OT: Electric Vehicles--anyone driving them or seriously looked at them?

[Davist]

Once we get bidirectional chargers, that is.. until then a science project with lots of Volts and amps, DC current is hard to turn off! If you have the F150 lightning, then yes. A bit oversimplified here (like the guys who back feed their generators through the dryer line in a power outage- lots to disconnect and potentially fatal consequences)

Originally Posted by Kirk007

In today's Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/clima...50007F01001784

[tomato coupe]

Originally Posted by efuentes

We have a beach house connected to the grid with a small solar panel installation and a small battery that can power the fridge, our lights and a TV/Computer forever and it also lower almost to zero our grid bill, in summer when we lost power I supplement with a propane generator to turn the AC On. Total cost maybe 4,000 US.

The problem arises with the huge houses and 60 KW/H per day consumption, we don't have that problem in our small shack.

That's not really a problem -- they can just install additional batteries and a bigger inverter to power the larger house.

[herb5998]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

I have visited hundreds of hydro power stations in this country. They are tucked into beautiful little spots all over rural america, and I have a soft spot for them in my heart. I understand the argument about disrupting fish and other waterbound life and changing their natural habitat, but I'm still disappointed that hydro is not really being championed as green power these days.

What about acres wide solar fields? Do they not disrupt animals and other organisms habitats and take away from workable farmland?

Not trying to demonize solar, but I think responsibly expanding our network of hydro is not a bad step forward with clean energy either, but that ship has likely sailed for the USA.

About 94% of the power in our province is from Hydro power, much of the effort to improving the electric utility is from bad winter storm in ‘98 which knocked out power for many.

Even with the current dams, another is likely not on the table, so lots of R&D looking at the ways to gain more efficiency in transmission lines and personal use.


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[efuentes]

Originally Posted by tomato coupe

That's not really a problem -- they can just install additional batteries and a bigger inverter to power the larger house.

Its only a money problem, I wont sell my bikes to get a bigger battery

[tomato coupe]

Originally Posted by efuentes

Its only a money problem, I wont sell my bikes to get a bigger battery

But, it's probably not a money problem for the people that own the big home, and that's what counts.

[batman1425]

Originally Posted by herb5998

About 94% of the power in our province is from Hydro power, much of the effort to improving the electric utility is from bad winter storm in ‘98 which knocked out power for many.

Even with the current dams, another is likely not on the table, so lots of R&D looking at the ways to gain more efficiency in transmission lines and personal use.


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Texas could learn something from your province.


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[Kirk007]

Originally Posted by batman1425

Texas could learn something from your province.


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If they had the water ;-).

Hydro is huge in the Pacific NW and he have low electric rates as a result but there's little question that it has come at the cost of the historic salmonid runs that existed before all the dams were built, and that impact has really hurt tribal culture and economies and communities that have historically been dependent on fishing.

[batman1425]

Originally Posted by Kirk007

If they had the water ;-).

Hydro is huge in the Pacific NW and he have low electric rates as a result but there's little question that it has come at the cost of the historic salmonid runs that existed before all the dams were built, and that impact has really hurt tribal culture and economies and communities that have historically been dependent on fishing.

I meant generally shoring up the grid, but yea.


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[MikeD]

Are there really any more locations for a hydro dam? E.g., the Cosumnes River is the only river in California that has not already been dammed.

[robt57]

Yep, there is that!

Originally Posted by Kirk007

If they had the water ;-).

Hydro is huge in the Pacific NW and he have low electric rates as a result but there's little question that it has come at the cost of the historic salmonid runs that existed before all the dams were built, and that impact has really hurt tribal culture and economies and communities that have historically been dependent on fishing.

[Jaybee]

Beyond the legitimate ecological concerns surrounding dams, we’re solidly in an era of historically low stream flows and reservoir levels. I mean, Glen Canyon provides a significant portion of Arizona’s power and managers are worried they may not have the hydraulic head in Lake Powell to drive electrical generation in the very near future.

Hydro makes sense for some areas, but definitely not for everywhere.

[Kirk007]

Originally Posted by MikeD

Are there really any more locations for a hydro dam? E.g., the Cosumnes River is the only river in California that has not already been dammed.

Washington State has, I believe, mapped out all sorts of locations for small dams on smaller, remoter rivers (which sounds like a disaster on many levels) but it has been done as part of scenario planning for climate change (at least that was the skuttlebut a few years ago when a former coworker was Chief of Staff for former Governor.

[jimcav]

Originally Posted by MikeD

$17K is about what I paid for my solar system with the tax credit. Batteries would have almost doubled my cost.

This is from http://www.mikekleeman.com/9-solar-myths-debunked.html

It (battery) was entirely to power a limited circuit the fridge and freezer, mainly.
IF I'd known then my son would get diabetes and need refrigerated insulin 2-years later, I'd have done it just to give my wife more peace of mine, But, realistically we are not likely to be without power here for long. By the time we get an EV, I'll probably have an invertor done when we install the charger so the EV can run the home fridge etc.

[Tickdoc]

Back from my “try it before you buy it” Tesla rental in San Francisco and have some thoughts.

