Mark Gregory 696 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/25/22249237/biden-electric-vehicle-government-fleet-ev Biden plans to replace ENTIRE federal fleet of 645,000 cars and trucks with American-made electric vehicles, but doesn't provide a timeline or a cost - or word on the 'Beast' presidential limos President Biden said that the federal government's fleet of vehicles will be replaced with electric vehicles in a push for the use of 'clean energy' The fleet replacement is part of a campaign promise Biden made while running for president and would provide jobs to American autoworkers, he said As of 2019, the federal government has more than 645,000 vehicles in its fleet, so it's likely going to take years for a full replacement to happen One report said a total replacement could cost $20 billion 225,000 Post Office vehicles that traveled 4.5 billion miles in 2019 are first up President Joe Biden will start the process of phasing out the federal government’s use of gas-powered vehicles and replacing them with ones that run on electricity. The announcement is the fulfillment of a promise Biden made on the campaign trail to swap government fleet vehicles with American-made EVs. “The federal government also owns an enormous fleet of vehicles, which we’re going to replace with clean electric vehicles made right here in America, by American workers,” Biden said during a briefing Monday announcing his “Buy American” executive order. This is great news for US-based EV makers like Tesla, Rivian, and Lordstown, as well as legacy automakers like Ford and General Motors that are in the midst of multibillion-dollar investments in electric vehicle production. As of 2019, there were nearly 650,000 vehicles in the federal government’s fleet, according to the General Services Administration. This includes 245,000 civilian vehicles, 173,000 military vehicles, and 225,000 post office vehicles. Those vehicles traveled 4.5 billion miles in 2019. Biden also promised to create a system that offers rebates or incentives for consumers to replace gas cars with electric vehicles — though there aren’t any more details about that plan at this moment. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Bhigdog 3,120 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Steam shooting from ears, biting tongue, duct tape over mouth...............Bob 9 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Fossil 543 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 EV should really work great in -20 to -40 degree temps of the North. Bet they just jump on a jet instead. No Pollution there. 5 2 Link to post Share on other sites
capngrog 884 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 “The federal government also owns an enormous fleet of vehicles, which we’re going to replace with clean electric vehicles made right here in America, by American workers,” I find it amazing how so many people actually believe that electric vehicles cause no pollution. Oh, wait, they're right. The EVs themselves don't cause pollution, it's just supplying the electricity to charge their batteries that causes pollution. Silly me! Cheers, Grog 10 1 Link to post Share on other sites
gungeey 218 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Makes sense, as I read somewhere there's a lot of plugs available in afghanistan if our military vehicles are sent there. Hopefully, the cash for clunkers buyback won't be reinitiated. 8 Link to post Share on other sites
oldcarfudd 721 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Wait 'til we have electric fighter planes. Can you imagine a dogfight with all those extension cords getting tangled up? 7 13 Link to post Share on other sites
rocketraider 671 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Oh mercy. The mail will be even slower!😲 What about rural mail carriers, will they get in on the cheese? My normal carrier is on her second Prius. The sub has an old LeSabre. Both have 4wd for bad weather. Reckon there'll be 4wd EVs and Humvees? Enquring minds wanna know! 3 Link to post Share on other sites
TerryB 2,928 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Actually there are all wheel drive EVs now with more to come. Simple as using two motors instead of one. The real question is why do we have to go down this road of EV debate for the umpteenth time with no real reason to do so or relevance to antique autos? It only starts all the usual bickering and taking sides and in the end puts people at risk of getting banned from the site. We all know the story is sensational and most of the ideas on EV military ready vehicles are a pipe dream at best. It’s possible the mail carriers might use an EV where practical but after that the entire industry will require years of development to even consider use in hostile environments. For the good of all users of this form stories like this that usually turn ugly seem like a waste of bandwidth. 7 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Xander Wildeisen 2,177 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Adult toys have been battery powered for decades. 1 4 Link to post Share on other sites
Brass is Best 1,877 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 My prediction for this thread: 9 5 Link to post Share on other sites
auburnseeker 4,781 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 I now if they create a huge new tax on old car registrations, that will pay for the pipe dream program. Oh wait those are our cars. Do you think they really care about us or the planet? Don't say it won't or can't happen. They just didn't think about that angle yet. After all, those old car guys must all have a boat load of money to have one of those fancy old cars that cost 1/2 the cost or less of a new Electric car. 6 Link to post Share on other sites
