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

[tellyho]

I've definitely decided I will not buy another internal combustion engine. That said, I'm not running to buy an EV; mostly because I don't need one yet. I'll be running my cars into the ground, and then I think we can get away with one + cargo e-bike.

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by bikinchris

I keep telling people that the grid was NOT ready when all the heavy electrical appliances we like to use now came online. Refrigerators, televisions and air conditioners. It adapted. It WILL adapt again.

Agreed. Lots of pearl clutching going on WRT EVs but nobody talks about the electrical needs of the ever increasing number of big box stores and online shopping warehouse centers, etc. There are lots of things that demand electricity but EVs seem to cause angst for some. The misinformation campaigns of the petroleum industry are successful with many people.

[rice rocket]

Originally Posted by bikinchris

I keep telling people that the grid was NOT ready when all the heavy electrical appliances we like to use now came online. Refrigerators, televisions and air conditioners. It adapted. It WILL adapt again.

You forgot bitcoins

[Davist]

The comments about "pearl clutching" and the grid capacity are misplaced. The annual consumption of electricity in the US has stayed steady since about 2010. per statista The deregulation of the electrical grid resulted in typical utilities getting out of the "generation" business and into the "transmission and distribution" business. As a result, we're ill equipped to take on additional capacity. The (while still relatively low percentage) adoption of solar and wind had added instabilty to the grid. Here's a look at the so called "duck curve" for solar in CA here This hasn't yet begun to be addressed and the short term and acres of battery energy storage are not practical (neither is vehicle to grid at this point. Hopefully we'll figure it all out but the next few years may be bumpy. Look at UK's recent walk backs of both renewable and EVs off shore wind "distaster" commentary

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by rice rocket

You forgot bitcoins

You mean old, inefficient, dirty power plants, many coal powered, being bought and re-started by gigantic bitcoin mining companies? Yup....

https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...issions-soared

[Davist]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

You mean old, inefficient, dirty power plants, many coal powered, being bought and re-started by gigantic bitcoin mining companies? Yup....

https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...issions-soared

Yawn, that's a '22 article talking about an '19 issue, about a 115MW plant. Bitcoin is very volatile market as everyone knows and the power usage fluctuates wildly, given current market conditions that plant may be slated to close again.

Now burning gas and oil to offset solar every night in CA is a far greater load and environmental concern. CA consumption of electricity is over 15GW with 42% coming from natural gas as an example.

[Tickdoc]

Originally Posted by bfd

With regard to Q2, at some Superchargers, Tesla has moved some chargers sideways to I presume accommodate other brands. For example, at the Gilroy supercharger, there's like 4 chargers that have been positioned sideways:



There's still another 8-10+ chargers for only Teslas.

Good Luck!

PS - btw, I was there last Saturday and it was filled! Not one charger available. So I drove to the other supercharger in Gilroy that's about 5 minutes away and got the last charger available! Man, when Ford, GM and others come on board, they're going to need a lot more chargers!!! LOL

Just finished my second electric experiment and I will say the tesla Chargers are far superior to electrify America in both ease and function. Waited til 9 at night before we flew out to charge the Polestar a mall based electrify America charger and it was a chore. Tried two different chargers before finally finding one that would work, and even then it took three times of plugging it in to get it to recognize the car. Sucks too, because you are jockeying with other people trying to charge and there is a competition there that I can see leading to major altercations. There is no way to tell if a charger is functioning or not until you plug it in, so you have to find a slot, back in, plug up, realize it doesn't work, then move to another spot. By then, someone else has swooped in. We've all heard of range anxiety, but then there is charge anxiety. You can get decent charge in a short amount of time, but the 80-100% charge takes forever. Add to that, I'm in a rental, and I get charged $35 if I don't bring it back at 70% or more charge. So I have to sit there longer to overcharge so I can make it to the airport on time with enough charge left....It's just a bunch of stress you don't normally have to deal with.

Charged twice for about 30 min each, spent a total of about $25 to charge. Opening up telsa superchargers will greatly help, but only if they keep adding them.