I felt this would be the perfect time to try one out…a solid week of vacation (ok I had a meeting in Santa Rosa and a winery dinner, but the rest of the week was just for fun). Mixed driving with freeway, mountain roads, and small town roads as well. We spent two days in Santa Rosa, three days in mill valley ( yes, please) and three days in downtown sf (union square/knob hill).

Picked up the model y at SFO trouble free. Hertz gold and up members have reserved cars already in a number slot with keys in it so you just get in and drive. If you don’t have a certain car selected like I did, then they just have a row of cars with keys in and you just pick the one you want.

Took me about 5 min to get acquainted with basic controls and off we went. First time driving one pedal was a bit weird, but became second nature after a day or two. First impressions were it’s quiet, except for the road noise from the back. Clean interior looks nice but having everything on a touch screen is a bit of a pain. Not only does it slow you down to navigate to what you want to control but it is a distractor. The help button does help but not totally. I like having some mechanical controls. I was unable to get mirrors or steering wheel adjusted while driving and had to pull over for those settings. Tablet screen was dominated by one main function so it was hard to toggle between navigation and settings without fear of getting back to navigation.

Made it to Santa Rosa fine after a quick stop at in n out. The instantaneous speed and torque are fun for merging and squirting, but I found myself not wanting to go fast all the time. Not sure why. The cruise was easy (not hands free on a rental) but nowhere near as customizable as our old Volvo. We never really got stuck in traffic so I didn’t get a chance to test creep driving, or whatever they call it. (Autopilot in Volvo)

Once in Santa Rosa and checked into our hotel we found a supercharger in town about five minutes away and charged for about 30 min. Charging is super easy and intuitive. I really like how the door opens automatically and there are no buttons to push or credit cards to mess with, it just charges your card on file (or hertz, in my case). The inconvenience of charging was huge, tho. Better be something close by you want to see or you just sit in the car and wait.

Day two was great until I get a frantic call from my wife saying she wrecked the car. She was attempting to park in a rainy, crowded parking lot for a massage when she jumped a curb and smashed the front end of the car in front of us. I got an Uber and left my meeting to meet her and the car was amazingly fine. Tore the front plate off and smashed the front end a bit, but it drove fine and we continued our trip at speeds up to 80 just fine.

She was happy to leave Santa Rosa and we headed to mill valley where we had a fun little cabin in the woods reserved. Tight one lane roads with giant redwoods were a hoot. We drove it up to mt Tam and it was nauseatingly fun on the hills and twists. I didn’t notice the weight of the car near as much as I thought I would. Brake regeneration didn’t garner as much energy coming down as I expected, but our batteries remained steady going down and seemed to not use much going up. Props to any of you who live around there. The riding there has got to be about as good as it gets anywhere, especially for gravel.

We hit Muir Woods, then Stinson beach, a little saulcalito before heading downtown for the last three days. There we valeted the car and only took it out once to visit the de young museum and surrounding gardens.

Downtown traffic was easy and I was really shocked at the lack of homeless and vagrants downtown. I’m guessing they police them out of union square area? It was less than I noticed last time I was there like 8 yrs ago. I saw way more in surrounding areas with tents lining what seemed like every bike path and park. I only saw one tweaking out with a needle hanging from his lip, and I was happy to see no defication or other bodily functionings while we were walking around.

Back to the car, I wanted to wait til we were home to reflect on it. It is a fine car, but not one I would buy. Coming back to our 7 yr old Volvo was refreshing. The refinement of it compared to the Tesla is huge. If I were(or when I do) go electric, I feel I will stay with a mainstream brand like Volvo or Mercedes. The suspension and refinement are already there in those, and Tesla is not there yet, imo. My biggest gripe, besides the charging on trips problem, was the lack of individual controls. The auto wipers are not intuitive enough, the defroster was hard to find, the mirror adjustment is always two screens away, the always having to toggle between navigation and heating and air or radio was nauseating. I’ll bet with more time I would find a way to configure the screen better or just get used to it, but the one tablet for nearly everything approach is not for me. On the last night we were around the presidio when the navigation wouldn’t come on. I knew where we were enough to navigate, but it was frustrating to have no connectivity. After a wonderful dinner at sessions (George Lucas owned) bar and grill, the navigation came back on line.

I should also note that I’m pretty sure the accident was totally my wife’s fault. I was able to creep over cliff edges and in and out of parking lots just fine all over narrow mill valley and downtown. I’m not telling her that though!

Unlike most, I will not buy an electric for the environment. I will buy it when it far surpasses what ice cars can do, and I just don’t think we are there yet. I wanted to try it before it is shoved down our throat. I really think the salvation will be in retrofitting existing ice to all electric power. Not in all cases, but it seems it could be done in most cases. I would gladly have my old Chevy truck converted!

My daily is a mustang with 480 naturally aspirated horses, and it is surprisingly close in performance to the y I rented. I love the feel, the sounds, the smells, and the visceral experience of my mustang. I think I will continue to drive it as long as I can. Newer cars will surpass it but none will equal what it is for me.

[robt57]

Originally Posted by Tickdoc

The refinement of it compared to the Tesla is huge. If I were(or when I do) go electric, I feel I will stay with a mainstream brand like Volvo or Mercedes. The suspension and refinement are already there in those, and Tesla is not there yet, imo.

Drive a S Dual Motor and then see if you feel same, still can say that.