Beverly Hills. While I welcomed the idea of the “grand transition” to BEVs, I always had (and raised, to the point of people asking people like me to STFU) problems. BEVs cost more. They weigh more, and that extra weight (new Hummer is what, 16 tons?) means extra wear and tear on the roads that won't be being paid for by gas taxes BEVs won't be paying. In SoCal at least, every time there's a stiff breeze Edison shuts down the power grid in case they cause a wildfire, and we are told year-round these days not to use the microwave and the dryer at the same time between 6pm and 2am lest the fuses at Edison central go “pop.” And what is firing those plants that produce the energy we can't rely on?

Yes, people in apartments can pay to have charging stations put in their buildings, if they have a dedicated parking space. I have two Tesla-owning neighbors who still charge in Culver City since the expense of the charging station would be borne by them and kind of lock them into the building to justify the expense. Of the twelve other buildings on my block, four of them have no parking and four are under-parked. Not to mention cities like mine that are allowing new buildings to be built without parking because the state mandates anything near a “transit hub” (like, a bus line) doesn't have to have them. Or the idea that in states without snow to dissolve them into salt rust ICE vehicles can go through 3rd, 4th or even 5th owners before heading to the boneyard; how many 3rd owners of a Tesla are going to want to pony up the money for a new battery as the price of admission to that 7-year-old Model S? Not to mention what are we going to do with all the batteries when BEVs are sold in the numbers that ICE cars are now?

Now, I really would love a future where we could stick it to Shellexxomobil like they're been sticking it to us for years. But I don't see it happening that soon. In the meantime, I will be very happy that there will be cars like the CT5-V Blackwing, even if I can't afford that either. Automakers can just chalk any perceived backtracking to “Customer Demand.

 

 

 

The AE Song of the Week:

I got my driver's license last week
Just like we always talked about
'Cause you were so excited for me
To finally drive up to your house
But today I drove through the suburbs
Cryin' 'cause you weren't around

And you're probably with that blonde girl
Who always made me doubt
She's so much older than me
She's everything I'm insecure about
Yeah, today I drove through the suburbs
'Cause how could I ever love someone else?

And I know we weren't perfect but I've never felt this way for no one
And I just can't imagine how you could be so okay now that I'm gone
Guess you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me
'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street

And all my friends are tired
Of hearing how much I miss you, but
I kinda feel sorry for them
'Cause they'll never know you the way that I do, yeah
Today I drove through the suburbs
And pictured I was driving home to you

And I know we weren't perfect
But I've never felt this way for no one, oh
And I just can't imagine how you could be so okay now that I'm gone
I guess you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me
'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street

Red lights, stop signs
I still see your face in the white cars, front yards
Can't drive past the places we used to go to
'Cause I still fuckin' love you, babe (ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
Sidewalks we crossed
I still hear your voice in the traffic, we're laughing
Over all the noise
God, I'm so blue, know we're through
But I still fuckin' love you, babe (ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)

I know we weren't perfect but I've never felt this way for no one
And I just can't imagine how you could be so okay now that I'm gone
'Cause you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me
'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street
Yeah, you said forever, now I drive alone past your street

"Drivers License" by Olivia Rodrigo from the album "Sour" (2021).* Written by Daniel Nigro and Olivia Rodrigo. Publisher: Kanjian Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC. Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind. Watch the Original Music Video here. 

*Olivia Rodrigo was known as an actress when she released her first single as a solo artist, "Drivers License," at age 17. She made her name in a couple of Disney series; her breakthrough role was Paige Olvera on Bizaardvark, and she then played Nini Salazar-Roberts on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (the Gabriella of the original show). Rodrigo recorded several songs for HSM: The Musical: The Series, including the hit single "All I Want," which she also wrote. Rodrigo signed with Geffen Records in 2020 and released "Drivers License" on January 8, 2021. With a memorable heartsore vocal and cathartic bridge, the song was an instant sensation, going straight to #1 in America and topping the charts in many other countries as well. On Spotify, it was the most-streamed song of 2021, with a global count of 1.1 billion. Rodrigo wrote the raw lyrics after breaking up with her boyfriend. The two used to talk about how excited they'd be when she passed her driving test and could drive to his home. Now she is aimlessly riding through the LA suburbs with her newly christened "driver's license," longing for her ex. "When I came up with 'drivers license,' I was going through a heartbreak that was so confusing to me, so multifaceted," Rodrigo explained. "Putting all those feelings into a song made everything seem so much simpler and clearer - and at the end of the day, I think that's really the whole purpose of songwriting. There's nothing like sitting at the piano in my bedroom and writing a really sad song. It's truly my favorite thing in the world." Did you spot the incorrect grammar in the title - the song name should read "Driver's License." Rodrigo admitted to Vogue the error was her bad. "Oh, my gosh. I definitely got that wrong," she said. "I also put a double negative in the song when I say, 'I've never felt this way for no one,' which is completely grammatically incorrect. The song is all over the place [laughs]."Rodrigo wrote the song with the track's producer Dan Nigro. (Knowledge courtesy of Songfacts.com)

 

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