The Only COOL Electric Cars!

Shortly after my post of February 20, a friend and I got into a “spirited” discussion about the irony of the title, “Fossil Fuel Power,” when I’m writing about slot cars which are electric!

He was baiting me, of course, but ok, I’ll admit it: I don’t like electric cars! There. I said it. More specifically, I don’t like 1:1 scale electric cars! The Road Trip experience is part of the American psyche, and I don’t want to try to take a road trip only to have to stop every 250 miles for half an hour or more to “refuel”…not to mention that the highway gas station is part of the experience too!

Now sure, I’ve heard all the arguments: I know they’re fast, have almost limitless amounts of torque, and over a lifetime will need less maintenance and fewer repairs than an ol’ gas burner. And while I do not believe they are “better for the environment” – and countless studies have proven me right – its probably true that they’re not much worse for the environment, either.

And you know what? I don’t care! Frankly, I’m hesitant to even use the term “electric car”, preferring the industry-standard term “electric vehicle.” Certainly EV’s are “vehicles”, but calling them “cars” just doesn’t cut it for me.

Now before you say anything: no, I’m not going to get into the exhaustive etymology of the word “car.” That might be interesting, but ultimately it’s a different subject; I’m using the word “car” in the sense of what the word means to me: there’s a feeling to driving or riding in a car, and an absolutely essential part of that feeling is combustion! Without the sound, the smell, and the feel of burning fuel, transportation ceases to be an experience and becomes an act: the act of moving from location A to location B.

Of course, I’m not fond of “oil wars” either! I’m as sick as every other American of the endless policing in the Middle East and other regions. Thing is, nowadays, we don’t need the Middle East or any other region: we have all the fossil fuel we need right here in North America…if only we could use it!

The problem that I have isn’t with the electric cars themselves, it is rather with coercive laws and policies being forced on us – on me – by corrupt little tyrants trying to limit my freedom of choice; for instance, enacting policies to restrict our enormous supply of domestic energy in order to make it so expensive that inferior and unreliable alternatives seem like a better deal than they are. The only people benefiting from that are politically connected snake oil salesmen and, of course, the Chinese: the world’s largest manufacturer of batteries! Hmmmm…

https://nypost.com/2022/02/22/biden-drilling-freeze-makes-us-poorer-and-less-safe/

As for my hobby, and this blog about it: I’m celebrating the history of the most exciting cars ever made in miniature, with slot cars. The toy’s motor-vation may indeed be electric, but the spirit I’m trying to capture in scale was a magical time fueled by gasoline! God help us if we are forced to give up the experience of the car; to a diehard gearhead like myself, a life without it doesn’t even seem worth living!

Now, moving from location A to location B is a necessary act, and an EV is perfectly fine for that. So even though I’m not a fan of electric cars, I wouldn’t attempt to force people to stop driving them! And that seems to be the rub, isn’ it? Because you know what I am a fan of? FREEDOM OF CHOICE! If someone wants to drive an EV, great! Enjoy! As for me, my electric cars stay on my slotted track! All I ask is for the ability to decide for myself.

I’ve considered taking this graphic-or maybe one similar to it-to a silk screener and printing up a T-Shirt. In the meantime, let’s enjoy this video of the crew from “Roadkill” showing us the only ever-lovin’ thing that a Toyota Prius is good for!

Well OK, maybe I do have just a wee bit of a “problem” with electric cars…but that still doesn’t mean I’d try to force people to stop driving them!