The President's Daily Brief - October 5th, 2022. The Dirty Green Revolution. Today, the Problems with Electric Vehicles.

Episode Date: October 5, 2022

It’s October 5th. You’re listening to the President’s Daily Brief. Your morning intel starts now. ------ We’ve got a Special Edition of the PDB this morning. It’s a totally new episode on the Dirty Green Revolution. And today it’s all about Electric Vehicles. For those unaware, we had a four part series, starting on September 12th, that look into solar, wind, batteries, and the mining of materials to make those batteries.  The goal was to apply a critical eye towards these renewable industries and ask whether they’re really as green and without cost as proponents tell us.  Well one thing we didn’t look into a few weeks back was Electric Vehicles. And it’s really important that we do. The reason: Joe Biden signed a $370B bill last month, with billions to make sure you buy one of these electric vehicles.  Plus, in the past two weeks, the States of California, New York, and others have passed laws banning the sale of new, gas powered vehicles by the year 2035. ------ Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief. Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's October 5th. You're listening to the President's Daily Brief. I'm your host and former CIA officer Brian Dean Wright. Your morning intel starts now. We've got a special edition of the PDB this morning. It's a totally new episode on the Dirty Green Revolution. And today, it's all about electric vehicles. For those unaware, we had a four-part series starting on September 12th that looked into solar, wind, batteries, and the mining of materials to make those batteries. Now, the goal was to apply a critical eye towards these renewable industries and ask whether there really is green and without cost, as proponents tell us. Well, one thing that we didn't look into a few weeks back was electric vehicles. And it's really important that we do. And the reason

is that Joe Biden signed a $370 billion bill last month with billions to make. And it's a $1,000 to make sure that you buy one of these electric vehicles. Plus, in the past couple of weeks, the states of California, New York, and others have passed laws banning the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by the year 2035. And of course, car manufacturers, they're getting in on this too. General Motors, for example, has announced that they will stop building gas-powered cars by 2035 as well. So we have to talk about this as a country and as consumers. Now, to do that, I want us to imagine that we are inside the car dealership staring down our salesman, and we've already peppered him with questions about some of the more horrific things that we talked

about during the previous episodes of Dirty Green. For instance, the batteries inside that car were about to buy, well, those minerals may well have come from child miners in the Congo. And then those minerals were almost certainly sent to China to refine and manufacture into batteries, meaning that your person, of this electric vehicle is about to fund child labor and the communists in Beijing. You know, but maybe you're okay with that. Maybe you're going to buy one of these dirty green cars because of something more important to you.

Climate change. Well, you should still ask three very important questions before, of course, you pull the trigger and make that purchase. First and most obviously, how much does this car cost to buy? Second, how much does it cost to maintain and insure? Finally, and this one I promise will shock you. How long does it take to fill up the tank? In other words, how long does it take to charge the car's batteries? So let's start with that first question.

How much is that car going to cost us? Well, according to the Kelly Blue Book, the average price of a new electric vehicle is just over $66,000. Now, that is a lot more than what most people pay for a new gas-powered car, which averages about $43,000, again, according to Kelly Blue Book. In other words, the price of an electric vehicle is actually pretty comparable to what a buyer would normally spend on a luxury vehicle, like a BMW I-4 or a Mercedes-Benz E-Class. Now, to be fair, the government really wants you to buy these electric vehicles, so they are offering you incentives. Specifically, some electric vehicles under this Biden deal are eligible for a federal tax rebate of up to $7,500.

But, and there's always a but, to get that rebate, new electric vehicles can't cost more than $55,000 for sedans and $80,000 for SUVs and trucks. But wait, the average cost of an electric vehicle is already above that threshold. So that's kind of a problem. It knocks out a huge number of makes and models from eligibility. But wait, there's more. To get that full rebate, the cars, metals and batteries have to be 40% made in North America. But as PDB listeners will probably recall, the United States does very little mining for those metals and minerals, most especially inside the batteries. Instead, all of that material is almost exclusively coming from Australia, Chile, the Congo, and China. But wait, there's even more.