Xander Wildeisen 2,177 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 That's a hard core Koala bear. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
bdc 300 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Ok I wont be political cause I dont want to be put in time out but.......YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID!!!! 8 Link to post Share on other sites
rocketraider 671 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 2 hours ago, Xander Wildeisen said: Adult toys have been battery powered for decades. And hell hath no fury like a woman whose batteries just died and no spares in the house! Always wondered why I'd see women stocking up on batteries at Northern Tool when they had BOGO sales...☺️ 1 4 Link to post Share on other sites
Xander Wildeisen 2,177 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 You went there, I was talking about electric cars. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
rocketraider 671 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 😏🙃 Women have RC cars and battery powered tools too... 2 Link to post Share on other sites
plymouthcranbrook 1,063 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 (edited) I just wanted to know how many batteries it’s gonna take to make an M1 tank go 60 miles an hour. On the plus side an electric rail gun should be a simple thing with that kind of battery power Edited January 28 by plymouthcranbrook (see edit history) Link to post Share on other sites
rocketraider 671 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Somebody, somewhere, is working on that! Link to post Share on other sites
Xander Wildeisen 2,177 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 16 minutes ago, rocketraider said: 😏🙃 Women have RC cars and battery powered tools too... Pretty smooth rocketraider. Link to post Share on other sites
capngrog 884 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 5 minutes ago, Brass is Best said: That's the mental image the electric vehicle fanatics** have of our collector, classic, errr, old cars as they drive by. Cheers, Grog ** note I used the term "fanatics" not "proponents" or "fans". Fanatics are the ones that don't think past the first step in the thought process. 4 Link to post Share on other sites
rocketraider 671 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 13 minutes ago, Brass is Best said: That's the biggest most realistic electric train I ever saw... Oh. It's not a Lionel or Bachmann? 😺 Link to post Share on other sites
J.H.Boland 1,310 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Funny how things go full circle. In the early part of the twentieth century, old dobbin was rapidly being put out to pasture. In the cities and towns ,electric streetcars were the way to go. Between the towns interurban electrics were all the rage. In this area,we had the London and Port Stanley Railway (L&PS- Late and Poor Service).It ran electric passenger and freight service between London and the resort/fishing community on Lake Erie. Electrified in 1918,it was shut down in 1957, Personal cars had taken it's place. Big oil was instrumental in killing off electric streetcars ,replacing them with gasoline buses. It will be interesting to see if our carbon footprint changes much with the changeover to EVs. The electricity has to be generated somewhere. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Ozstatman 401 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 2 hours ago, Xander Wildeisen said: That's a hard core Koala bear. Let's not confuse Koala's with bears please? 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Xander Wildeisen 2,177 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Not trying to get off topic. But most of this electronic/battery stuff does not just get crushed and melted down. There is a ugly side to getting rid of this stuff. What do you think will happen with electric cars? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mleQVO1Vd1I 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Bhigdog 3,120 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 32 minutes ago, Brass is Best said: Where can I get a print of that?...........Bob 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Bhigdog 3,120 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 1 minute ago, Xander Wildeisen said: But most of this electronic/battery stuff does not just get crushed and melted down I know what happens when you toss a 5 pound chunk of metallic lithium into a river................Bob Link to post Share on other sites
Xander Wildeisen 2,177 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxqe_ZOwsHs 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Buffalowed Bill 581 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 With China, much of Asia and Europe poised to make the change, what the president is proposing doesn't seem outlandish. Link to post Share on other sites
padgett 2,262 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Lionel trains used to have smoke. Most of the effluvia in the picture is steam (white stuff) aka H2O. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
auburnseeker 4,781 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 5 minutes ago, Buffalowed Bill said: With China, much of Asia and Europe poised to make the change, what the president is proposing doesn't seem outlandish. So is China all solar and wind now? Just wondering how they are going to recharge all their batteries? I also wouldn't trust any report from China about anything, especially about them in any way being a leader in clean energy to repower those cars. I'm pretty sure their Military is also not doing much in the way of converting to Electric. 5 Link to post Share on other sites
