Electric cars create problem for Texas

[cowboy43]

Texas highways are funded by a gas tax on each gallon. Now they are saying when the electric car gains in number the tax revenue will go down and it will not be enough money to fund the highways. The electric cars will be using the highways free of charge. The State will have to look for other means to fund the higways. One thought is to put a monitor on your vehicle and tax the miles you drive. Another is to increase registration fees. The bottom line we that drive fuel vehicles will pay for the electric car user to use the highway. Wonder if you can pull a gooseneck trailer with one of those electric cars?

 

[Douglas]

Here in NC we have a gross reciepts tax on utilities. So here that would be going up as the highway money went down, so you would need divert the monies to the highway. Never been convinced that elecctric car is the way to go, but hybrids are perfroming better than i thought they would.

 

[pdfangus]

the law of unintended consequences will bite somebody in the butt every time.....
electric car uses fossil fuel to generate electricty to power the car. efficiency lost at every step.

I have ridden in a ford hybrid lately and have actually been quite impressed. power and economy. it was a nice car.

 

[backhoeboogie]

A friend of mine goes to the north east and buys truckloads of wrecked rice burner cars. He brings them here and restores them. He makes a good living doing it. Shop labor there is extremely high and at times there are huge backloads waiting in line to get in the shop for repair. Insurance companies paying for rentals total cars out much sooner - especially with the extremely high labor charges.

What is AMAZING is the number of miles on the cars. Some can be ten years old and not even have 50 thousand miles on them. It it obvious, people there don't drive much. If I was only driving 3 miles a day on average, an electric car might be an option.

I have worked with engineers from the cities there that tell me their family never even owned a car growing up. Have you ever been there? Not many trucks No where to park either. If a person owned a trailer, I don't know where he'd park it. The buildings are right up on the streets with the only thing between the building and pavement being sidewalk. People park on the streets - on public property- and get fighting mad if someone else parks "in THEIR spot".

I don't see how you can legislate road funding comparing that to us. Many of folks doing the legislating are from that environment. They see a standard size 1/2 ton pick-up truck as HUGE. Can you imagine parking your vehicles on public roads?

City people call riding lawn mowers "yard tractors". You will here them refer to their mower as a "tractor".

It is a totally different midset. They are legislating their rules onto us tho.

 

[TexasBred]

the law of unintended consequences will bite somebody in the butt every time.....
electric car uses fossil fuel to generate electricty to power the car. efficiency lost at every step.

I have ridden in a ford hybrid lately and have actually been quite impressed. power and economy. it was a nice car.

What do you think of the new Chevy Volt...38 miles on one charge. :lol2:

 

[dun]

the law of unintended consequences will bite somebody in the butt every time.....
electric car uses fossil fuel to generate electricty to power the car. efficiency lost at every step.

I have ridden in a ford hybrid lately and have actually been quite impressed. power and economy. it was a nice car.

What do you think of the new Chevy Volt...38 miles on one charge. :lol2:

That would get me to town and maybe all the way back, if I don;t drive aorund any while I'm there

 

[pdfangus]

volt would not get me to town much less back.

 

[Douglas]

Your point about city vs. country is on point in todays politics. Eveveryone refers to red states vs. blue states, but it you look more closely it is urban vs. rural. Urban areas of North Carolina vote differently than everyone else. The role and needs from government is much different in City and country. The media centers are in urban areas and reflect that mindset. I have plent of spaces for my garbage on my farm, so dealing with it is not a big deal, but urban areas are overflowing. Don't know what the answers are but we need to understand them and they need to understand us (i don't think they do or care too).

 

[ALACOWMAN]

A friend of mine goes to the north east and buys truckloads of wrecked rice burner cars. He brings them here and restores them. He makes a good living doing it. Shop labor there is extremely high and at times there are huge backloads waiting in line to get in the shop for repair. Insurance companies paying for rentals total cars out much sooner - especially with the extremely high labor charges.

What is AMAZING is the number of miles on the cars. Some can be ten years old and not even have 50 thousand miles on them. It it obvious, people there don't drive much. If I was only driving 3 miles a day on average, an electric car might be an option.

I have worked with engineers from the cities there that tell me their family never even owned a car growing up. Have you ever been there? Not many trucks No where to park either. If a person owned a trailer, I don't know where he'd park it. The buildings are right up on the streets with the only thing between the building and pavement being sidewalk. People park on the streets - on public property- and get fighting mad if someone else parks "in THEIR spot".

I don't see how you can legislate road funding comparing that to us. Many of folks doing the legislating are from that environment. They see a standard size 1/2 ton pick-up truck as HUGE. Can you imagine parking your vehicles on public roads?

City people call riding lawn mowers "yard tractors". You will here them refer to their mower as a "tractor".

It is a totally different midset. They are legislating their rules onto us tho.

man the under carriage of them northern vehicles are horrble,, the rust is just like a cancer that never stops

 

[dun]

Your point about city vs. country is on point in todays politics. Eveveryone refers to red states vs. blue states, but it you look more closely it is urban vs. rural. Urban areas of North Carolina vote differently than everyone else. The role and needs from government is much different in City and country. The media centers are in urban areas and reflect that mindset. I have plent of spaces for my garbage on my farm, so dealing with it is not a big deal, but urban areas are overflowing. Don't know what the answers are but we need to understand them and they need to understand us (i don't think they do or care too).

