Electric Cars: Chev Bolt seems to be the first practical one.

[California]

While driving from CO to IA on I80 I saw charging stations just about at every gas stations. So charging shouldn't be a problem. But the cost of charging is. ... The xcuse is that in most states only the utility can sell electric energy by kWh. Bummer.

You think the utilities might have hired lobbyists to get that law enacted?

I read a similar story about phone service on I80 across Nevada. No cell towers, so drivers are at the mercy of gas stops with land lines. Then terrific price gouging to use somebody's land line if they will let you use it at all.

 

[Travelover]

.......... Now ... who will be the first to sell an inverter from EV/hybrid, to house current? I've never heard of one.

When I has my Escape hybrid, I looked into this and found a web page where a guy found a surplus commercial uninterruptible power source that took in the high voltage dc off the traction battery and put out multiple thousands of watts at 110 volts AC. The hybrid would just idle and auto start / stop to maintain the battery charge.

 

[California]

I Googled 'EV inverter 110' and found this story.

Using the Leaf for power in a Blackout: MY "Leaf to Home"

Summary - Electrical engineer got 17 hours run time powering his home including refrigerator. His calcs indicate theoretical 120 volts providing 15 amp surge, 8 amp continuous, for 24 hours from the Leaf's battery.

He showed some brand names that could be researched if someone wants to pursue this.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

That would be by definition starting with a -0- charge in the battery right? and running Soley on gas? on a 1st gen Volt

The site I looked at said the 2016's are 41 mpg combined city/hiway? and


Just thinking out loud. and as an example:

If a person were to drive a 600 miles a month (7 miles to town) x 2 =14 miles + 6 miles around town driving for a total of 20 miles total a day X 30 days a month = 600 miles.

In our area most electricity is produced by hydroelectric and is just over 10 cents a Kilowatt hour.

Found this on a site that get's in the ball park for calculating a volts charging to a full charge, cost calculation

Electricity: You drive 1,000 miles per month, your car (The Chevy Volt) gets 2.7 miles per kilowatt hour used (EPA estimated average), and you pay $0.12 per kilowatt-hour (national average) That means:

1000 miles / 2.7 miles per kilowatt-hour = 370 Kilowatt-Hours



370 Kilowatt-Hours * $0.12 Per Kilowatt Hour = $44.44 in Electricity per month.- that is based on a 1000 miles @12 cents per kilowatt hour


So if my math is right?

370 X .6 = 222 kwh 222kwh X .11 cents ( a bit over our rate)= $24.22 a month in electric charges X 12 months = $293.04 a year driven in this manner. ( electric mode only) I did check and it appears the extra energy per month would not raise our electric rate because we are already just over the threshold point for the increased kwh price.

Obviously this does not count cost of the car, maintenance, or other costs, But I think that running in full electric for around where I live looks pretty reasonable to me.

Driving a 3500 Cummins powered Ram 4x4 as a daily driver. and am getting about 18 MPG local short trip driving, and about 21 mpg hiway, ( which is decent-I think) Down the road the Volt looks like a pretty good addition (possibility)- for me, but then i (want) a hybrid.

guess the white elephant in a dark room is- if buying a well used 1st gen Volt, how much of the battery packs life is left and how big of hit is it to replace with a new pack?

i did a search and this really surprised me:

Zero Battery Degradation Replacements Giving Chevy Volts an Edge

Mmm maybe they are fairly long lived after all?

here's how I came to feel the Bolt is too expensive. taking your figures above, and use them for gasoline at mh price today. $2.17 and figure 32 mpg in a gas car. It comes out to $68.xx , take away the $44 for a net benefit of $24 per 1000 miles. When you need a new battery, who knows when, and it costs $3-4 grand, it will zap most of your savings. Plus, the intitial purchase price is almost double the price of a small gas sedan. If you want to drive with electricity, have at it. I won't stop you.

FWIW, I help make fuel cells at my R&D job.

 

[MossRoad]

I hate to pop your bubble, but Volt gets 37mpg in real life. The rest is EPA fake news.

How to Make Unpoppable Bubbles: 11 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow

 

[California]

here's how I came to feel the Bolt is too expensive. ...

I wish we had $2.17 gas.

Does $2.75 gas and $0.12 kwh power (here), with zero gas engine fuel or maintenance, and a 10 year battery warranty shift those calcs to positive?

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I wish we had $2.17 gas.

Does $2.75 gas and $0.12 kwh power (here), with zero gas engine fuel or maintenance, and a 10 year battery warranty shift those calcs to positive?

I shouldn't have said anything....I can hear the sound of Californians stampeding to Uhaul....


To answer your question,


Nope, not unless the initial purchase cost is the same as an Altima or Sentra or Corolla....sub $20,000 with no tax incentives.

If you want to go all electric. Go ahead. I can't afford it. Better yet, since I drive 135 miles each work day, would someone who wants to save the planet please buy me a new Volt or Tesla? Since I drive more than you (likely), think of how much pollution you'd be saving.

Which leads me to think, that if a person REALLY wanted to help the situation, they'd buy one for a high miles per day person...otherwise, it is just quite possibly vanity to be seen in such a car.

 

[MossRoad]

I wish we had $2.17 gas.

Does $2.75 gas and $0.12 kwh power (here), with zero gas engine fuel or maintenance, and a 10 year battery warranty shift those calcs to positive?

$2.13 here today... I filled my Suburban. 42 gallon tank....

 

[buickanddeere]

That is not true sonic and trax are built on Gamma 1 platform. The Bolt is on its own unique platform G2 if anything it would be closer to the trax encore as it sits up much higher. But the chassis is ground up purpose built to be an electric car. Sonic and trax have front bearings that press into the knuckle. Bolt has serviceable hubs that bolt into the knuckle. Brakes corners are common with the Volt and new Cruize. And FNC treated/coated for long life

Looks the same and measures the same for seating room, headroom etc. The Bolt is just the EV version of the Sonic. The Volt is just a hybrid Cruze.

 

[buickanddeere]

I shouldn't have said anything....I can hear the sound of Californians stampeding to Uhaul....


To answer your question,



Nope, not unless the initial purchase cost is the same as an Altima or Sentra or Corolla....sub $20,000 with no tax incentives.

If you want to go all electric. Go ahead. I can't afford it. Better yet, since I drive 135 miles each work day, would someone who wants to save the planet please buy me a new Volt or Tesla? Since I drive more than you (likely), think of how much pollution you'd be saving.

Which leads me to think, that if a person REALLY wanted to help the situation, they'd buy one for a high miles per day person...otherwise, it is just quite possibly vanity to be seen in such a car.

135 miles one way or round trip ? Either way that is a long way and many hours of your life spent on the road.