33 Comments - Pot calling kettle - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 12:07 pm: ==He also disclosed that he owns a Rivian.== I picture the Governor driving around in an Amazon van delivering packages while wearing a Santa suit. - Jerry - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 12:12 pm: A Liberal “job creator?” Who’d a thunk. - New Day - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 12:12 pm: The governor is 100% correct here. The Inflation Reduction Act created the opportunity for America and JB Pritzker and the ILGA established the conditions necessary to bring them here. This is a huge win for the president and the governor. Oh, and the one thing all of these efforts have in common, they were Democratic initiatives that in most cases received not a single Republican vote in Congress and only modest GOP support here. Democrats are bringing manufacturing back. You can call that “partisan” spin, but it has the added benefit of being 100% true. - Gravitas - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 12:16 pm: Terrific! Let’s create an industry manufacturing a product that consumers do not want. The major auto companies are reporting that a significant number of motorists do not want EVs. Keeping pushing Beta while consumers prefer VHS. - JS Mill - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 12:21 pm: =Pritzker also disclosed that he owns a Rivian.= Wait…no trashcan van attempt at virtue signaling. When you have a governor that likes aIllinois and buys local, good things seem to happen. - Nick - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 12:24 pm: “And now we do and the General Assembly deserves a lot of credit here” One of his best attributes is being able to share credit - New Day - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 12:26 pm: “Let’s create an industry manufacturing a product that consumers do not want.” The planet is moving to EVs. The only question is how quickly. Personally, I can’t wait to get an EV once the network and range improves. I know a ton of people who feel the same way. It’s not that we don’t want one. Anyone who has ever driven a good EV is enthralled by its performance. It’s just a matter of when. So while adoption may be a bit slower than projected, the industry movement in this direction is inevitable. Putting Illinois at the forefront of a new industry makes all the sense in the world…unless perhaps you would prefer we invest in buggy whips. - Demoralized - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 12:28 pm: ==Let’s create an industry manufacturing a product that consumers do not want.== Doesn’t matter if you want it. It’s coming. These plants are good investments. - TheInvisibleMan - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 12:29 pm: I’ll probably be buying a Rivian when the new R2 platform comes out. - Gravitas - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 12:30 pm: @New Day Adam Smith still applies. Manufacturers react to consumer demands. Without generous government subsidies, there is not a consumer driven market for EVs yet. - Demoralized - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 12:40 pm: @Gravitas Some states are adopting zero emission vehicle standards that will require all vehicles to eventually meet those standards. Electric vehicles are coming whether you like it or not. This is an up and coming industry. You’re simply wrong when you suggest we shouldn’t be investing in it. - Excitable Boy - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 12:47 pm: - Without generous government subsidies, there is not a consumer driven market for EVs yet. - That’s been the case for pretty much every new technology the last hundred years or more. The range of EVs currently doesn’t meet my needs, but as soon as they do I’ll be happy to switch. - Moe Berg - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 12:53 pm: ===Without generous government subsidies, there is not a consumer driven market for EVs yet.=== Without decades of generous government subsidies, including the amount the United States spends on its military, there ICE market (aka oil/gas) would also be challenged. There’s plenty to criticize about EVs, with varying degrees of merit: charging time, charging network, battery safety, range limits, cost to repair. But, those can all be overcome by science and engineering. And, they will be. There are those who thought computers and cell phones were going to fizzle out. LOL. Don’t be wedded to the very imperfect past and its polluting technologies, that only leads to decay and decline. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 12:58 pm: ===would also be challenged.=== There would be none. Wordslinger would always point to the Fifth Fleet, the Iraq war, etc. when this topic came up. We pay in blood and treasure for oil. - Norseman - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 1:01 pm: Hopefully, this will work out for Illinois. Good for jobs, good for the economy and good for climate change mitigation. - Norseman - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 1:04 pm: Wordslinger is missed. - Torco Sign - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 1:17 pm: With all due respect, it’s a little humorous to consider whether or not the billionaire governor owns a Rivian, unless you envision a different target demo than I do. It’s not consequential whatsoever. Whether or not middle class people feel like they can own an EV is what matters. - btowntruth from forgottonia - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 1:26 pm: “Doesn’t matter if you want it. It’s coming. These plants are good investments.” That right there. - Moe Berg - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 1:34 pm: Good lord, the nattering nabobs of negativism on this thread today. People who otherwise, I suspect, think of themselves as pro-business, patriot types. New tech always is for the wealthy at first. Then the cost curve comes down and the masses adopt it. Time and time again. Product after product. Industry after industry - quite often with government subsidy (see: World Wide Web; pharmaceutical drugs; satellites and spacecraft). @ Rich and @ Norseman: Wordslinger is missed and his memory is a blessing, especially on these boards. - Excitable Boy - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 1:39 pm: - it’s a little humorous to consider whether or not the billionaire governor owns a Rivian - He’s the Governor of Illinois and he’s showing his support for