[saab2000]

Re: More Superchargers

https://insideevs.com/news/663391/te...rk-2023q1/amp/

https://insideevs.com/news/663391/te...rk-2023q1/amp/

[paredown]

Originally Posted by saab2000

Agreed. Lots of pearl clutching going on WRT EVs but nobody talks about the electrical needs of the ever increasing number of big box stores and online shopping warehouse centers, etc. There are lots of things that demand electricity but EVs seem to cause angst for some. The misinformation campaigns of the petroleum industry are successful with many people.

The NYTimes article I posted about the grid (that probably started the grid comments) was not "pearl clutching"--it was a decent look at the political and regulatory environment of the grid--pointing to the fact that it is a patchwork of regulatory bodies, private operators protecting fiefdoms etc. Insofar as the finger was pointed at the 'grid", it was to say that in its current condition and governance it is not up to the task of integrating renewables AND transitioning to Biden's goals for electrification.

The article didn't say that it couldn't be done, just that the path forward is more complicated than say the construction of the Interstate System, where a single regulatory body set standards, helped plan and finance a coherent system etc.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...smid=url-share

(reposted; gift article)

[72gmc]

Toyota stepping in where the need is perhaps greatest?

https://www.autonews.com/mobility-re...900-mile-range

[wc1934]

Originally Posted by Davist

The comments about "pearl clutching" and the grid capacity are misplaced. The annual consumption of electricity in the US has stayed steady since about 2010. per statista The deregulation of the electrical grid resulted in typical utilities getting out of the "generation" business and into the "transmission and distribution" business. As a result, we're ill equipped to take on additional capacity. The (while still relatively low percentage) adoption of solar and wind had added instabilty to the grid. Here's a look at the so called "duck curve" for solar in CA here This hasn't yet begun to be addressed and the short term and acres of battery energy storage are not practical (neither is vehicle to grid at this point. Hopefully we'll figure it all out but the next few years may be bumpy. Look at UK's recent walk backs of both renewable and EVs off shore wind "distaster" commentary

Regarding my electric bill here in MA, the delivery of electricity (by Eversource) is almost twice that of the supply (cost of the electricity from DYENEGY).

[Davist]

Originally Posted by wc1934

Regarding my electric bill here in MA, the delivery of electricity (by Eversource) is almost twice that of the supply (cost of the electricity from DYENEGY).

wow! here in PA it's about $.02 on top of the $.09 per kWh

[KarlC]

What do you guys think of the Tesla Model 3 for $20K ??

https://www.kbb.com/car-news/a-tesla...in-california/

https://jalopnik.com/tesla-model-3-s...nia-1850510808

.

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by paredown

The NYTimes article I posted about the grid (that probably started the grid comments) was not "pearl clutching"--it was a decent look at the political and regulatory environment of the grid--pointing to the fact that it is a patchwork of regulatory bodies, private operators protecting fiefdoms etc. Insofar as the finger was pointed at the 'grid", it was to say that in its current condition and governance it is not up to the task of integrating renewables AND transitioning to Biden's goals for electrification.

The article didn't say that it couldn't be done, just that the path forward is more complicated than say the construction of the Interstate System, where a single regulatory body set standards, helped plan and finance a coherent system etc.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...smid=url-share

(reposted; gift article)

I’ll check the articles in your links.

My point about ‘pearl clutching’ isn’t in reference to anything you’ve said. I’m referring far, far up the thread (many pages ago) where there are comments full of misinformation and anxiety about EVs when, as others point out, they’re just another user, like air conditioners, electric ranges, heaters, etc. The sky has not fallen yet.

We’ll see what happens. I’m not afraid of EVs being the downfall of our infrastructure.

[bikinchris]

I do know that if I hit the Powerball, one place I'm going to invest is high speed chargers in convenient locations for people doing errands like grocery stores, shopping malls etc. also at large hotels. that would be an easy add on the renting a hotel room. "Rent a room and the car charge is included."