more, the price of these electric vehicles are set to keep going up, and I mean way up, and the reason those darn batteries. Remember, these things are huge. They weigh over a thousand pounds depending on the make and the model, and that includes hundreds of pounds of rare metals. So the price of these metals is skyrocketing. For example, the prices of nickel and lithium have more than tripled since 2017. Cobalt is similar. Minding exactly, executives say that the prices for these critical battery minerals will continue to rise through at least 2035 because demand is so high. Plus, new mines can't be opened fast enough, in part because of environmental protests, which is rather ironic. Okay, so that takes care of the first question,

the cost of an electric vehicle. So the key takeaway here is it's going to be expensive, very expensive and it's likely to get much worse because of the cost of those batteries. And that takes us to our second question that you should ask of your salesman. How much is that vehicle going to cost me to maintain and insure as compared to a gas powered vehicle? So let's talk about maintenance. Electric vehicles have far fewer parts as compared to a gas vehicle. That means, according to AAA, that the average cost to maintain an electric vehicle is going to run you about $950 annually, which is a savings actually

of about $330 over a gas powered vehicle. But, now here we go again with the butts. The cost of repairing an electric vehicle can be significantly more than a gas powered car. According to a recent study of one of the

most common insurance claims, specifically for when a small or non-luxury brand car has a modest front end damage, in other words, a little fender bender, the average electric vehicle cost to repair that kind of accident was $4,041. That's about 27% more than a traditional car in that same kind of accident. And if you had a mid-size or luxury brand electric vehicle, the average claim there was $8,037 in repairs, or 53% higher than traditional cars for that same

kind of accident. But why is that? Well, the bottom line is that the repair parts, are more expensive to make, all based on their materials. And oh my goodness, that battery. If your electric vehicle's battery gets damaged and it's not under warranty, you are looking at a $20,000 repair bill for a new one. One of the other issues on repairs, by the way, since electric vehicles are a new technology, there are fewer technicians trained to service them.

That means qualified facilities will be harder to find and may charge more for repairs. Plus, studies show that it takes about 50% longer to diagnose and fix a problem on these electric vehicles compared to traditional vehicles. So all told, labor costs for repair are about 30% higher for your electric vehicle. And speaking of, what about those insurance costs? Well, since electric vehicles cost more and are more costly to repair, insurance companies are nationally going to charge you more. According to a study of insurance premiums, electric vehicles cost about 15% more a year to insure annually compared to a gas-powered vehicle.

Plus, there's this. Electric vehicles tend to start on fire more often than gas-powered cars, especially during accidents. Those batteries can be very finicky and a bit explosive. So the bottom line message, folks, on maintenance and insurance is this. If you own an electric vehicle, do not get into an accident. And yes, you are welcome for that very, sage advice. All right. So we've talked about the cost of our car, the cost of repairs, and the cost of

insurance. And now we are at the part of the brief that I am so very excited to share with you, because it's the part that frankly I learned the most about. And I'm going to be honest with you, I've spent a few hours laughing over what I'm about to share. So let's imagine that we are back with our car salesmen and we're still thinking about buying one of these dirty green machines. But we've got one final question. How long will it take to charge this electric vehicle? Because that's pretty important. With gas power to cars, we pull into the pump, and depending on how full our gas tanks might be,

you're spending anywhere from two to five minutes to fill up. Okay, if you've got a semi or a big truck, maybe upwards of 10 minutes, especially with a slow pump. But what about four electric vehicles? well if your car salesman is honest he's going to pour you a cup of coffee or maybe a cocktail because his answer again if honest well it's going to take him a long while that's because there are at least five variables that will determine how long it takes to fill up your battery now i'm going to give you the answer after we take a quick break but i'm going to give you a little tease it can take up to four days to fill those batteries right back yamava resort and casino at san manuel is california's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars catch the jonas brothers return to the yama va theater stage on april 30th

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Instant room upgrade. Stop taking bad travel advice. Start comparing hundreds of sites with kayak and get your trip right. Kayak, got that right. Welcome back to the PDB. We are talking about the dirty green revolution this morning, which of course is the series where we take a critical eye to the industries of solar and wind,

batteries, and now electric vehicles. Because like it or not, folks, that's where we're headed and you need to be ready for what's to come. So this morning we're talking about electric vehicles and we're imagining ourselves staring down our really tough car salesman and we're asking tough questions in return. And now we've gotten to our toughest question of all. How long does it take to charge my electric. vehicle. So folks, grab that cup of coffee or a cocktail. Let's dive in. First, let's actually start with what's called your power source. Now, people call these chargers or charging stations, but that's not

technically accurate. The charger is really inside your car. So we should call these things power sources because that's where you get your power from. But regardless, there are three different levels of electric power sources to fill up your car. They're called level one, level two, and level three power sources. Now level one is the least efficient. It's the three-prong plug that you already have on your walls at home. So as an example here of how long it would take using a level one power source, if you buy a 22 Tesla Model 3 long range car, well, if you want to charge that from empty to full, that will take you four days. And I, when I saw that, I kept imagining someone buying one of these cars.

