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

[Egon]

The units when designed were base load on a utility grid with variable hydraulic and coal thermal plants. Today the politicians grabbed votes from the uniformed public by shutting down coal. After showing images of steam from condenser cooling towers and portraying it as smoke pollution. Or black smoke and smog form 1960's era coal plants.
The condensers were designed for intercept and relief valve operation to blow boiler steam directly into the condensers for 2-5 minutes after a turbine trip before reactor power and steam production could be ramped back. or while re-syncing the turbine after a spurious trip from lighting or grid disturbances etc.
The engineers never envisioned blowing 1200-1600Mw (gross), 300-400Mw (net) of steam for hours at a time to keep the reactors at 100% and generator output down to 400-500Mw .
Your truck is powered by a nuclear reactor ?

Designed for full load continuous operation with no provisions for extended reduced load operation. There are ways around that. Tesla had it figured out.

 

[RSKY]

EV's and public transit make sense for a lot of people. There's no one size fits all solution.

Finally, on topic and a quote that makes sense. "There's no one size fits all solutions."

I could see a use for an electric runabout for my self and both my daughter's families. Unfortunately it would not, could not, be the main vehicle. And the cost would be prohibitive for it's usefulness.

Electric for some, mass transit for others, gas guzzling SUV and pickup for me and the majority of others.

RSKY

 

[MossRoad]

Coal? Nuclear is the future. Look what you're missing!

Czech Republic nuclear power station hosts bikini contest to choose interns | Europe | DW | 25.�6.2�17

Hey! They're hot!!! ........... no, really, they're hot...

 

[Redneck in training]

Electric like Bolt is the best bang for a buck if your round trip is close to a maximum range of the vehicle. In an example, if you live in the city and travel less than 100 miles a day then you are better off buying Leaf. I am waiting for somebody to hack the Leaf and use it as home battery. I see it coming. You buy a Leaf coming from a lease for less than 10K and hack the charger, battery and add inverter with some smart software to integrate it with solar and grid.

 

[California]

Electric like Bolt is the best bang for a buck if your round trip is close to a maximum range of the vehicle.

That's what got me going. I drive 100 miles between home and ranch, nearly weekly. 230 mile range is an ideal match for my circumstances. 240 volt welder outlet already at the ranch, home would need some conduit and an outdoor box if I found 110 v charging was impossibly slow.

From what I'm reading on Bolt enthusiast boards, many started with 110 volt charging and after a little experience, decided it was all they needed. It might take a couple of overnights to go from 10% to 90% but actual owners seldom let their car get down that far so overnight every few days is sufficient for their local use.

With 230 mile range I could return without charging, or more realistically if I were to receive a call an hour after I arrived at the ranch, plugged in, then got the call. And with both parents gone now, there's no reason I can think of for an emergency return. There are numerous level 2 chargers on my route in case something really bizarre occurs.

I am waiting for somebody to hack the Leaf and use it as home battery. I see it coming. You buy a Leaf coming from a lease for less than 10K and hack the charger, battery and add inverter with some smart software to integrate it with solar and grid.

Down to $6k now for a used Leaf! I think we're going to see that technology - as a black-box complete solution - for sale real soon.

 

[Redneck in training]

That's what got me going. I drive 100 miles between home and ranch, nearly weekly. 230 mile range is an ideal match for my circumstances. 240 volt welder outlet already at the ranch, home would need some conduit and an outdoor box if I found 110 v charging was impossibly slow.

From what I'm reading on Bolt enthusiast boards, many started with 110 volt charging and after a little experience, decided it was all they needed. It might take a couple of overnights to go from 10% to 90% but actual owners seldom let their car get down that far so overnight every few days is sufficient for their local use.

With 230 mile range I could return without charging, or more realistically if I were to receive a call an hour after I arrived at the ranch, plugged in, then got the call. And with both parents gone now, there's no reason I can think of for an emergency return. There are numerous level 2 chargers on my route in case something really bizarre occurs.

Down to $6k now for a used Leaf! I think we're going to see that technology - as a black-box complete solution - for sale real soon.

I read somewhere that the public charging station charge a lot of money for kWh. Way more than gas would cost. So check first what the rate is.

 

[California]

I read somewhere that the public charging station charge a lot of money for kWh. Way more than gas would cost. So check first what the rate is.

I wouldn't rely on public charging stations along the route. (I don't have the patience!). Just charge at home and ranch at the opposite ends of the trip. Those could be 'Plan B' in case of some unforseen emergency, nothing more.

I might someday plan a road trip considering charging along the way, but more likely would use the other car for that. I doubt I would visit a public charging station more than a few times in the life of the car.

 

[vvanders]

I read somewhere that the public charging station charge a lot of money for kWh. Way more than gas would cost. So check first what the rate is.

Most of the ones here are around $0.12/kWh which is about double electricity rates. Even then it's $12 for a full charge at 0.12 which is ~1/3 the cost of an equivalent tank of gas in a similar car.

 

[buickanddeere]

Designed for full load continuous operation with no provisions for extended reduced load operation. There are ways around that. Tesla had it figured out.

What ? What does Tesla have to do with xenon poisoning and flux tilts ?

 

[California]

Maybe their recycled batteries for off-peak storage?