Hate Mask and Vaccine Mandates? Just Wait For The Electric Cars

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hal2kilo

Lifer
Feb 24, 2009
23,418
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136
Saw my first Rivian truck the other day In Poulsbo. Made me do a double take.
 

Zor Prime

Senior member
Nov 7, 1999
988
560
136
Just got the emergency alert on our cell phones warning us to conserve energy or they may have to start rolling blackouts.
I got that during the middle of having our power turned off for approx 2 hours. I'm like, O RLY? How would I have ever known, as I plug a fan into a UPS unit. And you wanna switch to EV by 2035 -- riiiight, maybe after some substantial infrastructure upgrades. Good news at least the Diablo reactor isn't being decommissioned!
 

quikah

Diamond Member
Apr 7, 2003
4,072
651
126
I got that during the middle of having our power turned off for approx 2 hours. I'm like, O RLY? How would I have ever known, as I plug a fan into a UPS unit. And you wanna switch to EV by 2035 -- riiiight, maybe after some substantial infrastructure upgrades. Good news at least the Diablo reactor isn't being decommissioned!

Curious where you live? Apparently there was a miscommunication between CAISO and NCPA (Cities of Alameda, Lodi, Santa Clara (Silicon Valley Power), Palo Alto, Healdsburg, and Ukiah). There was never supposed to be any forced blackouts.
 
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Zor Prime

Senior member
Nov 7, 1999
988
560
136
Curious where you live? Apparently there was a miscommunication between CAISO and NCPA (Cities of Alameda, Lodi, Santa Clara (Silicon Valley Power), Palo Alto, Healdsburg, and Ukiah). There was never supposed to be any forced blackouts.
Holed up in the Fresno valley area for a spell. It hit 116F here that day then I get called out to help get a horse off the ground. Fun times!
 
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UNCjigga

Lifer
Dec 12, 2000
24,811
9,016
136
Seems like a good read for this thread:

“Reality check: EVs aren't what's straining the grid. California had roughly 680,000 registered EVs as of July 1, per S&P Global Mobility, accounting for less than 1% of the state's total electricity demand.

Even if there are 5 million EVs by 2030, they'll account for about 7% of annual electricity usage and 1% of peak demand, according to the California Air Resources Board.”

“The big question: How can the grid support even more EVs?

There is plenty of spare capacity in the nation's electric grid to power hundreds of millions of EVs, multiple studies have found — as long as charging is properly managed.
Most EVs charge overnight when people are sleeping and electricity demand is low.
Even if they're plugged in all day, owners can schedule when they need their car to be fully charged. Then smart charging technology will automatically find the optimal time to charge.
Where it stands: Many utilities commonly charge customers lower rates for electricity use during off-peak hours, which is helpful when charging an EV at home.

Utilities also typically reward EV owners with discounts for participating in "demand response" programs that automatically interrupt charging briefly when demand is high, allowing the utilities to smooth out energy peaks and avoid blackouts.
What's next: Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology takes that relationship even further, enabling utilities to draw power out of an EV when it's most needed. That's already working for school buses.”

Didn’t realize V2G was already here for electric school buses.

Regarding charging, at least one automaker is working on a new kind of plug-in hybrid that uses hydrogen fuel cell tech. Basically, instead of plugging in you can spend 5 minutes topping off the hydrogen and add 300 miles of range nearly instantly. You wouldn’t need a ton of hydrogen infrastructure for this to work—just a network of stations along major interstates to enable long distance electric driving and reduce range anxiety. Plugging in would be more for everyday use.
 
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Eos

Diamond Member
Jun 14, 2000
3,473
16
81
Going to be interesting to see how the roads get funded once electric hits the tipping point. Gas tax would be unfair or simply too large. Maybe something built into the excise tax? Maybe something else that is a small weekly charge?

Side note a deplorable I know claimed a few weeks ago that electric car owners are paying thousands of dollars a month in electric “it’s more expensive than gas!”
When asked why the few guys we know with teslas are saying their electric bill has jumped he said “their too embarrassed to admit it”

ummm okay sounds legit, I’ll stay with gas.
My previous ICE car: 14873 avg miles per year

.4065 avg per gallon gasoline tax in WA

22.107 mpg

$273 paid in gas tax + $64 for tabs

$337 total per year in road tax and registration for ICE car

$315 per year for Tesla registration
 
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Eos

Diamond Member
Jun 14, 2000
3,473
16
81
Wow.... I'm simply SHOCKED (lol) that adding an EV to your personal electric bill would increase the amount of power you potentially use.

:rolleyes:

Somehow this seems so obvious an outcome it doesn't even rate mentioning unless your a true moron.

It's a minimal increase. Model 3 uses about .3kWh/mile. 2000 miles per month would use 600kW. Or $61 where I live when charging from home exclusively.
I agree an EV would likely work for me *most of the time to commute. However I'm rural, so it would be using my own home charger, there are literally no charging stations within convenient use for me. We also make several drives of over 300 miles every so often, and I've looked at the time it would add to my trips etc. As technology matures and hopefully prices drop I'll re-evaluate. Here's a map of available charging stations in my area, the yellow highlighted is my daily commute of about 25 miles.


View attachment 67209
You're making the argument FOR owning an EV. Shortish commute, occasional long trips. Someone with a L2 connector at home has no need for a local commercial charging station.

The night before leaving for a trip you would charge to 95% of capacity, then take off. There would be plenty of energy to get you to the next charger.
 

Eos

Diamond Member
Jun 14, 2000
3,473
16
81
However being forced to stop and charge is a 100% DIS-advantage for EV's.

Although provided you use an "EV-centric" navigation app and plan your trip at least partially around recharging the EV will eventually you get there.

The pollution and waste from ICE vehicles really sucks BUT I can walk outside to a car on "E" and be doing 75 on the highway with a full tank in less than 10 minutes. (and anywhere I go there will almost certainly be gasoline for sale)

It's generally best to not drive an EV from full to empty and back to full while on trips. Stopping every ~175 miles for ~20 minutes is waaaaay better. When charging between 20% and 80% the battery allows input at the fastest or near fastest rate, plus you get a chance to stretch your legs.
 
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Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,272
10,777
136
It's generally best to not drive an EV from full to empty and back to full while on trips. Stopping every ~175 miles for ~20 minutes is waaaaay better. When charging between 20% and 80% the battery allows input at the fastest or near fastest rate, plus you get a chance to stretch your legs.

Yay? ;)

It's nice that you felt like sharing that information but it in no way makes anything I posted incorrect.
 

Paratus

Lifer
Jun 4, 2004
16,669
13,411
146
That's what usually comes next when anyone says anything positive about ICE vehicles that might be an advantage.
Well the flip side to that coin is the pro ICE / EVs are worthless position is generally for some use case that 99.999% of the world doesn’t care about.

Over on Ars Technica it’s emergency interstate trombone repair man.

It's a reference to an EV thread about a year ago where one of the participants argued that EVs would never meet his needs. He ended up saying something like he had to shuttle parts 8 hours one-way on a regular basis. Then he said he worked as a trombone repair man. So now the emergency trombone repair person has become an in joke for the regulars in the EV threads as a ridiculous argument about 99.9999% use cases which make EVs 'worthless'.
 
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nOOky

Platinum Member
Aug 17, 2004
2,833
1,851
136
It's a minimal increase. Model 3 uses about .3kWh/mile. 2000 miles per month would use 600kW. Or $61 where I live when charging from home exclusively.

You're making the argument FOR owning an EV. Shortish commute, occasional long trips. Someone with a L2 connector at home has no need for a local commercial charging station.

The night before leaving for a trip you would charge to 95% of capacity, then take off. There would be plenty of energy to get you to the next charger.

You're assuming there's an EV out there right now that I actually want to buy and drive to and from work. I prefer AWD for the Wisconsin winters, and I put dedicated winter tires on my vehicle for that. Nothing I have looked at in my price range is palatable to me as of yet. Sorry but I have to actually want to drive what I am driving. By the way, am I the only one that thinks the fit and finish on Teslas looks like crap?

My co-irker just got a Rivian, I need to see what he thinks of it, and ask for a ride.
 

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 28, 1999
62,387
8,154
126
You're assuming there's an EV out there right now that I actually want to buy and drive to and from work. I prefer AWD for the Wisconsin winters, and I put dedicated winter tires on my vehicle for that. Nothing I have looked at in my price range is palatable to me as of yet. Sorry but I have to actually want to drive what I am driving. By the way, am I the only one that thinks the fit and finish on Teslas looks like crap?

