WRITING IS ON THE WALL

[BrianMDTX]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

I was going to post that, gotta burn coal to charge the car. Not much different than burning gas 

Coal is on its way out. Worst of the fossil fuels. Regardless, it should (should) be more effective to control emissions at the source at power plants vs millions of motor vehicles. 
 

 

[TnRiver46]

10 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

Coal is on its way out. Worst of the fossil fuels. Regardless, it should (should) be more effective to control emissions at the source at power plants vs millions of motor vehicles. 
 

 

We had a pretty bad fly ash spill in Kingston, TN a few years back, pretty much abliterated a small town and a section of the river. Sure coal is “on its way out” but I’ve been hearing that for about 15 years and it’s still king of power in America (and other countries i would guess)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Fossil_Plant_coal_fly_ash_slurry_spill

 

we went to the moon over 50 years ago, I see society/technology moving backward not forward haha. According to my college professors we are supposed to be burned up and dead, flying around in bubbles by now 

[12poundbass]

3 hours ago, BrianMDTX said:

I wonder how many truly missed clods of horse manure on city streets? 

There’s still a ton of it here and I drive over the horse crap almost every night on my way home from work. ?

[WVU-SCPA]

2 hours ago, NavyVet1204 said:

Just wait until your boat motor is all electric too.

Already surrounded by electric or motor restricted lakes.

 

The technology is already coming around....get to see it on a weekly basis. 

[Bubba 460]

Cars/trucks are not there yet as far as batteries for power. I'd like to see Ford come out with a nuclear powered truck called the "Chernobyl'  then follow up with a family SUV called the "Fukushima". These vehicles would run for decades on a new set of fuel rods. Start up procedure each day would involve a set of yellow flashing lights eerily lighting up the cab and of course the loud "AH-OOH-GA," warnings blast repeated way to many times.

[Deephaven]

3 hours ago, Crankin4Bass said:

I think the new F-150 Lightening looks awesome! I've owned trucks, muscle cars and sports cars and appreciate gas power, but I am looking forward to instant electric motor torque. A frunk and 4.4 seconds 0-60 for $40k. Sign me up!

Lol, $40k.  Dreaming.  The 4.4sec option comes on the $90,252 version.  The $40k will have 2wd, super limited range and be slow.

 

Amusingly there is a very logical place for electric cars....but the Lightning is about the last logical one I could think of.  Anything that is made for towing distances it is awful for.  That being said, I would love and am shopping for a 2nd car to use only around town.  Running the kids to soccer and such.  For that an electric car is great.  Never having to stop for gas, heat/cool as I want and most importantly is wickedly fast.  The biggest problem with electric cars right now is that Tesla basically takes 1990 VW Rabbit manufacturing tech, duct tapes an iPad to the dash and sells it for $60k.  If they could figure out how to make a real car instead of a tinker toy I'd already have one.  The Mustang MachE is better, but we are still a generation away from the perfect around town car.

[jbsoonerfan]

Not looking forward to responding to car fires where an EV is involved.

 

 

[Bubba 460]

1 hour ago, 12poundbass said:

There’s still a ton of it here and I drive over the horse crap almost every night on my way home from work. ?

 

 

There's also a ton of it on the news all day...

[Bubba 460]

23 minutes ago, Deephaven said:

Lol, $40k.  Dreaming.  The 4.4sec option comes on the $90,252 version.  The $40k will have 2wd, super limited range and be slow.

 

Amusingly there is a very logical place for electric cars....but the Lightning is about the last logical one I could think of.  Anything that is made for towing distances it is awful for.  That being said, I would love and am shopping for a 2nd car to use only around town.  Running the kids to soccer and such.  For that an electric car is great.  Never having to stop for gas, heat/cool as I want and most importantly is wickedly fast.  The biggest problem with electric cars right now is that Tesla basically takes 1990 VW Rabbit manufacturing tech, duct tapes an iPad to the dash and sells it for $60k.  If they could figure out how to make a real car instead of a tinker toy I'd already have one.  The Mustang MachE is better, but we are still a generation away from the perfect around town car.

 

 

 The best place for an electric car today is at the carnival, the ride is called, "Bumper Cars".  It will be years before they will be able work out all the bugs and hick-cups that'll be coming down the road ~ no pun intended.

[roadwarrior]

Well, I think I am old enough to NEVER have to own an electric vehicle.

 

 

 

 

[Bird]

3 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Well, I think I am old enough to NEVER have to own an electric vehicle.

 

 

 

 

Myself as well.....but rascals are already there. 

[Harold Scoggins]

3 hours ago, .ghoti. said:

An interesting read on battery research.