It's like that everywhere. In ca losangels sanfrancisco and sacramento out vote the rest of the state. In MO it's StLOuis, Kansas City and Columbia

 

[backhoeboogie]

man the under carriage of them northern vehicles are horrble,, the rust is just like a cancer that never stops

I've heard that. I've never owned one myself but have heard stories of fenders flapping in the breeze.

He takes 'em apart in his huge barn/shop and puts them all back together. There are times he has 5 or more of the same make and model and at all different stages. He does not lead anyone astray and will take them through his place showing them what he does and describing everything. He gets repeat customers. I suppose they see the undercarriage while he has them ripped down. I'll ask him what he does about rust.

Again, what amazes me is the low mileage on these vehicles. When I consider that and the electric vehicles (back on topic) I guess it would work for some folks. I can't find much use for a small gas powered vehicle myself.

 

[backhoeboogie]

It's like that everywhere. In ca losangels sanfrancisco and sacramento out vote the rest of the state. In MO it's StLOuis, Kansas City and Columbia

dun, I can't imagine living like those folks do. They probably feel likewise.

 

[fit2btied]

the law of unintended consequences will bite somebody in the butt every time.....
electric car uses fossil fuel to generate electricty to power the car. efficiency lost at every step.

I have ridden in a ford hybrid lately and have actually been quite impressed. power and economy. it was a nice car.

What do you think of the new Chevy Volt...38 miles on one charge. :lol2:

That would get me to town and maybe all the way back, if I don;t drive aorund any while I'm there

Even if it did get you all the way back, what do you reckon' the odds would be on it havin' enough juice left to pull your driveway?

 

[pdfangus]

Your point about city vs. country is on point in todays politics. Eveveryone refers to red states vs. blue states, but it you look more closely it is urban vs. rural. Urban areas of North Carolina vote differently than everyone else. The role and needs from government is much different in City and country. The media centers are in urban areas and reflect that mindset. I have plent of spaces for my garbage on my farm, so dealing with it is not a big deal, but urban areas are overflowing. Don't know what the answers are but we need to understand them and they need to understand us (i don't think they do or care too).

Sure enough true here in Virginia too.
round here we refer to Northern Virginia (North of the Rappahannock River) as occupied territory. those folks run on a DC mindset.

the tidewater area is getting to be just as bad (Norfolk, VA Beach, Hampton Etc)

I deal with exposing school kids to farm and conservation stuff and it is amazing what even a lot of the middle and high school kids do not know about the natural world.
Usually as I am talking the teachers and chaperones are as interested and involved as the kids which tells me that I am teaching them something as well. i work outdorrs and walk and talk and try to explain to kids what nature is doing right around them.

 

[pdfangus]

man the under carriage of them northern vehicles are horrble,, the rust is just like a cancer that never stops

In the 70'soved to northeast Ohio for a job and while there had to upgrade vehicles due to family expansion.
Traded my Ford Pickup for a Van.

Dealers all offered me top dollar becasue it was a southern vehicle and did not have cancer.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

man the under carriage of them northern vehicles are horrble,, the rust is just like a cancer that never stops

In the 70'soved to northeast Ohio for a job and while there had to upgrade vehicles due to family expansion.
Traded my Ford Pickup for a Van.

Dealers all offered me top dollar becasue it was a southern vehicle and did not have cancer.

we've had vehicles in the shop that the brake rotors were nearly rusted into. had one the other day the frame was nearly rusted into, that salt rust is a killer it never sleeps till it has consumed its victim :cowboy:

 

[john250]

Rust proofing has improved greatly, speaking from a location where we sling salt a lot. In the 70's you could watch the Chevys rust on a humid day. Fords the same. Now, you ought to get 10+ yrs if you wash it at the end of salt season.
This was my big objection to cap and trade. It was disastrous for everyone out in the sticks.
As was mentioned, many people in NYC do not own a car. (Not many can afford it, for one reason.) The subway will get you most anywhere you need to go. They won't notice high fuel prices in the beginning because they aren't buying fuel. Eventually they'll understand.
Here in the country, I have to have diesel and gasoline I can afford. Wal Mart is 30 miles round trip. Gasoline.
The tractor holds 55 gal and likes its fuel. The cattle have to be hauled, so a Prius just is not an option.
The things farmers buy are heavy and bulky. It takes a world of fuel to get fertilizer to the field and the crop off the field.
That whole cap and trade deal was going to punish us all for our choice of residence and occupation.
BUT--if all the cars in NYC and LA could run on electric it would alleviate severe local air pollution problems. Now, where ya gonna get the electricity :?:

 

[hurleyjd]

I suspect they will charge a tax for a year, the same as they do for propane powered cars. You buy a sticker to place in the windshield and renew it each year.

 

[Jim62]

Cowboy, TxDOT has not had any money for road work for several years (to hear them tell it). They still seem to be ok with funding for the paper shufflers, though.

There's supposed to be 30 or 40 of them electric cars in Austin pretty soon. Interesting thing is that the electric utilities are worried about getting the extra capacity to charge them. Up until the last week or two, it was supposed to cost "pennies a day" to maintain them.

Must be nice to be able to just make up the news as you go to fit whatever the current agenda is.

 

[Fred Belknap]

the law of unintended consequences will bite somebody in the butt every time.....
electric car uses fossil fuel to generate electricty to power the car. efficiency lost at every step.

I have ridden in a ford hybrid lately and have actually been quite impressed. power and economy. it was a nice car.

What do you think of the new Chevy Volt...38 miles on one charge. :lol2:

Is that with the radio on?? :lol: