What will we do when the world goes mostly electric

[Miguelg510]

14 hours ago, Daves1940Buick56S said:

Just one addition. Charging a car inductively in a parking spot will be incredibly lossy unless there was some way to lower the pickup coil to ground level, and even then a lot more lossy than just plugging in. If we are trying to reduce carbon footprint it's not a good idea. How much more difficult is it to use the plug anyway? Edit: to be clear lossy means inefficient, in other words wasted energy. I lapse into engineering speak sometimes, sorry!

I have solar panels which helps cost but I do run over sometimes and have a true up bill so I pay a good amount for my electricity and with the outrageous inflation in the US the cost of power is rising daily. I’d be interested to really know if I’m saving money not buying gas, or just evenly switching who I’m paying between gas and power or am I paying more with my electric car due to price of power always going up. 

[rocketraider]

In a corollary to "if it exists, there is porn of it", if it exists someone has figured out a way to make money off it.

 

Right now world events are conspiring to jack up the price of all petroleum products. Supply and demand as it were.

 

Same thing will happen with electricity prices when all these EVs hit the grid. In areas that have already tightly stretched electric supply, you'll see ever more expensive costs per kWh.

 

 

[ply33]

36 minutes ago, Miguelg510 said:

I have solar panels which helps cost but I do run over sometimes and have a true up bill so I pay a good amount for my electricity and with the outrageous inflation in the US the cost of power is rising daily. I’d be interested to really know if I’m saving money not buying gas, or just evenly switching who I’m paying between gas and power or am I paying more with my electric car due to price of power always going up. 

Utility costs seem to go up more than other things so who knows what the future will bring.

 

The cost of gasoline and electricity vary a lot based on location. EVs vary in efficiency just as internal combustion cars vary on MPG.

 

Assuming an EV with average efficiency, in my area with my local cost of gas and electricity a conventional car would need to get about 150 MPG to have the same $/mi fuel cost.

 

Your mileage will vary. A lot. Look up your cost $/kWh and your local $/gal and do your own estimate. Unless you live close to me you will come up with a different result. Don’t forget to add in the additional EV registration fee many states are adding in to compensate for loss of gas tax on EVs.

[60FlatTop]

Next time you hear someone spouting about carbon footprints, solar panels, electric cars, the climate change formerly know by the name of global warming, and the like just ask them how many kilowatt hours of electricity they paid for in their last electric bill. Or start at the top of the EPA and work your way through the ranks. Most have no clue. It's not really for them.

 

Do you know what yours is? What is your plan to reduce your consumption just a little over last year?

 

A few years ago Cornell University put out a Go Green flyer. They wrote: Replace your plastic yoga mat with a renewable bamboo mat. I thought, throw away the one you already have and ship a new one from the land of bamboo? That's what they wrote.

 

The greenest product you will ever own is the one you own today. The greenest car you can buy is a used one should you need a car.

[Miguelg510]

45 minutes ago, ply33 said:

Utility costs seem to go up more than other things so who knows what the future will bring.

 

The cost of gasoline and electricity vary a lot based on location. EVs vary in efficiency just as internal combustion cars vary on MPG.

 

Assuming an EV with average efficiency, in my area with my local cost of gas and electricity a conventional car would need to get about 150 MPG to have the same $/mi fuel cost.

 

Your mileage will vary. A lot. Look up your cost $/kWh and your local $/gal and do your own estimate. Unless you live close to me you will come up with a different result. Don’t forget to add in the additional EV registration fee many states are adding in to compensate for loss of gas tax on EVs.

Is an electric car registration different than a gas cars???

[rocketraider]

Depends on the state. As Ply33 pointed out, many are imposing EV surcharges on licensing and registration to make up for the loss of gasoline tax revenue.

[old-tank]

1 hour ago, Miguelg510 said:

I saw pictures of the garbage bins Regan had them throw all the solar panels and stuff away in… like get this poop outta here hahaha

Those were not photovolltaic units...just water heaters like your hose laying in the sun delivers hot water.  Unless there was a method to store the hot water you could have a hot shower at noon (midnight, not so hot).

[Miguelg510]

37 minutes ago, rocketraider said:

Depends on the state. As Ply33 pointed out, many are imposing EV surcharges on licensing and registration to make up for the loss of gasoline tax revenue.

