Electric Vehicles on the horizon? Do your homework

I would like an electric car but our govt is making them very expensive (dont get me started here)
I have 5.5Kw of solar on my roof and an electric car makes sense particularly if I can use the battery in it as storage for the excess solar that the energy company only pays a pittance for.
The cheapest house battery is $10,000+
Here we have around 320 days of sunshine a year so a small genny for top ups if the dark skies last too long.
It would go a long way to get me off the grid.
 
Janderso said:
Service costs are much less!
I should add, the industry says the parts and service departments need to realize they will have 70% less business in an EV world.
What do you tell all those guys and gals that are graduating from the automotive technical schools?
Click to expand...
Good point and it reaches far beyond the EV and renewable energy industry. Many jobs are being lost or dumbed down due to automation and simplification of processes. On the other hand, I believe we shouldn't suppress technological progress and not enjoy the advantages they offer. So what do we do? I'm not sure but IMHO a major overhaul of the way we work, might have to happen. A 4 day work week was proposed back in the 1970's perhaps its time to look at that again?
 
Our band got asked to play at a party close to Hornitos in the CA foothills. It was for the organization called Dontcrush. They were trying to stop the automakers from repossessing electric cars in the late 90’s. CA had required that auto manufacturers make and offer at least one zero emission car so Honda, Toyota, Ford and GM all made electric cars that you could only lease. When administration changed in DC they were able to get the law revoked and they took back the cars even though EVERYBODY wanted to buy them. Only Toyota sold some RAV4’s. All others were repossessed and ultimately crushed.
 
this comment is not directed at any specific Green Car owner....


a point i don't believe that has been brought up is resistance by Big Oil
it is in Oil companies best interests to keep the population addicted to their product, they are not going to go away quietly
when the oil companies start buying up electric battery patents and starting battery manufacturing companies,
that's when i'll consider an electric toy

my job prevents me from getting a toy, i could be asked to drive 600 miles, tomorrow
your toy, can't do that
my truck or car can go to the remotest of locations, hundreds of miles away (currently around 400 miles per tank) -the toy can't without making day trips of everything- i could not live my life at 200 miles at a time, stop 4 hours and go another 200 miles
seems completely asinine to me

the only system that seems worthy to me is a Hybrid
a small IC engine (or micro nuclear reactor) turning an electric generator or alternator, using the electricity produced to drive traction motors
 
Ulma Doctor said:
this comment is not directed at any specific Green Car owner....


a point i don't believe that has been brought up is resistance by Big Oil
it is in Oil companies best interests to keep the population addicted to their product, they are not going to go away quietly
when the oil companies start buying up electric battery patents and starting battery manufacturing companies,
that's when i'll consider an electric toy

my job prevents me from getting a toy, i could be asked to drive 600 miles, tomorrow
your toy, can't do that
my truck or car can go to the remotest of locations, hundreds of miles away (currently around 400 miles per tank) -the toy can't without making day trips of everything- i could not live my life at 200 miles at a time, stop 4 hours and go another 200 miles
seems completely asinine to me

the only system that seems worthy to me is a Hybrid
a small IC engine (or micro nuclear reactor) turning an electric generator or alternator, using the electricity produced to drive traction motors
Click to expand...
Hey, it’s all good Doc. I don’t think anybody here is saying anybody has to buy or do anything. There was another thread several months ago and the OP was ultimately negative to electric so some of us felt on the defensive. I thought this was going to be that way too, but seems things have changed.

I identify with your range anxiety and that’s one reason I looked into the Volt. We never have to worry about plugging in if we don’t want to and that’s mighty handy. But our second car is my ‘15 Nissan Frontier. Just can’t get along without a PU.

I have always been majorly concerned about the combined interests of Big Oil the auto industry and the tyranny of the investor class. This bunch who doesn’t “invest” because they have any concerns for anything except their quarterly profits. This shortsighted view hates change. They seek “rent” from everybody on anything possible for as much and as long as possible. Often the only way the stranglehold is broken is through social upheaval because they have all the power and won’t allow change.
 
while in my youth, i worked on material handling equipment
forklifts, scissor lifts, walkie stackers, electric pallet jacks, small battery operated carts and their charging systems
the industrial equipment i worked on broke down-
trucks, cars, ev's, hybrids will all FAIL- eventually
here's my experience ...
IC engine work was quick and resulted in uptimes in the order of hours
when a sit down electric or stand up type forklift performs an unintended smoke show, the end result is replacement of the equipment due to the exorbitant cost of labor to replace the components, wire it in and facilitate operation.
the daily maintenance was rarely{never} performed by the operators, they wouldn't even check to see if chargers were even operating

i fully expect the same occurrences in new age devices, maybe not with the same rate of failure as past design.
i do know that all but a rare handful of folks, destroy everything they get their hands on- the new cars will have to put up with that dilemma

it is in the manufacturers best interest to have you purchase more vehicles when an old one is DOA.
to that end, repair will be made very expensive, slow, and insures the manufacturer will do the repairs as the parts and software will be proprietary
nothin' wrong with that from the manufacturers capitalistic standpoint.
the public at large may have a very different opinion of monopolistic tactics and price fixing (read: gouging), but unknowingly got sucked into a trap by buying into the trend (or maybe social experiment???? :dunno:)
 
I read this a few weeks ago.
www.businessinsider.com

1 in 5 electric vehicle owners in California switched back to gas because charging their cars is a hassle, research shows

Roughly 20% of electric vehicle owners in California replaced their cars with gas ones, a recent study shows.
www.businessinsider.com www.businessinsider.com
I think that there are very few people that an electric car would be an ideal primary source of transportation. I could see it for a second car or if you have a reserved parking spot at your job with a charging station.
I am hoping for a breakthrough with hydrogen extraction technology. Getting fuel directly from water. We could have hydrogen generators in our homes first. Then, when it could be small enough to do it on board that would be the new normal. The shipping industry would benefit tremendously. Ships could extract fuel right from the ocean. I don't think we are ready to drive 200mi and wait for over an hour to keep going when you can spend just 5 minutes at a gas pump and then go another 300-400 miles.
This would be me, except the generator would be running in the trunk while I am driving down the road.
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Great thread Jeff!
 
Multiple times I have had to tell the pink-green haired gen-whatev that the 10 year old hybrid they just bought to be all economical and green and stuff needs $xxxx (sometimes $xxxxx) worth of batteries. It always ends in tears.
 
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