the tires will need replacing more often? That will overcome the regenerative braking benefits.
The amount of power a generator can produce is based on two factors, the strength of the magnetic field and how fast the rotator is turning within that magnetic field.
For regenerative brakes, the strength of the magnetic field is limited by the size of the wires in the motor and how many turns in that wire. Unless you make the motor bigger, putting bigger wires in, means you have fewer turns.
The speed of the rotor is directly related to the speed the wheels are turning at.
As a result, the slower your car goes, the less power you get from regenerative breaking. Less power translates directly to less breaking power.
In other words, you can get a lot of power out of regenerative breaking slowing down from 60mph to 20mph.
From 20mph down to zero, not much. If you are doing stop and go driving, you are using your mechanical brakes almost entirely.
Looks good on ya,you effin Green moron!
If this change to green nirvana is inevitable then why any need to attend a rally in the first place????
These green activists need to start realising that their vision for everyone is that you just don’t do these sort of wasteful things in the first place, everyone needs to be happy with a lot less.
she was a mayor…….of a large California city……
SLO is hardly a large city, it’s a small college town on the coast
There’s 0 chance infrastructure is going to be able to accommodate the schedule we’re hearing from car companies. People talk about how cars will become the batteries for the grid and it’ll be all worked out. Call me skeptical
Before car batteries can be used as batteries for the grid, they have to be charged.
Secondly draining and re-filling the batteries to support the grid reduces the life of the battery.
Thirdly, if the battery is drained overnight and hasn’t had time to re-fill by morning, someone is going to be very late to work.
I think it was more her lack of planning that was useless, as opposed to the EV.
As our drill sgt used to tell us, Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.
Hmm. Heidi Harmon has been running for public office in San Luis Obispo at least since 2014. Here is her official biography from 2014 when running for District 35 State Assembly Representative. Here is her campaign page running for mayor of SLO.
Heidi’s deep understanding of electrified transportation no doubt comes from her rigorous engineering background:
Among her critical issues for SLO:
You can read even more here.
Nothing mentioned about more “more inclusive and available charging stations so our diverse collection of EVs will have a greater sense of belonging”, but I’m sure that will be corrected shortly.
“Teachable moments” only work when the student is paying attention.
“Teachable moments” only work when the student is capable of learning.
From her biography it appears our heroine, like “Progressives” everywhere, is devoid of any useful skills whatever.
My goodness. The lack of forethought boggles the mind. And, as is typical of the leftist mind, her failure to understand her equipment and plan on how to achieve her goal within the limitations of that equipment means that there should be some kind of help provided (transition support squads?!?!?!). No Ma’am. You need to plan better. Do your homework. It’s called Google. Go to Google Maps and zoom in on the route, then put in “ev charging stations”. Not too hard. And if you do it right and hit the “directions” button, it’ll guide you right to the chosen one.
If on the other hand, had she been driving an economy car like a Corolla (~33 MPG per Fuelly) or a RAV4 Hybrid (38 MPG) she would have had no problem. A typical 10 gallon fill on either of those would have got here there and half way home before needing to stop for 5 minutes to “fully recharge”. And no “app” required to find a gas station either. The best part about the gas car is if I know I’ll be going to an area with no fuel, I can throw a 5 gallon “range extender” in the trunk. At 38 MPG in my RAV, that’s an extra 190 miles.
My goodness. The lack of forethought boggles the mind.
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Along the lines of what I was thinking. This woman obviously is just now finding these things out AFTER she bought the car instead of doing her homework BEFORE she bought it.
That is what happens when your brain is operating on blind devotion to an ideology instead of making decisions in life based on facts, logic and reasoning. Funny but sad as well.
“…but misses out because of her useless electric vehicle.”
It’s invigoratingly refreshing to read such straightforward, honest reporting.
