There aren't any more dinosaurs decomposing
Um, you DO know that Oil is not comprised of decomposing dinosaurs despite Sinclair oil's green mascots?
And that several "depleted" oil fields have had a second production run as they refill over time?
Oil demand may outstrip supply at some point, but the same may be true of electrical energy to power EV's and certainly for some of the materials required for battery production.
If I were to make a prediction it would be that we run out of Cobalt for batteries before we run out of oil.
Efforts are already underway to reformulate batteries as the companies building them know full well that the current formula is unsustainable.
I am skeptical that the new formulas will be superior, the "Big Breakthrough" has been "Imminent" for decades.
RichardSIA said:
Spent several hours last night reviewing EV/Tesla videos, Pro and Con....
No, I did not save all the links, it was my research.
I'm mad I'm even engaging this trolling, but you do realize watching a few hours of YouTube videos put out by random people does not constitute "research", right?
Eliminate and hide your head in the sand, got it.
In reply to RichardSIA :
https://www.reference.com/science/oil-formed-133b7c8e3a59afd2
Oil is formed when organic materials are buried under sedimentary rock; anoxic conditions and intense pressure cause a gradual transformation in petroleum. Most of the components of oil are small algae and zooplankton, although some larger animals like dinosaurs are also in the mix. This process takes hundreds of thousands of years.
https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Oil_formation
Oil or petroleum is a readily combustable fossil fuel that is composed mainly of carbon and hydrogen, and is thus known as a hydrocarbon.[1] The formation of oil takes a significant amount of time with oil beginning to form millions of years ago. 70% of oil deposits existing today were formed in the Mesozoic age (252 to 66 million years ago), 20% were formed in the Cenozoic age (65 million years ago), and only 10% were formed in the Paleozoic age (541 to 252 million years ago). This is likely because the Mesozoic age was marked by a tropical climate, with large amounts of plankton in the ocean.[2]
While I get that "dinosaurs" is an over generalization can you give us references for this refilling theory of yours?
In reply to RichardSIA :
I don't consider wanting to cut oil use from an eco perspective, I want to minimize how much petrodollars are shoring up countries that actively work against the United States.
Yes oil is fungible and we almost are import-neutral and all that. But it'd be better to turn that into a profitable export instead of getting high off our own supply. And reduced oil demand makes prices drop which is in our best interests because it is against the interests of those who would wish the US harm. I consider reducing fuel use to be a patriotic duty.
Richard and I actually have something in common. I too long for the good old days.
Where we differ is that those good old days were when this board didn't have 7-8 trolls who seem to participate only to stir the pot, and everyone was capable of being excited and interested in all flavors of automotive enthusiasm, while rationally debating technical merits instead of falling back on straw man arguments about how the government is going to take away automotive enthusiasm (???)
Crud! Several minutes typing gone as I attempted to re-capture URL's for some of the sites I visited.
So of course one of them automatically opened a new window and I lost my work. 
Suffice to say it was not just "Random You-Tuber's" I looked at, WSJ, Barrons, Smitsonian, Rivian, Tesla and several professional journalist* for well known "News" organizations.
Maybe none of these meet your standards for research but they are what is readily available on a bored night.
*Some of whom are among those posting the most extreme and biased views of all!
can you give us references for this refilling theory of yours?
Not theory, fact. West Texas as I recall but it will take some digging to hopefully relocate the articles.
Oil rises from the depths via capillary action.
We pump out the accumulated pools but never get it all, then capillary action may refill the void.
As to taking millions of years to form oil, that may not be entirely accurate and up to date either.
The process of oil formation is now much better understood and can be replicated in hours.
Doing it economically is the trick, mostly dependent on politics.
There have been commercial operations that worked from a technical standpoint but failed economically due to bad assumptions regarding feed stock cost.
A few companies are trying again, its a tantalizing idea so not going away soon.
If we were really that concerned with "Saving the planet" the Thermal Depolymerization operations would be subsidized to nearly eliminate landfill sites.
Oops, that crosses both the established waste management money stream and the anti-oil extremist!
TDP
wae
UberDork
12/27/21 12:09 a.m.
