To the Editor:
Re “Electric Cars Are Boring,” by Ezra Dyer (Opinion guest essay, April 13):
If E.V.s are boring, I guess I am OK with being bored. As an E.V. owner, I no longer have to stop at the gas station to fill up in all kinds of (Chicago) weather. No more oil changes, no more antifreeze concerns, no muffler or fuel pump problems. Boring is good.
No key or fob to carry, and I can preheat or precool my E.V. in various types of inclement weather.
Now for full disclosure. I bought my first E.V. 10 years ago when I was 73. I am now at the age where simpler (boring) is better. I still drive my grandson’s stick shift from time to time, but find it requires too much effort.
I was wondering if Mr. Dyer would like to go back to the horse and buggy. Just think of the road noise and the sound of real horses.
Ron Thomas
Glencoe, Ill.
To the Editor:
The slowdown in E.V. sales is not because they are boring. It’s because they are 1) too expensive; 2) take too long to charge; 3) don’t go far enough on a single charge.
I will happily buy a medium-size S.U.V. E.V. when it goes 500 miles on a five-minute charge and costs about the same as the hybrid version. Until then I will settle for the Toyota RAV4 hybrid.
John Aitken
Salt Lake City
To the Editor:
Sitting on the back deck of my house, I can hear the faint roar of traffic from the town center, about a mile away. I console myself that when more people are driving E.V.s, quiet and the sweet cacophony of bird song will prevail.
Now, Ezra Dyer tells us that E.V. manufacturers are designing speaker systems that will mimic the sound of “loud exhaust” because E.V.s are too boring.
What’s next, E.V.s equipped to spew the nostalgia-inducing “not entirely unpleasant” smell of gas, oil and diesel?
The genius of human invention never fails to amaze and horrify.
Janet Buchwald
Sudbury, Mass.
To the Editor:
What an unexpected and incredibly refreshing surprise to see the essay on electric cars by Ezra Dyer, a Car and Driver columnist. As a longtime Car and Driver subscriber and past and present owner of three Alfa Romeos, I agree wholeheartedly with his observations.
And given the fact that the Porsche 911 GT3 is one of the most coveted cars by my 25-year-old son, there is hope for the next generation. We just need the car manufacturers to listen to the roar.
Allan M. Tepper
Philadelphia
Living With Roommates in College
To the Editor:
Re “Living With a Stranger Is Hard. College Students Should Try It,” by Pamela Paul (column, April 23):
I had the unique privilege of having roommates for my first two years of college who were radically different from me. I learned an awful lot because of the experience. But there was plenty I wish I hadn’t too.
The move to college is hard enough — academically, socially, mentally — that sharing that with another person places a needless burden on new students.
Ms. Paul is quite right that students benefit from learning from those around them, and schools should emphasize this in the classroom. But if there’s one place that ought to be sacred and free from the trials of starting college, it should be one’s room.
James J. Bernstein
New York
To the Editor:
When I arrived at the University of Alaska Fairbanks as a freshman in 1972 as a Jewish New Yorker in a distant land, I met my new roommate, a Muslim from the Philippines. Two people could not have been more different. And it worked out magically.
While we have lost touch over the years, I still remember his glowing smile and warmth and am glad we were selected as roommates. It helped me to grow and appreciate people from vastly different backgrounds.
Randomness in roommate selection can generate growth and learning, which is what I always thought college is supposed to do.
Paul Neuman
New York
Tech in the Classroom
To the Editor:
Re “Tech in Schools Needs ‘a Hard Reset,’” by Jessica Grose (Opinion, April 28):
Over the past 15 years of having school-age kids, I have been deeply frustrated by how our schools have adopted technology without enough scrutiny. It is depressing to realize how many hours my kids are required to spend in front of the computer screen daily — and all without any body of evidence pointing to its positive effect on learning.
How I dreamed about running the iPad over with my van after four years of my high schooler reading everything — even novels! — on his device.
Though I’ve heard noble rationales for tech in the classrooms — “It will save the trees!” — I agree with Ms. Grose that schools need to re-evaluate what tech companies decide the schools need.
Not only are standardized tests at every level revealing faltering learning outcomes, but the human-to-human interaction is also clearly suffering the most. Out with Google Slides; in with teaching!
Amanda Bonagura
Floral Park, N.Y.
‘Unpleasant Truths’ About Russia
To the Editor:
Re “How Do I Talk to My Son About a War I Don’t Understand?,” by Sasha Vasilyuk (Opinion guest essay, April 28):
The war in Ukraine is not “Russia’s betrayal,” as Ms. Vasilyuk writes, but Russia’s business as usual. For generations, Moscow has violently suppressed the freedoms of surrounding nations.
Rather than withhold unpleasant truths, Russian parents must teach their children what Ukrainian, Polish or Latvian children learn from theirs: Historically Russia is an aggressor.
Russia’s imperialism relies on the unquestioned belief among countless ordinary Russians that their state has a virtuous right to dominate its neighbors. Without much hard work by parents and teachers, Russia’s noxious record will continue unchallenged.
John Connelly
Kensington, Calif.
The writer is a professor of history at the University of California, Berkeley.
Water and Politics
To the Editor:
Re “Democrats See Water as Issue to Win Over Rural Arizona Voters” (news article, April 24):
This article points out the difficulty that Democrats face in winning over conservative voters. For these desert communities, water is a life and death issue. But even though they admit that Republican policies hurt them and Democratic policies help them, these people will vote for Donald Trump.
And it’s not as if they don’t realize which side is which. They may agree that on this crucial issue the Democrats are right and are helping them, and the Republicans are wrong and are hurting them, but it doesn’t matter. They will still vote for Mr. Trump. There could be no clearer example of people voting directly against their own interests.
If nothing else, this discouraging story shows how much stronger is the fear of migrants, of change, of big government — all abstract fears really — than the drastic reality staring these people in the face.
Tim Shaw
Cambridge, Mass.