Electric Car thread

WattsUpDude said:
Chademo is being phased out. The upcoming Nissan Ariya will be using J1772. I don’t know that a J1772 to Chademo adapter exists. I bought a J1772 to Tesla adapter for our Bolt for when we are over at my sister’s place since they have a Model Y.
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The question is how fast will they disappear. There are no adapters coming as I understand it.
 
We opted for a plug-in hybrid so we could charge it at the house overnight and not rely on charging on the road. It is averaging 99 mpg with our driving around town. Two big advantages of the plug-in hybrid are not needing a public charging station and having a spare tire. Cars like the Chevvy Bolt lack a spare tire and with a flat tire one needs to wait for a flat bed type tow truck to take it to a tire store and hope that the store is open and has the tire needed. If the tire store is not open then it means a night in a hotel and meals at restaurants and a taxi ride to the tire store.

We have solar panels on the roof of our house and electricity we do not use is bought by the utility monopoly and we get only $0.03 per kWh which in turn the sell to their other customers for $0.39 per kWh, a nice profit margin of 93% and for which they did not spend a dime on new capital equipment or it operation and maintenance.
 
I have solar on my Roof and a battery to be able to use it during high peak / no sun periods and the reality of the Utility agreement is not that simple.

On a simplified level:

Utility companies are businesses, they buy Energy at a Wholesale rate (ie: $.03/kWh) and sell it at retail rates (ie: $0.12/kWh). The difference (the operating margin) pays for their costs (people, infrastructures, repair and maintenance of the grid etc…) and margin (R&D, expansion…).

When you have a Solar system tied to the grid, you are still, using the grid, you just become an occasional provider of electricity, so business wise, there is no reason the Utility should buy your electricity for more money than they can buy it elsewhere :)

And if they did, as more and more people have solar, their differential between the purchase costs and the selling revenue would shrink, lowering their operating margin, and forcing them to increase the retail price to maintain operability / profitability.

On a more detail level:

Many utilities offer Net Metering Contracts (NEM) that work on a yearly basis. These actually provide quite a benefit to the user.

At first the electricity you send back to the grid it is credited to you at retail price. That credit is then used to offset the cost of the electricity you import when you have no solar. So if you export during mid peak and import during mid peak it is a wash. If you export during low peak and import during high peak, you pay the difference. If you export during high peak and use during low peak, you keep more credit.
THEN at the end of the year (at True Up) if you owe more, you pay. If you still have credits from the above, it is canceled, and instead you get Wholesale price for the surplus of kWh exported.

This is actually a gift/incentive for solar users, as business wise, it does not quite make sense for the Utility :)
 
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This is actually a gift/incentive for solar users, as business wise, it does not quite make sense for the Utility :)

It’s an incentive but no gift. As private renewables grow the the grid becomes more stable and the delivering enterprise (Co-Op in my case) has less need for further buildout.
 
Mulezen said:
This is actually a gift/incentive for solar users, as business wise, it does not quite make sense for the Utility :)

It’s an incentive but no gift. As private renewables grow the the grid becomes more stable and the delivering enterprise (Co-Op in my case) has less need for further buildout.
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Not quite.
By crediting solar users retail price, that too contribute to lowering the Operating Margin of the utility. The more this happens the more they will need to raise retail price to compensate the loss of operating margin...
This is part of a controversy in California right now, as if retail prices have to go up because of this, it affects the Non solar users, which contains the people with less income...

I am happy to benefit from the NEM agreement, but I am conscious it is not entirely fair to the business and the other users...
 
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The resiliency solar offers the network is a tangible asset. I do question whether requiring new homes to have solar (as I understand CA does) is less efficient than consolidating into farms…even small segments supporting micro-grids.
Fairness to Duke Energy, or more locally, Dominion Power, is more than looked after by their lobbyists and lawyers.
 
Make sure your fire insurance is up to snuff. GM is offering 6k to existing Bolt owners in exchange for signing a waiver to exempt them from being sued .
 
TForan52 said:
Make sure your fire insurance is up to snuff. GM is offering 6k to existing Bolt owners in exchange for signing a waiver to exempt them from being sued .
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What a beautiful example of distortion of the facts, to serve a personal narrative.
Congratulations :)
 
Elkman said:
We opted for a plug-in hybrid
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Here too, ordered and paid if Toyota ever starts shipping... Local lots have NO NEW TOYOTA!!

1659976005074.png
 
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Elkman said:
We opted for a plug-in hybrid so we could charge it at the house overnight and not rely on charging on the road. It is averaging 99 mpg with our driving around town. Two big advantages of the plug-in hybrid are not needing a public charging station and having a spare tire. Cars like the Chevvy Bolt lack a spare tire and with a flat tire one needs to wait for a flat bed type tow truck to take it to a tire store and hope that the store is open and has the tire needed. If the tire store is not open then it means a night in a hotel and meals at restaurants and a taxi ride to the tire store.

We have solar panels on the roof of our house and electricity we do not use is bought by the utility monopoly and we get only $0.03 per kWh which in turn the sell to their other customers for $0.39 per kWh, a nice profit margin of 93% and for which they did not spend a dime on new capital equipment or it operation and maintenance.
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Our top choices for plug-ins were the Prius Prime and the Tucson plug in. I ruled the Prius Prime off since dealers around here are marking them up significantly. A lot of buyers are paying $38k or more. The Tucson plug-in is still a good value since it offers standard AWD. However, when we really thought about our uses, a full EV made more sense in our situation. If we bought the Tucson, it would only cover 1/3 of my long commute on BEV and then revert to hybrid mode. That would mean I'd still be burning almost 2 gallons of gas per work day. Plug ins make a lot of sense for many people, especially if they can maximize EV only mode.

And yes, our Bolt does not come with a spare tire (though we can fit one), but it's definitely not an EV specific issue. It's a modern car issue. I'm a bit of a grease monkey so I'm well versed on using a plug kit for punctures. In most areas, a plug kit, inflator and AAA roadside will suffice.
 
Have come across broken EV chargers more often than I'd like. Really a shame. PHEVs are the way to go IMHO, unless you only travel short distances, and have a different car for longer trips.
 
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WattsUpDude said:
I love the RAV 4 Prime. These are selling in the $60k range in my area!!!
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The dealerhere isn’t adding a premium. But who know when it’ll be delivered. 1 to 6 months were told. 14 Toyota vehicles in 48 years but loyalty means nothing
 
Even if you have a longer commute, you should still consider an EV over a PHEV. An L2 charger at home will get you back to full before the morning and you won't have to worry about gas or ICE maintenance.

If you're planning on road trips, then I would consider a PHEV or just a high mileage ICE vehicle (although road trips favor larger cars which is counter to good MPG).

I haven't ridden in a Bolt yet but I would consider the EUV over the Leaf today if interior space were similar and the ride was softer than the Y. I default to driving the Leaf over the Y mostly because of the harsh ride.
 
tomjasz said:
The dealerhere isn’t adding a premium. But who know when it’ll be delivered. 1 to 6 months were told. 14 Toyota vehicles in 48 years but loyalty means nothing
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Great car, but of course supply disruptions and demand driving availability. One thing the current state of the world is telling us, is that patience is a good thing to have to maintain sanity 😀
 
BigNerd said:
Even if you have a longer commute, you should still consider an EV over a PHEV. An L2 charger at home will get you back to full before the morning and you won't have to worry about gas or ICE maintenance.

If you're planning on road trips, then I would consider a PHEV
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+1
 
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