My co-irker just got a Rivian, I need to see what he thinks of it, and ask for a ride.


AWD and does pretty fantastic in the snow and on gravel :)

1663008212704.png

1663008282747.png
 

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,272
10,777
136
AWD and does pretty fantastic in the snow and on gravel :)

View attachment 67440

View attachment 67441

My ONLY problem with that particular EV was Ford naming it "Mustang".

I'm sure it's really nice inside and drives great BUT it looks JUST like the quintessential "generic 2022 mid-size SUV", slightly squished with a horse stuck on the front NOT a "sports-car" of any kind!


EDIT: Tell me honestly that if it wasn't your car and I stuck an "Infiniti" badge on that puppy instead of a horse you would even bat an eyelash? (no risk of that with most of the Mustangs I remember!)
 
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vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 28, 1999
62,387
8,154
126
Ford took a corporate risk that many others wouldn't. Coupes are a dying breed and they needed to plant their flag early and expand the tent. It was ballsy and I'm fine with it. Icons can change. Times change. Our novelty needs to as well.

Ford did more disservice to the nameplate shitting out crappy low level trims for 20 years than this will. When I mash the go pedal it slams me into my seat and everything that was next to me is waaaaaaaaay way behind me. Isn't that what a Mustang is supposed to do? It just doesn't have the smell of burnt tires, exhaust and a rumbling V8. But not a lot of conventional Mustangs have that any more either.
 

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,272
10,777
136
I like plain vanilla ice-cream a lot myself.... nothing wrong with it! ;)

And like I said I'm sure that Ford mid-sized generic SUV drives great and is nice from the driver's seat.... it's NOT however a Mustang its a "sport-ish" EV-SUV.

(from the side-rear it has old Hyundai Tucson mixed with Mazda CX-5 lines now that I look more!)
 
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brycejones

Lifer
Oct 18, 2005
26,074
23,947
136
I like plain vanilla ice-cream a lot myself.... nothing wrong with it! ;)

And like I said I'm sure that Ford mid-sized generic SUV drives great and is nice from the driver's seat.... it's NOT however a Mustang its a "sport-ish" EV-SUV.

(from the side it has old Hyundai Tucson mixed with Mazda CX-5 lines now that I look more!)

Whatever hairs you want to split with how Ford named it, it at least has more design character in my opinion than the Model Y that it competes against.
 

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,272
10,777
136
Whatever hairs you want to split with how Ford named it, it at least has more design character in my opinion than the Model Y that it competes against.

I'm not a fan of that particular generic Japanese SUV "look" sorry. (and Tesla's entire lineup is rapidly looking "dated" too)

I've seen a few of those "Mustangs" on the road and they stand out about as much as a mini-van with nice wheels.... Ford could have (and SHOULD have) done a lot better.
 

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 28, 1999
62,387
8,154
126
The rear 3/4 of the car *is* much more striking in person. Just the way they sculpted out the rear fenders, the lack of door handles, the iconic Mustang rear light assembly. It does look very...well...muscular from the rear. The front looks better in GT form with the blacked out grill area. I'll admit that.

1663015836250.png
 

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 28, 1999
62,387
8,154
126
I'm not a fan of that particular generic Japanese SUV "look" sorry. (and Tesla's entire lineup is rapidly looking "dated" too)

I've seen a few of those "Mustangs" on the road and they stand out about as much as a mini-van with nice wheels.... Ford could have (and SHOULD have) done a lot better.

I'm not going to discredit your opinion. I just know I can't hardly driving anywhere without a pile of heads just turning and looking and people stopping me to ask to take pictures :p

It's an attention getter.
 
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Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,272
10,777
136
The rear 3/4 of the car *is* much more striking in person. Just the way they sculpted out the rear fenders, the lack of door handles, the iconic Mustang rear light assembly. It does look very...well...muscular from the rear. The front looks better in GT form with the blacked out grill area. I'll admit that.

View attachment 67453

Again .... nice ride but they should have picked another name. ;)

THAT thing is not a Mustang.

As for "attention" I suppose that depends on where you are.... nice cars are a dime a dozen in my area and people barely notice unless it's a Lambo. (or a stupid jacked up monster-truck)