And after a long day at work, you know, they come home to their spouse and they say, you know, honey, I got to take four days off of work. You know, the charge are a $100,000 car. Anyway, all right, let me get back on track. The bottom line is that level one charging will take you days to charge. By the way, this is all according to Tesla itself. And reporting done by U.S. News and World Report, Carfax. Kelly Blue Book and Car and Driver magazine.

Okay, that takes us to level two power sources, which are a bit faster. But they're also going to cost you a lot more. You have to buy the equipment and have it professionally installed by an electrician at your home. That's a cost of thousands of more dollars. And by the way, you will go from about four days of charging to 12 hours, maybe, but more on that in a second. And by the way, good luck if you live in an apartment building or condo, because unless there's a free charging station in your garage, you'll need to stay overnight in a Walmart parking lot. That's because the public charging stations that you see there and elsewhere around town,

most of those are level two power sources. Well, finally, that means level three. That's our big dog. Those power stations will take about 30 minutes to one hour to fill up your car. unfortunately there are very few of those in the united states according to carfax there are fewer than 5,000 level three power stations in america as compared to 35,000 level twos and for what it's worth there are over 115,000 gas stations that's according to market watch now to be fair there is some money in joe biden's climate change bill to add more level three stations so it is possible

that we could see more of these level three things pop up down the road. Okay, so that's the summary of our first variable, your power source. But we've still got four more variables to go on how long it'll take to fill up your batteries. And depending on each car and the variables involved, well, your charge times might go way up or just down a tiny bit. So, for instance, we now have to consider your what's called maximum charge rate. So remember when I said that your charger is actually inside your car? Well, it is.

And each car charges at a different rate. The calculation of that is a bit complicated. You divide the battery capacity by the power rating of your car's onboard charger. And then you subtract 10% of power loss associated with charging it. And you get a headache and your maximum charge rate. Now, some electric vehicles like that Tesla I just mentioned, well, they have very high maximum charge rates. they can take advantage of the level three power stations and get charged up pretty quickly. But others much slower.

So it all depends on the model and the year of manufacturer. So bottom line, folks, you can pull up with your very expensive electric vehicle to a level three station, expecting a fast charge. But if your car's maximum charge rate is slow, you are going to be waiting many, many, many hours or even days. All right. So let's move on from Power Source and our charging. rates to a variable that's a little bit more understandable, and that is weather.

You see, when it's cold outside, batteries just don't like to charge as fast. But then again, batteries also don't like to charge fast when it's hot outside either. And that's because it can affect what's called your electric car's thermal management systems and internal resistance. I have no idea what either of those things mean or do. But I do know that if it's too hot or it's too cold, you're going to be sitting around a lot longer to charge your vehicle. So bottom line here, folks, your electric car is a little bit of a princess and only likes to be charged in Goldilocks like temperatures. So I am sorry if you live in Arizona or Alaska because you are probably going to be a little bit too hot or too cold for a fast charge. And if it's wintertime or summer,

then we're all in trouble, no matter where we live. In other words, there is no sort of just right with this Goldilocks challenge. Okay, let's talk about our fourth variable. Is your battery empty or full? And that kind of makes sense. That's similar to our gas-powered cars. But you should know that electric vehicle manufacturers tell buyers that their batteries should generally not go below a 20% charge

or above an 80% charge, especially when it's hot out because of those thermal management systems and such. Again, the science here, is a little bit complicated, but just remember, your battery is a real princess. Finally, there are a collection of other variables that I toss into the same bucket, and I call them miscellaneous variables. So, for instance, how long the power cord is, from the power station to your car, that actually matters, or how often you break, how often you use your air conditioning and your

heater, or if you use the car to drive shorter distances or longer distances. So what's interesting is that electric vehicles and their batteries do better with lower speed and shorter distances. That's according to Kelly Blue Book. So folks, there you have it. We have come to the end of our special brief today. We've covered the costs, the repairs, the insurance, the charging variables, all the things that you need to know for dirty green electric vehicles. Now, I hope all of that was informative. and frankly, I hope that we are all much wiser on what's coming.