 

https://www.pocket-lint.com/gadgets/news/130380-future-batteries-coming-soon-charge-in-seconds-last-months-and-power-over-the-air

Good read, especially section on over the air charging.

[.ghoti.]

Got a tip from my son about lithium titanate batteries. Very impressive specs.  Available now, but very expensive.

[schplurg]

5 hours ago, Michigander said:

Sure, but if my truck explodes, I just get annihilated. If a power plant has a fail, you get Chernobyl or Fukushima Daiichi. The scope of the disaster is totally different.

 

But then you have to account for the infrastructure that gets fuel (say coal) to the power plant, the people who have to mine the coal, the dangerous byproducts from burning coal (including radiation), etc. 

 

Salt style nuclear reactors are a lot safer than old style nuclear reactors as well. A lot of the fear mongering against nuclear comes from the oil industry. Wonder why? It's also outdated.

 

Meanwhile we already have and use nuclear power, and other countries have been using it a lot more than the US, to our detriment. 

 

Anyways, a lot of our energy is already coming from wind and solar. The oil companies are investing in this new technology.

 

Also, there are more jobs available in these new industries. If some people got what they wanted with coal, there wouldn't really be that many coal jobs created. The days of men walking out of mines with black faces are a thing of the past. It's very dangerous.

 

And as for fast cars - I once drove a friends Tesla and it does 60 mph in 3 seconds. It'll beat any car on the road and most motorcycles off the line, especially in that price range. I've never had my head snap back into the headrest that hard.

 

Finally, this will be a slow process. IC motors aren't going anywhere for quite awhile.

[slonezp]

The electric market is nonexistent. Only 2% of vehicles purchased are electric. The market has spoken. The bulk of the vehicles sold are on government contracts and were it not for subsidies, Tesla would have been history before they even started. Windfarms and solar power will never be able to support a beefed up electrical grid. Natural gas and coal are the 2 biggest fuels in the world to create electricity. Nuclear is the safest, cleanest, and most efficient way to produce electricity. 

 

IMO electric vehicles is just an expensive experiment that is bound to fail. They have their place in the world but will never replace fossil fuel burning vehicles. We should funnel tax dollars into NG and LP for cleaner burning, efficient transportation.

[Crankin4Bass]

3 hours ago, Deephaven said:

Lol, $40k.  Dreaming.  The 4.4sec option comes on the $90,252 version.  The $40k will have 2wd, super limited range and be slow.

 

According to Ford, all Lightings will be AWD and the fast mode is available with the extended battery upgrade, which is available on all models. The extended battery is expected to be a few thousand. So yes it will be more than $40k to get the fast mode, but not $90K. There also is a tax credit of up $7500.

 

Honestly I don't understand why people are not more excited about this. I guess change is hard for some to get excited about, except when it's from Daiwa, Shimano, Loomis or St. Croix. ?

[DogBone_384]

9 hours ago, Harold Scoggins said:

I accept the fact that our planet has to come first, but God how I will miss it so. (My V8)

I too will miss my V-8, but only the sound.
 

I drive a ‘17 Tundra and would gladly give it up for a full size electric truck.  If Elon’s P/U was more like a P/U, I’d be the only kid on my block with a 0-60 in 4 seconds truck…

 

I also have solar on my roof. From roughly April to September I have no electric bill.  Add a charging station in the garage means very low operating cost.

 

Electric cars and trucks are coming, like it or not.

 

If you have a Tesla dealer near you, test drive their Model 3.

 

On the other side of the coin: do you really think the oil companies are going to give up their power/influence?  Food for thought.

[A-Jay]

While getting this going in an urban environment may take 'less' time,

I live in sort of a rural area.

It's not the same. 

Everything's mostly spread out.

Until these vehicles can flash a 'recharge' on the road, in the same time,

and with something close to the same type of availability,

that I can fill a tank of gas,

it's just not gonna happen for a while here.  

#quikmart

A-Jay

[slonezp]

12 minutes ago, DogBone_384 said:

I too will miss my V-8, but only the sound.
 

I drive a ‘17 Tundra and would gladly give it up for a full size electric truck.  If Elon’s P/U was more like a P/U, I’d be the only kid on my block with a 0-60 in 4 seconds truck…

 

I also have solar on my roof. From roughly April to September I have no electric bill.  Add a charging station in the garage means very low operating cost.

 

Electric cars and trucks are coming, like it or not.

 

If you have a Tesla dealer near you, test drive their Model 3.

 

On the other side of the coin: do you really think the oil companies are going to give up their power/influence?  Food for thought.

