EV or no EV?

[Alexzn]

Do they make ev campers?

Rivian truck can do this. Another advantage is that an EV has a huge battery that can run the climate control literally for days, so you can sleep inside with heat and AC on all night (and silent too).

BTW, the quick battery drain in the cold is a bit of a myth, as nothing else compares to the energy expense of driving. The battery does suffer and the driving range is reduced in the cold quite a bit, but there is still plenty of juice to run the heater all night when the car is parked. For comparison, a home backup battery of 32 kWh is considered pretty large and can supply the electricity needs for a large suburban house all night without any issues. A Tesla battery is 70-100 kWh.

P.S. To be honest, the Rivian truck looks pretty amazing. I am very much looking forward to the next few years where we should see F150 Lightning, Silverado EV, and of course the much-delayed Cybertruck.

 

[Tom K.]

You are driving long distance on a powder morning? Mods, can we please ban this joker? I drive up the night before, so I am skiing the powder while you are stuck in traffic at the exit. ;-).

Seems kinda crazy to drive 13 miles the night before a powder dump........

 

[Alexzn]

Seems kinda crazy to drive 13 miles the night before a powder dump........

You will not need a charger after 13 miles, unless you are riding an electric scooter ;-). My drive is 220 miles with 7,000+ft elevation gain. 10 minute charging stop does not seem like a huge deal there (and I can watch Netflix on the car's screen while it is charging, so we often end up sitting there for more than we need.

 

[DanoT]

P.S. When your battery runs low, you go to a charger....

P.P.S. Even with higher taxes fueling an EV will be significantly cheaper especially in Canada that has a lot of cheap hydroelectric power.

I don't drive everyday, and like you say charging spots are not always available.

And as I previously stated even with cheap electricity in some parts of Canada, the low cost of electricity will soon be a thing of the past due to both taxes and infrastructure costs of hydro dams.

Example: The latest hydro-electric dam in Newfoundland and Labrador is now 2x the original cost estimate and years behind schedule, financed by the provincial government, required an additional federal government investment (bailout) to keep the project going. While it will eventually allow for the closing of a diesel generating power plant, thinking that the hydro produced electricity will be inexpensive is delusional thinking. Hydro dams are the way to go, where possible, and they provide clean electricity, but it is not cheap.

Muskrat Falls hydro generating station could take another year to be fully operational: consultant | Globalnews.ca

The project is years overdue and costs have ballooned from $7.4 billion when it was first approved in 2012 to $13.1 billion as of September 2020.

globalnews.ca

 

[cantunamunch]

Oh dear. I can't even imagine going through school with that sort of name.

 

[James]

Muskrat Falls makes the abandoned nuke at Shoreham Long Island look sort of cheap.

Rivian truck can do this. Another advantage is that an EV has a huge battery that can run the climate control literally for days, so you can sleep inside with heat and AC on all night (and silent too).

BTW, the quick battery drain in the cold is a bit of a myth, as nothing else compares to the energy expense of driving. The battery does suffer and the driving range is reduced in the cold quite a bit, but there is still plenty of juice to run the heater all night when the car is parked. For comparison, a home backup battery of 32 kWh is considered pretty large and can supply the electricity needs for a large suburban house all night without any issues. A Tesla battery is 70-100 kWh.

P.S. To be honest, the Rivian truck looks pretty amazing. I am very much looking forward to the next few years where we should see F150 Lightning, Silverado EV, and of course the much-delayed Cybertruck.

That’s a tent on a bed. I guess they better have a gas generator for backup. Then you need gas cans. I suppose one could go propane.

 

[DanoT]

Muskrat Falls makes the abandoned nuke at Shoreham Long Island look sort of cheap.

Did they abandon the Shoreham nuke plant due to construction/operating costs or environmental concerns? I don't agree with the enviro concerns as nuke power has proven itself to be safe. As far as nuclear waste goes, imo, in 20, 50, or maybe it will be100 years from now, we will be sending nuclear waste for storage to the moon. And we may even end up driving EVs powered by on board small nuclear power plants...Ok maybe it will just be long haul trucks, trains and planes, and ships. OTOH if they ever get nuclear fusion commercially viable, that will be THE huge game changer.

