By: Diane Benjamin
1)
Ford’s F150 electric battery weighs 1800 pounds: https://jalopnik.com/ford-f-150-lightnings-battery-alone-weighs-as-much-as-a-1846925168?fbclid=IwAR08fR6H4a8DHjuzzpJ_sqKd6V4gazHoDIzIvDlw95456SYxszgtXlbBUkc
That is the weight of a Volkswagen Beetle. Is Rivian’s the same? What happens to your car if you get hit by one of these tanks? 1800 pounds is just the battery.
2)
The Pantagraph printed a picture of a Rivian employee charging his Tesla in Uptown.
Rivian has hired many Tesla employees, but if that visual isn’t funny enough – who is paying for the electricity?
Initially Tesla was, I don’t remember the Council ever approving the extension mentioned in the 2013 documentation: https://blnnews.com/2019/09/02/is-tesla-paying-for-electricity-in-uptown/
So, who is paying for the electricity? The Town thought installing pay stations was too expensive. (see story above) Maybe somebody on the Normal Town Council will ask.
I wonder what the environmental impact of 1500 – 1800 pound batteries is going to be when they need to be disposed of? 7,776 lithium ion cells in the Rivian truck battery and 7,104 cells in Tesla’s battery. Until they prove otherwise, I am going to operate under the assumption that it can’t be good for those to just sit around decaying.
But, but Rivian is part of the green revolution. According to Pritzker and Koos it is going to economically save Illinois and BN forever. Rivian will be here for 1,000 years, maybe more. People will flock to the state and BN just to boast they are part of the Build Back Better economy. A green industry would never think of damaging the environment or being an unresponsive corporate citizen. Clark and Bezos don’t care if they make dollar one of this venture. It’s for the future of their children and grandchildren.
Meanwhile Ford’s 150 EV is $40,000, Rivian more like $70,000
With the extra 1,800 lbs., compared to maybe a 60lb. (approx.) battery, another issue I’m concerned with is what will that extra weight eventually do to our city streets? The streets will likely deteriorate much quicker with that additional weight constantly traveling over them. We can’t even come close now to keeping up with the needed attention our streets are constantly in need of.
JB and the Democrats like taxes. Next up a vehicle weight tax on top of the registration and license fee. They haven’t seen a tax they don’t like.
Maybe because electric vehicles are heavier and damage the street more?
The objective of Electric Vehicles is to LIMIT OUR MOVEMENT. That way, we are less Free. Again. They have to present it as, “we must save the planet.” In reality it is truly to make it more difficult to travel wherever we want, whenever we want. They always say one thing and do another.