It is recommended that you don’t charge lithium batteries in temperatures below 0°C/32°F
https://www.redarc.com.au/dont-charge-lithium-below-0
It is recommended that you dont charge lithium batteries in temperatures above 45°C/113°F
https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/boards/article/21749397/keep-an-eye-on-temperature-trends-during-liion-battery-charge-and-discharge-cycles
Heidi should restrict her rally attendances to spring and autumn
Isn’t “the right thing” to self-isolate now?
Hydrocarbon fuel infrastructure was paid for by the users. No taypayer subsidies needed.
Gave me a good laugh, thanks
weird how Greens never wake up but as they are always wasting somebody else’s money they never have to.
HURRAY !!! Unable to join her useless friends because her car FAILED – says it all really, doesn’t it?
Get on the train.
It’s sad to see bashing happening here, sumtin you would expect on a website like a SkeptikalSience.
It ain’t the EV’s but your infrastructure, which is in a more terrible state than a climate can be. I myself live in a country that has charching stations on almost every street corner and EV’s being very popular. Also your public transport is a disaster, long rides should be, as a greeny, done by (electric) train.
Anyway, even an EV is using fossil fuels when it’s about recharging. Going to a climate rally with an EV doesn’t make much sense, unless it’s only about keeping the air of the city you visit a bit cleaner. How farther you drive from a powerplant, how cleaner an EV gets.
Anyway, i think it’s ridiculous that a nation tries to drive an EV while not even mastering bikes yet. I’m glad to see lot of American cities are more focosed on implanting bike lanes instead of charging stations for now.
It’s both the infrastructure and the cars.
Don’t know what your country is, but every country that I know that has more than a miniscule number of EVs subsidizes them heavily. Both in the purchase price and multiple operating subsidies. (Not being charged road taxes, free use of things like toll roads, multi-occupant lanes, etc.)
Add to that the long charging times and most people would stick with ICE if the government wasn’t forcing them to switch.
Why didn’t she just rent a car?
You nailed it, Ranger Rick. Or take a taxi (given the cost of a helicopter ride, this is well within her apparent budget, lol).
Answer: because then she couldn’t use this as a publicity stunt.
I looked into plug ins when I was in the market for a vehicle and they put in a charging station at work that was actually free. I drive 37 miles each way to work. After figuring cost of gas, purchase price, etc. I bought a used Audi A3 TDI for my commuter. Diesel was simply a better choice. Glad I did, I love the Audi.
Love how she calls for a helicopter to “rescue” her. Because THAT’s so environmentally friendly.
All about the environment until it inconveniences you, right?
Simple fix! Just attach a TRAILER HITCH to your vehicle and then a TRAILER and then strap a gasoline or diesel GENERATOR to the TRAILER and then connect to YOUR CAR! See! Continuous charging!! Problem solved!! Oh yeah, don’t forget to stop at a service station to get MORE GAS OR DIESEL!!
My only disagreement with the OP is that EVs are not “useless”; they just have much less utility than an ICE vehicle, or even a hybrid. If an EV fits your needs, then fine, but your complaints when it doesn’t won’t get much sympathy from me. Planning must take into account reality, not your fantasy of how you wish things were.
“EVs are useless”
Sorry, but I have to disagree with that overly sweeping generality. I’m no fan of EVs (they don’t fit my needs) but the fact is that there are niches where electric vehicles do fit well, and thus are not “useless”. Golf carts have long been a useful electric vehicle (if you are a golfer that is). EVs can fit well with the needs of short-range commuters who have access to at home charging (which, again, is a niche of the market).
What EVs are is “useful in only limited capacities/situations”. In other words they’re a niche product. And it’s a small niche. What they are not is a viable replacement for everything that ICE is currently used for.
I suspect the rant that “EVs are useless” is an emotional reaction to first being forced to subsidize other people’s choices, as well as the frequent calls to ban anything other than EVs.
“EVs are useless” is an overstatement, however the belief that EVs are the answer for everyone is 100 times worse.