a vehicle made in Illinois. This issue really makes some of you crabby, go take a nap. - NIU Grad - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 1:40 pm: The Governor touting positive economic news comes on the same day that the head of World Business Chicago announced that he’s leaving his post. The contrast between administrations is real. - Flyin'Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 1:56 pm: Gravitas- Lemme guess, you were bemoaning the loss of standard shift automobiles. Fossil fuels are on the way out. Not in the next century or so, but in the near future. - New Day - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 2:10 pm: “Lemme guess, you were bemoaning the loss of standard shift automobiles.” Now hang on there. I bemoan the loss of stick shifts. I grew up on stick. I love stick. I can’t buy stick anymore. The number of cars for sale in this country with stick are rapidly declining. But it’s not longer just this country. In June I rented a car in Italy and was excited to get a stick again. But they stuck me with an automatic. I miss stick. BTW, someday in about fifteen years, you will be able to write the exact same paragraph about internal combustion engines. But the only thing you will miss about ICE (which I still drive) is the roar of the engine and the speed of fill-ups. Everything else is better already with EVs. - Grandson of Man - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 2:12 pm: “the nattering nabobs of negativism” All this time they’ve been slamming Illinois as bad for business, now they are sour at the economic growth. Which exposes their motives, not really pro-business but anti-Democratic/liberal. Their worst nightmare is invalidation of the right wing economic model. They love bad economic news, which they try to weaponize. - JoanP - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 2:29 pm: I think that for many like myself, it’s not the concept that makes us hesitate, it’s the need for better infrastructure. I would love to have an EV, and once some of the issues with charging speed and availability, and range are resolved or improved, I’ll get one. (This might be a good time to reference a recent column by Lee Bey, in which he notes that early electric-powered vehicles flopped, due to long charging times and the steep cost: https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2023/12/1/23982978/south-loop-hybrid-car-dealer-woods-motor-vehicle-century-ago-demolition-lee-bey-chicago-architecture ) - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 2:40 pm: ===it’s the need for better infrastructure=== Agreed. I leased Cadillac’s first hybrid car and then leased another one when that expired. Both were plug-ins. Loved them. They were gorgeous. But they also had gas tanks, which I only used when I left town. I could go months without filling up the tank. But then I could drive to Chicago or wherever without having to stop and find a place to charge. If I get another EV, it’ll likely be a hybrid. That Ford Maverick truck looks sharp as all get-out. - JS Mill - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 3:38 pm: @Moe Berg is just en fuego today. Well done sir. I am with JoanP and others, when the infrastructure (especially in rural Illinois where I live) are better, I am all in. And if you look beyond Tesla, there are many EV’s available in the $30,000’s already and more coming. Gas engines will not be sold 20 years from now and likely sooner. Diesel is a different story. Until semi’s can run on batteries that do not triple the weight of the rig and have a range of at least 500 mils, diesel will still be the primary power source for heavy haulers and equipment. - SAP - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 3:45 pm: =Pritzker also disclosed that he owns a Rivian.= Really thought the Governor would roll in something built by union labor. - Suburban Mom - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 4:05 pm: When we started discussing switching to an EV for our family, I did some math and worked out that it would actually be cheaper for us to be all-EV and not buy gas and just RENT an ICE or hybrid car for the rare occasions we drove outside the EV’s range. Not everybody’s situation, I know, especially in more rural areas. But if you mostly commute and run errands in the suburbs, it might be worth figuring out how often you drive beyond the EV’s range, and figuring out if renting on those occasions would be cheaper than maintaining a car that needs gas. - Sue - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 4:43 pm: Demoralized- unfortunately Ford-GM and Chrysler all disagree. The EV uptake has stalled. The wealthy who can buy anything they fancy have bought theirs. Now car lots are filled with unsold inventory. Add to that that although Biden got 7.5 billion to build out the charging infrastructure in 2021- in the two years since- not one ( not one) charger has been installed. Biden may end up bankrupting the big 3 if the govt doesn’t back off the EV mandates. Then again- if a Dem isn’t elected next year- you can assume the federal mandates will evaporate and the market can once again dictate what is manufactured. Anyway- as Rich suggests and as Toyota’s success proves- we should be focused on Hybrids- equally good mileage and plenty of demand. The problem with your party is convinced it knows what we should drive - West Side the Best Side - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 4:45 pm: As someone who views cars solely as an object to get me from Point A to Point B and return, I tend to keep them until they are unable to do that. Perhaps the next time that rolls around the charging speed and range issues will have improved and I’ll be looking at an EV. I certainly will be looking beyond Tesla, don’t want to do anything to encourage Musk. (Am I the only one who thinks his outfit during his recent advertiser rant made him look like someone whose B17 was shot down over Europe in 1944?) - Demoralized - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 5:01 pm: ==The problem with your party== Lol. Says the partisan hack. - Dotnonymous x - Tuesday, Dec 5, 23 @ 6:14 pm: - Am I the only one who thinks his outfit during his recent advertiser rant made him look like someone whose B17 was shot down over Europe in 1944? - Please don’t soil the image of these brave men by comparing them to Elon Musk. My Dad wore that jacket…like thousands of other brave defenders of democracy. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.