Increase in Anti-EV Media Articles

It's not even a good deal on Vodafone.

Throwing out or destroying iPhones after two years when they are still worth a fair bit, seems another poor financial decision. They don't seem fit for whatever ye do with them .

Yeah, I don't tend to engage with the negativity. 3 of my mates are anti EV - you would swear that an EV murdered their family. The irony is that one of the anti EV brigade had a diesel Merc spontaneously combust on a motorway and it went up in a fireball.

A couple of my mates would be cautious and last week I picked one of them up (I live around 100km away so I rarely see them) and within 10 minutes, he had seen the light. Another would like one, but he does a lot of fishing and tows his boat through muddy fields and tracks, so he felt it wouldn't be suitable due to the weight (he drives an A8 Quattro estate I think).

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when this shift occurred, but yes, much of this regression can be traced back to the current state of social media. About five or six years ago, when I logged onto my Instagram account, the content I encountered was closely aligned with my interests. Friends shared photos, and brands showcased interesting products. It all seamlessly fit into my life.

However, things have changed dramatically. Social media is now inundated with fake news, clickbait content, memes, and videos designed for quick laughs and reactions. As someone who values information and intelligent content, I find this shift disheartening. Inevitably, all this rubbish makes its way into workplaces, family dinners and chats around the table down the pub.

For the sake of humanity, I hope that platforms like Instagram and Tik-Tok will eventually fade away, much like Facebook did. Perhaps then, people will reconnect with each other, lifting their heads out of their phones and engaging in genuine interactions.

In the context of electric vehicles, I’ve also observed that many people tend to unquestioningly believe what they read online. Unfortunately, the internet is rife with fake news and clickbait content, making it challenging for individuals to discern between facts and fiction. However, there’s a silver lining: those who avoid excessive online exposure often maintain a more balanced perspective on EVs. Specifically, I’m referring to people who haven’t yet owned an EV.

If a prominent figure like Jeremy Clarkson were to publicly endorse EVs by purchasing one, it would likely influence a significant number of people—especially the more traditional demographic.

Clarkson is a walking contradiction. On one hand, he bemoans the climate and talks about climate change on 'Clarksons Farm'. He talks about how his proximity to nature has made him far more aware of the climate. He has fields of wildflowers for pollinators… but is happy to completely ignore the effect of exhaust emissions on said poillinators. He won't drive an EV full stop and you're probably right, if he could swallow his pride and give them an honest go, and if it changed his mind, I think it would do a lot of good. It would open the conversation and people might feel more comfortable about changing their opinion.

Interestingly, Joe Rogan is a big fan of EVs… he also loves his muscle cars but has a very balanced view. I'm not sure if this is down to his love of Elon, or if he just gets EVs… possibly a bit of both as he really loves cars. I'm not a fan of JR, and some of his opinions are bonkers, but his attitude to EVs is refreshing.

Can't with Trump, COVID and Musk. Driving fake news and not policing it..

17 years even. Each to their own, wouldn't be my cup of tea though.

I think the downfall of social media in Ireland was Covid and lockdowns. Conspiracy theories that normally would be ignored were embraced when people started getting dispondent.

Many people got very attached to social media at that time - it was a break from the monotony. Then, when people started to agree with their views (right or wrong, crazy or sane), they felt important. Now it seems to be a case of who can outscoop who, irrespective of if it's right or wrong. People share things without checking. If it's on social media, it's legit in their eyes. If they can share it before anyone else in their circle, they will get more likes… they will be the authority. If they can get the first comment and get the most likes, they'll be important. The more out there the comment, the more reaction. If people criticise, then deflect, make things up, use memes, and call them sheep. Don't bother to investigate and see if you're wrong. Backing down or admitting being wrong is incomprehensible because if you're wrong about one thing, perhaps you're wrong about a lot of things.

It's sad and depressing but it's made worse by the social media companies who seem to actively push negative content to your feed to try to get you to engage. I don't play ball anymore. I have social profiles but I rarely use them for anything other than work.

A big eye opener for people will be when they get into an EV taxi.

Was speaking to a sound lad down at the Sandyford SuC and he was telling me about the people he was ferrying around, asking lots of questions about electric vehicle ownership (he had a new model 3).

Biggest takeaway for people is they don't realise that they're not a hugely expensive car. The running costs come next.

I gave a lift home last week to the accountant in my wife's work. He just bought his wife a new Tucson jeep. After a look around my car he says "what the f*ck am I after doing? I could have bought her one of these and she could charge it at home every night" (he was taken back when I told him an overnight charge would leave her with around 400kms or more to head off the next day).

She's an ideal candidate - driveway, stay at home mother who does the school run and a spin to the shops.

All only available as 5 door cars to my knowledge. Great cars though

Mini E is definately 3 door. didn' tknow the Honda E had those rear hidden doors. Fiat 500E.

3 Door Hatches even in ICE are becoming rare there just isn't the economy of scale for them

can’t image so when almost every 3 door hatch on the market was killed off due to low demand. They all went the way of the coupes and convertibles.

Except you're not getting told what to think. That's a strawman to try and shutdown any option you disagree with.

Maybe I should do the same. Why are you telling everyone else what to think.

We had diesels, they didn't last, the turbos went. I recall a memo about leaving the engines to "idle" before turning off the ignition, but the Mazdas were the last. Mine was not a good advert for the brand, it didn't do half what we would run a petrol car to before being sold off as little more than scrap.

I would guess the company knew what it was doing, I never quite understood the methodology but I am not an accountant. Unless opting out we had company fuel for private and company travel. The income tax burden was high, but the company.

Scotland has power, did I give the impression that it didn't?

It has to have power, as the highlands have been taken over by golfers, the little haggis's have nowhere quiet to be nurtured after birth due to the parents abandoning them because of golf balls hurtling all over the highlands. The only way to guarantee survival of the new haggis generations was to armour plate and supply power to bothies,

I have no idea as to the decision making. I wanted an estate and later when my work took me to Ireland a lot, a long wheelbase transit van, both were denied.

EV's would be out full stop. I had difficulty sometimes simply finding fuel, although after twenty years driving for the company only ran out twice. The satnav took me to a few closed stations, on top of that I needed to find garages that accepted my fuel card. Things may well be different now, but stopping to charge an EV isn't like fuelling up.

I suppose the one saving grace with EV's is you don't have to wait around to have the battery "pumped out" when you put the wrong kind of Volts in :-)

I am fully aware that most petrol cars have turbos, maybe it's a simplistic approach, but when buying my own car I would not have a turbo, The fuel economy seems around the same as a turbo model, or so I was told by the dealer, and the power is adequate. If I shift more fuel in and at a faster rate, then I assume that the engine will wear sooner, but I have no foundation for this approach, bar the Mazda of course.

I assumed a "plodder" would be cheaper on the insurance too.

Don't get me wrong, I think EV's are an excellent approach, but I never seriously looked into buying one because of the vastly different cost of my petrol plodder and an EV, plus of course the power unreliability here, although the last major network upgrade was designed to remedy this. I will wait and see :-(