trimacar 3,380 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 (edited) OK, who in this group can speak to the range of electric vehicles. I can see that for the Federal around town cars, FBI and CIA and all the other groups that do stuff, maybe driving a maximum of 100 to 200 miles is acceptable. Though, now that I think about it, chasing a suspect, and the suspect has a car with a Hemi, might be an issue. But I digress. Mail vehicles, well, maybe that would work. I live just outside a 25K population town, and I talk to my postman quite often. He's on the road all day long, over 600 mailboxes to service. Yeah, I guess that might work. Until he runs out of battery and you don't get your mail, which, as we know, is an expectation these days, not a luxury. Military? Not a chance. Can you envision a convoy of 100 military vehicles lined up to charge at the 5 stations available? And the semis carrying the tanks that have to stop every 50 miles? The reason for the Interstate system in our country is to be able to move military, headed by Eisenhower. Kiss that idea goodbye... And, and, uh and, and here's the killer, and it's been mentioned above....this does NOT save the environment, it just shifts pollution and EPA concerns elsewhere. Windmills still need grease and oil, and kill birds in great numbers. Solar panels produce little power for the capital cost, and have a life before they have to be replaced. There are hydroelectric plants being shut down in the US, even though that's such a clean power source. Nuclear power, which could have saved us, is a no-no for iffy reasons. Don't want to burn fossil fuels? No problem, turn off your heat or air conditioner and most of your lights, most of the day. I call it the "behind the wall" syndrome. A lot of people don't comprehend what goes on "behind the wall", so if they see an electrical outlet, well gee, that's nice and clean, not polluting if I just plug in...no comprehensive understanding of how the world works. There has to be power generation, or the plug doesn't work. Seriously, I have kids who don't understand that concept, they just think it's "there", so not a problem. Now, if we want to slowly transition to alternate power sources, making the power grid infrastructure capable first, working on power sources, then adjusting vehicles accordingly, fine. You can't do that with a stroke of a pen. Shutting down oil production, BOOM, not having a generation plan and thinking that will eliminate gas powered vehicles, is ludicrous.....the demand is still there, it will just have to come from a place where we have no control over cost. This is not a political post, Peter. I had a friend in my garage yesterday, asking what do we do when gas is banned and we can't drive out antique cars? I can't imagine it coming to that, but by the same token, a war on petroleum isn't a good harbinger of things to come, and what's easier than banning operation of any car over, gee, I don't know, 40 years old? And doesn't one think that our old gas burners, maybe smoking a little, and viewed by people who care nought about the past, are an easy thing to ban? Makes one glad one is old, I only have to deal with this idiocy for a while. I really feel sorry for our descendants, but not in the way of climate change, but in how the view of life is changing. Edited January 27 by trimacar (see edit history) 14 3 Link to post Share on other sites
rocketraider 671 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Well said, David. My vote for post of the day if we still have that. 4 Link to post Share on other sites
padgett 2,262 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Overhead wires ? Link to post Share on other sites
Roger Walling 668 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 (edited) 20 minutes ago, trimacar said: Makes one glad one is old, I only have to deal with this idiocy for a while. I really feel sorry for our descendants, Edited January 27 by Roger Walling (see edit history) 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Xander Wildeisen 2,177 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 My old neighbor works for the power company. Idaho has a lot of hydro power. Power bills are cheap in Idaho. He said that under the Purpa Act, when it reaches a certain temperature. Idaho power is required to shut down the turbines, just let the water go by. And buy wind and solar power. People are forced to pay more, and watch the water flow by. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
rocketraider 671 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 I worked at a big coal-fired powerplant. Nowadays it stays shut down in what's called cold reserve until wind and solar can't meet demand. Then dispatch wants it back on at full output as lickety-damn-split as they can get it. Trouble is, from cold reserve to full output takes about 75 hours, providing everything goes smoothly. Murphy hangs around big powerplants a lot... 4 Link to post Share on other sites
padgett 2,262 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 And the "PURPA Modernization Act of 2017." is still stalled... Link to post Share on other sites
CarNicopia 422 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 I heard part of the plan was to add battery powered generators to the grid. 🤣 2 7 Link to post Share on other sites
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