I had a 2008 Tundra and now have a 2017 F250 gasser. MPG is the same. It sucks. Will you be saving any money driving electric? The increase in your tax dollars will negate any savings from the tank. Might even cost you more.

The solar on your roof...did you pay for the install or bought the house with it already on the roof? Solar ain't cheap. In Chicago, I can buy a loaded Ranger bass boat for what it would cost to install an average size home with solar. I'll never see the return. At least with a boat, I'd be able to fish.

[haggard]

7 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Sorry guys but I think it's game over for gas powered vehicles.  This thing can tow 10,000 lbs and has 230 mile range or 300 miles for more money

 

The thing is... is that range unloaded, or when towing 10,000? Electric as an unloaded commuter vehicle is one thing but towing 10,000 lbs your range will decrease. On top of that, if these specs are from the marketing department, they're stated for ideal conditions. We learned this in the 90s with laptop battery specs. A laptop sitting idle will run 10 hours but how long will the battery last when you're actually using it? That is usually unstated.

 

For certain applications, electric makes sense. For others, it doesn't yet.

 

It also appears to be "game over" for manual transmissions, because for an average driver, an auto transmission might be able to eek out slightly better fuel economy. But is that the only criteria? Auto transmission is much more complex in terms of parts, service, maintenance, compared to a manual. You may save in one place, but often give it up in another.

 

 

[DogBone_384]

1 hour ago, slonezp said:

solar on your roof

Yes, I own the panels, so in addition to the low bill I get paid for each SREC my system makes.  I live in a city and my house is a ‘garage under’ so I was limited to 18 panels. It wasn’t too expensive to install. With tax credits it took just under 5 years to make back the cash I spent on the system.  I make enough $$ on the SRECs that it almost covers my heating and cable/internet bills for the year.
 

Yes, my Tundra’s mileage is about the same as my ‘72 Monte Carlo was, but you have to admit that 401 ft/lbs of torque and a bullet proof motor is pretty nice.

[NorcalBassin]

CA's power grid is a joke and it's common to have rolling blackouts in summer from an inability to meet power demands or everything shut down for days due to the fire risk with poorly maintained lines during hot windy weather. If the state struggles to consistently power the homes in the state I'm not sure how they're going to be able to add millions of electric cars to that same grid.
 

It's interesting this cut over to 100% electric is allegedly for the environment, yet batteries are toxic waste and studies of simulated landfills (current system) have shown the "dead" batteries would leach out toxic metal concentrations that exceed current laws. What happens in 20 years when there are millions of giant car batteries in the landfills? What about the issues that go along with lithium mining (500,000 gallons of water per ton of lithium extracted)?? What about China and the other countries manufacturing all these batteries that use coal and fossil fuels in order to do so??? This push for a 100% switch in the relatively near future smells fishy to me.

[slonezp]

12 minutes ago, DogBone_384 said:

Yes, I own the panels, so in addition to the low bill I get paid for each SREC my system makes.  I live in a city and my house is a ‘garage under’ so I was limited to 18 panels. It wasn’t too expensive to install. With tax credits it took just under 5 years to make back the cash I spent on the system.  I make enough $$ on the SRECs that it almost covers my heating and cable/internet bills for the year.
 

Yes, my Tundra’s mileage is about the same as my ‘72 Monte Carlo was, but you have to admit that 401 ft/lbs of torque and a bullet proof motor is pretty nice.

Were you not getting credits and the ability to sell back to the grid...

 

I put 225K on my Tundra before I traded it in and and the engine would probably run another 225k. The rest of the truck, not so much. 

 

I bought the SuperDuty based on price. More truck for less money than the F150 or the Tundra

[DogBone_384]

17 minutes ago, slonezp said:

Were you not getting credits and the ability to sell back to the grid...

SRECs is selling my production back to the grid.  I get 1 SREC for every 1000 KW my system makes. That SREC is sold and the proceeds are deposited in my bank.

 

My electric bill is based on my usage.  My meter goes backwards when I’m giving to the grid and forward when I’m taking from the grid (i.e. nights and cloudy days). 
 

Hope this answers your question.

[slonezp]

1 minute ago, DogBone_384 said:

SRECs is selling my production back to the grid.  I get 1 SREC for every 1000 KW my system makes. That SREC is sold and the proceeds are deposited in my bank.

 

My electric bill is based on my usage.  My meter goes backwards when I’m giving to the grid and forward when I’m taking from the grid (i.e. nights and cloudy days). 
 

Hope this answers your question.

Have you broke even or made a profit above and beyond your initial expense? Or did you purchase the home with solar already installed?