Upon seeing this thread, I was really hoping that this would be a story about someone who was able to bypass a bad cell or otherwise find a creative and economical solution to the failed battery problem.
I has a disappoint.
Well that escalated quickly.
RichardSIA said:
Strong-armed to drive a Tesla?
The most extreme um, what is an acceptable word, Zealots, Eco-Nuts?
If they had their way we would not be driving only EV's, we not be driving at all!
These kooks want to tear up the roads, force us all into high-density housing, outlaw the suburbs and commuting, all to "Save the planet".
Apparently they take "1984" as a literal instruction manual.
As I said, I was bored enough to sit through hours of EV related video Pro and Con.
Some of them are now somewhat amusing as they tried to predict the future that is now past, and missed the mark pretty badly from both sides.
Of course there are still plenty of predictions pushing EV's as the saviors of mankind, only a few taking a rational middle ground, which always gets them hammered by EV Fanboise in the comments.
I do not expect any of the rosy pro-EV predictions to come true this time around either.
No immediate worries unless the zealots get even more control of a few Gov. Org. agencies and congress capitulates to them.
Those old enough should remember what happened in 1976 with American made convertibles, as pending Gov. Regs killed them off.
So the assumption that extremist cannot make their vision happen is naive to say the least.
Didn't want to post, other than pointing out a small factual problem with this thread. Convertibles were not killed off in 1976. As a matter of fact, even with massive increases in crash standards since 1976, including roll over standards, convertibles continue to be made and sold.
Unless you have forgotten what the answer is.
I know you won't believe me, but EV's are not actually being mandated. The same fear you are mongering is the same fear mongering cars back in the 70s because of emission laws- and +40 years later, we have gas burning cars that are light years cleaner, more powerful, and more efficient than then. Yet air quality still is problematic.
Good luck with moving into the future, I see a lot of anger and yelling at the moon for being too bright in your future.
(BTW, cars as transportation in a mass sense is just barely 100 years old, so to pretend that this is some kind of right or whatever is incredibly flawed)
RevRico said:
On a more serious note, we've been at "10 years of oil left in the planet" since the 60s. Sooner or later, we're really going to be in the last years of oil because cost of extraction will outweigh potential profit. There aren't any more dinosaurs decomposing than there were 100 years ago, and we already got most of the easy access stuff we can find. What will you do then if you're still alive? Wood fire? Steam? Flintstones mobile?
At the same time
We now have silent, 400+ mile range, 0-60 in sub 4 second EVs with all the torque all the time, and they're only getting better year after year.
What is the problem other than "change bad"?
I'd like to seen one of your Sprites run a 10 second quarter mile or hit 400 miles on a tank, or even merge onto a busy highway these days.
The 10 years guys were right, it's just demand for oil forced them to go into the North Sea, or deeper out into the ocean, or into the arctic circle or other extreme places to get the next 10 years.
All of that comes at a cost. We can continue to pay those costs, or look for alternatives.
Steam engines are cool. Big con rods swinging back and forth, smoke billowing out of the stack, neat stuff but not very efficient.
Airlines stopped using pistons when I was still a boy. Horribly inefficient, one stroke out of 4 doing anything. Valves opening and closing by pushing against stiff springs. Etc. Better to have a simple rotating assembly like a jet.
Cars have had electric motors doing stuff for years, heck there were a bunch of electric cars back in the early days that competed for supremacy.
I like pistons and valves camshafts and crankshafts. In fact 12 is better than 8, 6, 4, or less. In my humble opinion.
But I also like hand cranks and points. So call me a Luddite if you wish.
I accept that EV's will eventually dominate the market. Maybe I don't need all the technology of a Tesla. But you have to admit some of that stuff is neat.
In reply to frenchyd :
There are people that are mad that nobody makes flathead engines anymore.
I noted, the last time I was at the dragstrip, that there were far more people there than used to show up 10 years ago. None were in flathead engined cars. Heck, Fox body Mustangs were rare, there were no Grand Nationals at all, and the lone Eclipse that showed up was conspicuous in how rare it was to see.
All three of those probably were 50-60% or more of any given night at the drags, now they were scarce. And yet the number of participants was growing.
