Originally Posted by Paul D
https://www.tesla.com/powerwall
https://www.tesla.com/powerwall
Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.
Plug in hybrids are really the best option (if one wants electric) with current infrastructure and or only want or can afford one vehicle. Most are good for 30-40 miles and covers most commuter trips.
(The problem with plug in hybrids is no one plugs them in thus why Europe is likely to ban them)
I would plug it in and run it in conjunction with the ice motor for more power (defeats the purpose)
Regular hybrids are really the best tech. right now.
Oh yea. Performance. Many people are drawn to or use it as an excuse to buy something (Knock your self out). 0-60 pulling onto the highway is just masturbation. Buy a performance off road vehicle and do the real thing. (Did bikes and sleds off road for years...cars on the street are pretty boring)
every major US city (and Oslo, the only non-US city I've been to in the last... ever) I've been to in the last 5 years has had tons of electric scooters everywhere. Lime, Bird, etc. Much to the annoyance of many of the people that live in those areas for a variety of reasons (many understandable).
My wife and I bought our own Segway-branded e-scooters and have had a blast with them all over the country. We keep them in our Class B RV when we go on trips and it's a perfect combo (tiny camper, tiny scooters).
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I just went and did the online estimate for whole house. Took my breath away.
The ones I saw in China were all sit-on scooters. Common to see them with two people on board, not unusual to see whole families on one.
Gotta keep remembering that “scooter” can mean very different types of vehicles. :-)
I haven't looked at them for a couple years, but I think it was $10k when I was wondering if it was worth it vs a backup generator for power outages.
Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.
some random thoughts that come to mind based on the replies so far...
1) "maintenance"
this is something I hadn't really given much thought to as a "pro". The long-term cost of oil changes and such may not be very high, but the annoyance factor and opportunity cost is through the roof for me personally. I abhor taking the car in. Such a nightmare between incompetents, having to deal with the general public, etc. Christ I'd almost buy an EV for this alone.
2) Performance
This is what made the switch for me from being a detractor to an interested party. I've been a vee-ate guy my whole life (except for one dallience with a Tacoma) but you can't argue with the numbers. particularly from a $:speed perspective.
3) "Cost"
I don't see this being a market for the "buy a ten year old car for $10k and drive it for ten years" crowd for a long long time. But I also don't think that crowd is the norm anymore. it feels like everyone I know is buying a new car every couple of years anymore, so at that point who cares if the car holds up beyond that? (besides the various pollution and other environmental concerns with disposing of various parts).
4) Charging
the game changer here for me again comes in the form of solar if it's available. and as it becomes more efficient. I love the idea of being able to plug my car into the sun in my own yard for "free". When we were in Norway we saw a ton of people that just stopped at local gas stations, got a sandwich, and sat around while their car changed up a bit. Of course, that's a beautiful and clean Norway gas station on the side of a mountain with amazing views and nice people everywhere, not a US gas station in an urban area that looks like hell is surrounded by shit and danger and which serves food that you shouldn't feed even to your dog. Or your ex wife.
5) Innovation
For me, simply making an existing vehicle electric is pretty boring. Granted, making it an existing vehicle that's also faster and means I don't have to take it in for oil changes with the "service manager" starts to gain appeal. But things like Rivian and Canoo are what really start to get me interested. A frunk is cool and all, but that's not terribly innovative. It's just using the void for something of questionable utility (I see people trying to figure out how to get things in there when parked head-in from time to time).
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ah, I see what you mean now.
I think those kinds of "scooters" are only going to gain traction in countries where the gas-powered versions already had some acceptance. Various Asian countries all seem pretty scooter-based already but I don't know that Americans are ready for that kind of stigma, haha.
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the pricing didn't really bother me too much. Thinking (idealistically perhaps) in terms of saving $30k on a new metal roof for my house, not paying another $400/month utility bill ($48k over ten years, presuming no more rate hikes), no need to add a $10k generator/fuel system to the house, getting "free" gas for an EV...
+$120k "total"
- $30k roof
- $50k power bill
- $10k gas generator
$30k balance
this is always a concern for me though, when a market requires tax credits to even get to "take my breath away" status vs. "go f yourself" status.
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No longer available individually, currently only available with installation of a Tesla solar roof.
That said a number of people have made their own powerwalls out of old/wrecked Tesla banks. I think that's a bit of a grey area home insurance wise but in a big solar market like CA it probably wouldn't be that hard to find someone to certify it.
Depending on space limitation there's any number of ways to customize 18650 cells with protection circuits and it's fairly modular. You just don't want to have your house burn down and find out some of the materials you got such a great deal on aren't actually listed and so sorry, etc.
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