Man, so many webs accumulate the deeper you go in this topic

[ply33]

5 hours ago, Miguelg510 said:

Is an electric car registration different than a gas cars???

Yes, there is a surcharge on your registration for both EVs and PHEVs in California. Given the location in your handle that applies to any EV you might purchase.

 

Given the surcharge, the California gas tax rates and how many miles I typically drive per mile, my old plain hybrid paid less per mile in road taxes than my new EV. The EV is still substantially cheaper per mile than a typical internal combustion vehicle only because the typical internal combustion vehicle is so inefficient and California gas prices are so high (even though electrical rates are pretty high too).

[Frank DuVal]

13 hours ago, auburnseeker said:

I wonder how many gas tanks have exploded while sitting dormant as opposed to haw many batteries may have shorted and caught fire while not actively being used.  Can't recall the last time I heard of a manufacturer telling you not to park your car in the garage because the gas tank would just explode,  but I do recall more than one manufacture,  telling you not to park your EV inside. 

 

Well, gasoline cars do catch on fire. Some with recalls by the manufacturer.

 

https://www.consumerreports.org/car-recalls-defects/park-recalled-hyundai-kia-vehicles-outside-due-to-fire-risk-a1002120529/#:~:text=The recalled vehicles include 2016,2016-2018 Kia K900 sedan.

 

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-04-26-mn-63066-story.html#:~:text=The recall covers these Ford,and F-Series pickup truck.

 

And another Ford recall:

 

https://www.autoweek.com/news/a1997161/millions-ford-vehicles-recalled-engine-fire-risk-are-still-unrepaired/

 

And another:

 

https://www.motortrend.com/news/ford-recalls-230k-vehicles-for-fire-risk/

 

I guess you consider these all electrical fires, but they are not EVs! They are the cars you like to own, those gasoline cars.

 

 

[auburnseeker]

But the context was that the gas tank exploded and caused the fire.   Not something else that could eventually get to the gas tank,  which is the case with any fire.  

[old-tank]

"What will we do when the world goes mostly electric"  (worry about that later...for now be concerned about the price and availability of current fuels)

[NTX5467]

As to charging, I read where "charging on the go" via inductive loops in the roadway is currently in Europe.  No need to park for a period of time.  As for over-the-road trucks, hydrogen power can be a better alternative to pure EV, from what I saw in a Babcox Publications video this morning.

 

As for total cost of ownership, do NOT forget the fact that no more engine oil changes, no air filter changes, no coolant changes (worries), and lots of other things we now have to be concerned with.  But I also suspect that others might surface with full EVs that few are currently talking about now, which will factor into the total cost of ownership.  I also suspect the current federal subsidies (IF they are still around) will go away as states also find ways to recoup their loss in road taxes on gasoline.  As with the current Toyota batteries, a new industry of rehab/reman batteries will certainly happen for the current battery technology.  So . . . any possible calculations of total cost of ownership can be speculation, for many, at this time.  As many try to calculate electrical energy consumption from their power company.

 

It was also mentioned that companies with normal vehicle fleets could assign those vehicles to employees who would drive the vehicles home at night, using home chargers to do the charging (of which the employees would be compensated). 

 

Way back when Texas Utilities was doing some of their own research on electric vehicles, they had some Chevy S-10s (in their compaly fleet) converted to electric power.  Probably about 7+ years before GM built some at the Shreveport assembly plant.  We asked about recharging.  Their rep said that was easy.  With a possibly dedicated grid on the existing electric grid, he said they could cycle the charging "On" time from various parts of town thru the night hours.  "No big deal", he said.  But that was back then when fewer vehicles were on the road OR in multi-family dwellings.

 

The OTHER thing nobody has really talked about is that although NEW vehicles will become more electrified in the coming decade, possibly on an opportunity orientation as old platforms are retired and new platform come online to replace them, EV models will be more gradual than not, I suspect.  Which will also allow new car dealerships to more easily transition toward the EV market.  The platform changes are a normal part of the vehicle business, so this would mean a sequential approach rather than ad sudden change.  Unlike back in the 1950s and 1960s when a OEM's total lineup would change all at once.  This made things more exciting to go look at back then, but under the modern way of doing things, it was a more expensive way to do things, too.  But that was also when the USA was majority USA-brands of vehicles, too.