Chris_V
UberDork
12/27/21 9:41 a.m.
Fun gas cars and fun EVs can live in harmony in our driveways and in our hearts. If you're Richard levels of angry, you're just closed minded and in general misinformed. Or get your paycheck from the oil companies.
My sister ordered a new Kia Soul EV just before Christmas. I told her I'd like updates on her opinion of it over the first few months. Her initial opinion from the test drive was that I would like it despite it not being particularly sporting. "Why?" I asked. "You ought to feel how it accelerates!" was the response. She is definitely not a car person, but she noticed the low end grunt. I fully expect I'll buy something electric in the not too distant future as 90%, or more of my driving is less than 100 miles from home.
In reply to Chris_V :
One day last week, I was at a stop light and there was a Bolt and an Audi Quattro TT side-by-side in front of me. When the light turned green they were off and the Bolt cleaned the Audi's clock easily for the first block. Pretty impressive.
Edit: Incidentally, I own an R53 Cooper "S" and the aftermarket exhaust on it was sold under the brand name of "Volt"......not sure why they picked that.
Taking it back a few decades... "Fuel injection is evil magic. Emissions standards are just a way to force car companies to stop making carburetted cars. I know they are going to outlaw carburetors. I read it on an AOL board. I'm keeping mine 'till they pry it from my cold dead hands."
tuna55
MegaDork
12/27/21 12:25 p.m.
This thread is developing a certain "crazy uncle who learned about YouTube last week" vibe to it.
That is a terribly lazy article, and has nothing based on a reality any real driver in a real car would really face. I mean it's fun to blow stuff up, and repairing things can be expensive. That's pretty much it.
tuna55 said:
This thread is developing a certain "crazy uncle who learned about YouTube last week" vibe to it.
I wish I had more than one upvote to give.
Hmm, I post a link to an amusing video and get attacked.
I post some results of web searches and get attacked.
Seems "Kill the messenger" is still in vogue here.
For the record and the reading comprehension challenged, I have no problem with EV's so long as they are not mandated at the expense of ICE cars, or over-hyped as some sort of miracle cure-all, and the Fanboise cease attacking ICE car ownership.
Musk/Tesla started the ****-storm with his demands that ICE be outlawed way back when they were on the brink of going under despite incredible tax breaks, and subsidies.
Now that they appear to be financially secure they still go too far with utterly impractical demands that ICE be ended.
As a pertinent note, among the gems I turned up in all those reports this came up.
There are at least three EV charging standards/plugs in 'current' use.
So even if you find a charging station you may not be able to use it.
There are still "No drive" zones in some states as the correct type EV charging stations are spread too thin.
Some of these are going the way of Betamax, will the losers get new charging systems or just scrap their EV's?
Paid by the oil companies, I wish!
After being pilloried here, maybe time to look for an actual anti-EV lobbying position.
Not like I would lose any friends over it. 
I have no degree is BS, so unlikely.
In reply to RichardSIA :
It wasn't the "amusing" YT link.
It was your frenetic "energy" surrounding it and resulting anger and trolling that has led to this point.
You have to learn to disconnect and walk away before responding. You're not doing yourself any favors with the way you're presenting yourself and subsequently with the way you're being perceived.
Honestly, I struggle to think of anything constructive or useful you've contributed to this board. Whenever I see you post, I feel my jaw clench and my shoulders tighten because I know it will be something full of sound and fury, signifying nothing except emotional content and incorrect assumptions and half-baked "theories" without the ability to learn from others.
In reply to RichardSIA :
If you had posted a funny video and said "haha look at this sillines".
I think we would have all agreed. But you went all zerohedge "truth bombs" and it missed the mark.
anyway. I still don't love Tesla's.
RichardSIA said:
As a pertinent note, among the gems I turned up in all those reports this came up.
There are at least three EV charging standards/plugs in 'current' use.
So even if you find a charging station you may not be able to use it.
There are still "No drive" zones in some states as the correct type EV charging stations are spread too thin.
Some of these are going the way of Betamax, will the losers get new charging systems or just scrap their EV's?
I got to a fuel station that only had gasoline, so I put that in my diesel pickup. Sure am glad there aren't multiple standards for fuel.
