So much for a Nissan Leaf!

[3930dave]

Right tool for the job....

I wouldn't use a chainsaw to do finish carpentry, nor would I use a Corolla to pull a 30' float trailer.

The list of Careabouts Pilot listed recently are valid concerns for a pure EV. If someone is not willing to consider those factors, and adjust accordingly, then an EV would be a bad choice. Any responsible manufacturer should be addressing all those points in their Sales Process - otherwise, they are just setting themselves up for failure in the market.

Establishing realistic expectations is a key part of any sales process - doubly so when it is a technology that people are not familiar with.

Rgds, D.

 

[Pilot]

Regarding battery life, I looked into the battery replacement cost for a Prius. As I recall, when Toyota introduced the car they projected battery life for about 100K miles (it's been a long time, if anyone has a better memory, jump in), but actual numbers are reported to be much better than that. And cost of replacement was supposed to be many thousands of $$. But costs have come down according to CR and now they say about $2,600 at the dealer and if you have an older car the suggestion is to find a low mileage car at a wrecking yard and get the battery for about $500.

Given the real cost of an EV (no gov't subsidy, which is just a ripoff of non-EV driving consumers) vs. the economy & practicality of a hybrid I would go for the hybrid over an EV, easy choice.

 

[Redneck in training]

Perhaps every dollar spent eight years ago for an off-grid system would cost $0.60 now? Whatever the number, I don't have to think about it being lost in hindsight. :laughing: I have no idea how judge where we are on that cost curve today. Are similar reductions five years away, or will there be leveling out? EDIT: And not to forget utility prices are rising to meet solar prices at the same time.

I think the drop of cost of PV per W of capacity is larger than to 60cent per dollar. I was thinking about PV long time but couldn't make myself do it until the end of 2012 when panel price per W dropepd from 3.50 to below $1. We installed our system DIY for about 1.46/W after rebate.
I think at this price the rate of adoption of PV in residential areas where utility offers net metering will only increase.

Our utility doesn't offer net metering. In fact it is hostile to alternative energy sources. I understand their reasoning though. The utility is small having only little over 800 meters. Since we are in rural area the lenght of lines per address is reltively long. Most of lines are on poles and thus suseptible to damage by natural events. I calculated that the cost of mantenance is about 70 USD/month per address. Since big part of the line maintenance is paid in retail charge per energy net metering would benefit people who produce their own energy. I would pay 70/month if they would offer net metering with banking in return. Currently they make about $1800/year selling excess of energy my system produces plus about $500 by which they increased my billing by taking away my heating rate. So currently my break even time is about 16 to 19 years provided that cost of energy stays constant. Would I do it again? Sure. It was fun project and I am certain that in the long run it will even make financial sense.

 

[woodlandfarms]

Someone mentioned not plugging in at night.

So instead, my buddy has a new BMW 5 series. Very quiet. Well, for the 4th time in a month he has gotten out of his car, left the engine running as you do not put a key in the ignition. Twice he has had to call AAA for gas. The other times he made it back.

 

[3930dave]

Someone mentioned not plugging in at night.

So instead, my buddy has a new BMW 5 series. Very quiet. Well, for the 4th time in a month he has gotten out of his car, left the engine running as you do not put a key in the ignition. Twice he has had to call AAA for gas. The other times he made it back.

Thanks for that.... I was laughing so hard my tinfoil hat fell off !

Probably just another plot by the oil companies to get us to burn more fuel !

Them fuel pumps really like running dry like that too !

More seriously.... modern vehicles are pretty low emmision, but still, there is a CO hazard if that was running in an attached garage.

Isn't there an App for that..... ? To tell you that you left the ___________ car running ? Same question on the EV front.... an app that would remotely tell you your battery charge level would be useful, given how glued many people are to their phones....

Rgds, D.

 

[k0ua]

Thanks for that.... I was laughing so hard my tinfoil hat fell off !

Probably just another plot by the oil companies to get us to burn more fuel !

Them fuel pumps really like running dry like that too !

More seriously.... modern vehicles are pretty low emmision, but still, there is a CO hazard if that was running in an attached garage.

Isn't there an App for that..... ? To tell you left the ___________ car running ? Same question on the EV front.... an app that would remotely tell you your battery charge level would be useful, given how glued many people are to their phones....

Rgds, D.

You know that is not a bad idea!.. Dont forget to develop one for Iphone and Android.

 

[woodlandfarms]

The tesla does. The ap is pretty cool. They do firmware updates to the car when it is stopped. Customer service calls and asks if they can update you car. One thing that is also cool about the tesla is the level if customer support. Doubt they can keep it up as the car grows in popularity but it is nothing like I have ever seen.

 

[3930dave]

You know that is not a bad idea!.. Dont forget to develop one for Iphone and Android.

I tend to often use "Isn't there an App for that ?" as a punch line.... :thumbsup:

But seriously this time.... given the half billion lines of control code floating around in a modern 5 Series, I'm almost a little surprised if this isn't available already..... If I had the coin to buy one I'd actually find it useful to have a programmable warning sent remotely..... Some people think nothing of idling a car for half an hour or longer..... for me, I'd want an advisory fired off to my phone at something like 10 minutes.

Telemetry like that means something to me, as distinct from a lot of the bling floating around...

I will be doing something similar, when I have a large off-grid battery bank to monitor.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

The tesla does. The ap is pretty cool. They do firmware updates to the car when it is stopped. Customer service calls and asks if they can update you car. One thing that is also cool about the tesla is the level if customer support. Doubt they can keep it up as the car grows in popularity but it is nothing like I have ever seen.

Not surprised to hear that's in place :thumbsup:. Good stuff like this happens when a company is primarily Engineering driven.... pretty rare today.

Rgds, D.

 

[therealmjfox]

I'm surprised about the BMW. My family has both a Mazda and a Toyota with proximity keys. Both cars beep loudly at you if you walk away with the key in your pocket while they are still running. Surprised the BMW doesn't do this. Or, shut off automatically after x minutes without moving and without the key nearby.