Because remember, states are now passing laws saying that you have to buy these things at the showroom. No more gas-powered cars. And vehicle manufacturers are nodding along in agreement. As a reminder, General Motors has already announced that it's facing out all gas-powered cars by 2035. Ford is doing the same, though, by the year 2040. So, ready or not? Here we come. Now, if you think that this is a good idea, then wonderful. You can now go to a showroom and buy that car as an informed consumer.

But if you listen to this brief and you think, you know, this technology isn't quite ready, or you don't like supporting child labor or communists in China for your battery packs, or you think about the price tag of the car and wonder, how will America's poor people and the middle class afford these things? Well, if that's what you're wrestling with this morning, you might want to remember, remember that at the showroom, or, if I may be so bold, at the ballad box. Because ultimately, this isn't about cars, not really. This is about politics.

If it were about cars, states like California would still let you buy what you wanted when you walked into the showroom. Or GM and Ford would still make what the market desires. But that's not what's happening, is it? So I wish you good luck in whatever decision you make on buying, your next car. And for what it's worth, I really, really hope that we get this right, this dirty green revolution. Because if not, all we need to do is look at Europe this morning and realize that recovering from this dirty green mistake, if that's what this turns out to be, well, it's going to be

a very, very costly mistake. And with that, one more thing before I let you go. A listener question, as always, we'll be right back. This is a Bose moment. You've been there. Small talks going nowhere, but then the Bose speaker kicks in. Music you can feel fills the room, and no more chat with Danny from accounts. Your life deserves music. Your music deserves Bose.

Find your perfect product at Bose.com. Get the most out of your vehicle with GM genuine parts and AC Delco original equipment, the only parts designed, engineered, tested, and backed by General Motors. You can find your perfect fit for most makes and models and choose from three tiers of parts, including GMOE or gold and silver aftermarket parts. Visit gmparts.com for more information. Welcome back to the PDB, ladies and gentlemen. One more thing this morning. Steve from New York wrote in with a pretty thoughtful critique about how I end every podcast.

So here's what he said. I love the verse that you close your podcast with. However, verse 32 doesn't work without following the instructions from verse 31. So I encourage you to include John chapter 8 verse 31 in your closing at least once a week so you can't be accused of misleading folks. Steve, I really loved your note. Thank you so much for caring so much about that verse and your Christian faith. In making sure that it's not spoken of incorrectly or loosely, your heart is admirable

and, if I may, quite beautiful in its commitment. But let me explain why I close the podcast with that one verse in particular. When a person walks into CIA headquarters, they'll most likely walk into the original building. It's called OHB. And you'll see a few different things. First is the wall of stars.

A lot of movies and TV shows speak about it or highlight it and for good reason. Each star chiseled into that marble wall, represents a CIA officer who died in the line of duty. But Steve, not far from that wall of stars, you'll see another wall. And on that wall reads the following. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. That inscription was chiseled into the wall in 1961. The director at the time, Alan Dulles, wanted that Bible verse in the lobby. He wanted to use his faith, and the faith of so many other Americans like myself to remind CIA officers of the importance

of truth, of seeking truth, and then giving that truth to policymakers. And that verse became the unofficial motto of the CIA. It represents the covenant in this case between a spy and the American people, and their representatives, of course, in the White House and Congress. And that's why I use that verse to close out the podcast. I try to bring you the truth with facts and data. Although, fair enough, I know that sometimes my opinion slips on in. But I do hope that you, Steve, and everybody else, I hope that everyone knows that I'm doing my level best to bring you that spirit of truth with every episode of the president's daily brief. Because if we do this right, we can take what we talk about here on this podcast,

and we can go out into the world and better lead the nation. We can better achieve the goal that our forefathers and mothers set down for us, written so beautifully, so eloquently in the preamble of our Constitution. And if I can paraphrase their wisdom, we are here to create a more perfect union, not just for us, but for our posterity as well. And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes your morning brief. As always, we close out the show reminding each other of why we are here, talking about our country and our world. It's the creed of every good spy and every smart American. It's from John, chapter 8, verse 32.

And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Good day.