 

A petroleum industry observer was on KRLD-1080 the other day.  He mentioned that in prior period so crude oil "shortages", that drillers increased production to fill the gaps.  BUT that they were not doing that, or had shown no desire to do that this time, as they wanted to make more money.  That old "supply and demand" market issue!  Yesterday, another industry observer predicted that gasoline prices would not be "what normal was three weeks ago", possibly, for another six months.  I just hope that those oil companies' stocks are in my 401-K portfolio.  Remember, too, that crude oil supplies are global rather than otherwise, so it affects the whole globe rather than just specifically countries, states, regions, or particular metro areas.  While symbolic for the USA and other countries to release stored crude from their strategic reserves, the total projected release only amounts to about 1 days-worth of consumption.

 

One other observation has been that during times of higher gasoline prices in the past, many drivers are still driving as hard as ever!  Still running 10 mph over the posted speed limits on Interstates and Loops.  Still passing only to stop 2 cars in front of you at the next stop sign.  These actions burned more fuel when the price of gasoline was 20 cents/gallon and they still burn more fuel in modern vehicles when gasoline is well past $3.75/gallon.  Perhaps they need to understand that less money spent on gasoline can mean MORE money to spend on other things?

 

Remember, too, that EVs can be more sensitive to the rolling resistance of tires than a similar gasoline-powered vehicle.  Possibly one reason that many tire companies have started selling lower-rolling-resistance radial tires?

 

There's still a LOT to get figured out and not much real time to do it in!  No matter what some might say,  Inflation is certainly not going to end next week just as EVs will not be the majority of new vehicle purchases for many years yet.

 

Enjoy the remaining time in the most beneficial and efficient manner individually posslble!

 

NTX5467

[NTX5467]

In addition to the comic books you looked at, I saw movies on monochrome TV where a tired, old prospector in the NV desert topped a hill to see a mirage, which was no mirage.  A nice, prim and proper white frame house, picket fence, furnished, with a '53 Mercury under the attached carport.  From a safe-distance bunker, the military operatives were watching through field glasses.  They noticed the prospector intrude into the drop zone, so they went out to get him out of harm's way . . . just in the nick of time.

 

Salespeople as holograms?  Guess one could conjur-up Billy Durant, Cal Worthington, Endora, or even Art Grindle?  Wonder how HR would handle that?

 

I am guardedly optimistic that I will not see the full shift to EVs in my lifetime, with many of y'all being similar.  As the vast TX petroleum industry increases its supply to the vast PetroChemical Industry to keep the world awash with high-tech plastic variations, while powering atmospheric carbon dioxide scrubbers in the Permian Basin.

 

Enjoy!

NTX5467

Edited March 26, 2022 by NTX5467 (see edit history)

[Daves1940Buick56S]

Art Grindle! Massey-Grindle dealership in Orlando. I want to sell YOU a car!

[NTX5467]

In the earlier 1960s, Art Grindle had a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership in Dallas, TX.  Would sell a new Valiant for $99.00/month.  But those who went to buy one discovered the spare tire, jack, and maybe even the back seat were "dealer installed options", some claimed.  Plus that when they went to evaluate your trade, the keys allegedly were on the building's roof.  And those footprints in the car, those were the marks of a demonstrator?  From Dallas, he went to Houston, and who knows where after that.

 

Enjoy!

NTX5467

[Daves1940Buick56S]

He landed in Orlando FL. Part of Massey-Grindle, I think Dodge, and also a bunch of smaller used car lots. When I went to my grandparents' in Ormond Beach for the summer I recall seeing his ads on the Orlando channels. This was mid-60s to early 70s. Usually he would be in the sales lot as a parade of cars went by with him shouting at 5 miles a minute. He would always climb on top of the last car to end the commercial. Sometimes they were live and I remember on one car the roof caved in!

[nick8086]

What % are we at now.. Maybe 1 % We have 40 years to go until it is a question to ask..

 

Just look at California , They have a mess in getting power to it customers.  Or rolling black outs..

 

 

Last year I ran my  gas  power Portable Generator just to charge my phone.. We had a tree take out my power lines..