 

[Dave Marshak]

Muskrat Falls makes the abandoned nuke at Shoreham Long Island look sort of cheap.

Shoreham was $6 Billion, but that was 40 years ago when when a billion was real money. It was shut down when the towns in Suffolk county vetoed every evacuation plan.
Big hydro projects are about replacing nukes and coal and other fossil generation. It has nothing to do with EVs. The electric industry runs at 30 or 40 percent capacity, so there will always be excess capacity available cheaply in the early morning hours. EVs are all new revenue with very little cost to the utilities. Connecting them to the grid will actually increase peak capacity, and the utilities will pay for that. The electric industry has 99 problems but EVs aren't one of them.
All the objections to EVs remind me of when my grandfather told me Model Ts would never replace horses because all the naphtha it would take to fuel them. Never bet against technology.

dm

 

[Lauren]

Should we throw Plant Vogtle into the mix of large scale power projects that are WAY over budget...?

 

[James]

Never bet against technology.

Except big nukes?

 

[Dave Marshak]

Except big nukes?

Good point. Don't bet against new technology, but never ever bet against irrational fear.

dm

 

[crgildart]

Just saw a blurb that said VW is expected to sell more EVs than Tesla by 2025.. So should they change their company name to................................................



VOLTSWAGON?????????????

 

[Rod9301]

@DanoT Given that gasoline costs in my area have already hit $7/gallon (and this is not Canada, this is US!), your post reads like a cruel joke... Electricity is still so much cheaper. And, I can pass pretty much any gas-powered car with relative ease...

So feel free to bash EVs but do yourself a favor, rent a good one for a day and drive it. The we can talk.

Unfortunately for most people, the lowest cost EV is$55,000, do saving $80 a month, like Biden said, is not going to cut it.

 

[Snowfan]

^^^ Are you referencing Canada prices?

In US the Chevy Bolt starts at 31,500 and Nissan Leaf 27,400.

 

[PinnacleJim]

Shoreham was $6 Billion, but that was 40 years ago when when a billion was real money. It was shut down when the towns in Suffolk county vetoed every evacuation plan.

The shutdown was all politics, not technical problems. They had loaded fuel and the plant had begun low power testing and was in process to go online when shut down. So they had a contaminated plant to decomission. So stupid.

 

[James]

Well Japan has spent $27 Billion and counting after Fukushima and you still don’t want to live within miles of that place. Shoreham was 1960’s technology. Unfortunately, Three Mile Island cut research into nukes for decades.

Never underestimate humans ability to underestimate cascading failure points. Especially obvious ones in hindsight. Like your essential generators are prone to flooding.

 

[DanoT]

Well Japan has spent $27 Billion and counting after Fukushima and you still don’t want to live within miles of that place. Shoreham was 1960’s technology. Unfortunately, Three Mile Island cut research into nukes for decades.

Never underestimate humans ability to underestimate cascading failure points. Especially obvious ones in hindsight. Like your essential generators are prone to flooding.

For those who may not be fully aware of some of the Fukushima, Japan nuclear accident: The plant was designed to never be shut down, so even though there was advanced warning of the tsunami there was nothing that could be done. But not to worry, as the nuclear plant was designed to withstand a tsunami, and it did. Local power outage was anticipated so the plant had a backup diesel powered generator. The only problem was that the building housing the generator was not designed to withstand a tsunami so it flooded, knocking out the diesel generator causing the nuclear meltdown.

 

[cantunamunch]

Anyone rented a Tesla yet?

 

[wallyk]

@Rod9301 is kind of right.......kind of hard in the short-run for the EV to gain mass market penetration in the US and EU. If commoditizaton and adaption of the EV depends on masses, the end of cheap money along with rising production and sales costs will present a host of challenges.

 

[James]

Elio Motors!
$15k small electric. Will it ever happen??
(Not recommended as ski vehicle)

Elio Motors - The Ultimate Electric Vehicle Commuter

Elio Motors provides personal transportation alternatives that are fun to drive and built in the USA. Say goodbye to ordinary and say hello to Elio. Get updates now!

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