Today, would you buy an EV vehicle.

[beenthere]

With many manufacturers now advertising ev, even in trucks (Ford Lightning, CyberTruck, Rivian) would you invest in an EV vehicle? If everything moves to electric, when do you think you would switch to an ev -- or maybe Hybrid. The future of gas and diesel looks questionable.

I bought a new truck in 2021. Things are changing. The V8 engine is almost a thing of the past. When do you think, as you shop for a new vehicle, you will consider EV as your best choice? Will that happen when you want to keep your truck 6-8 years and gas stations might become difficult to find?

Then there are EV tractors.

Just curious. Thought this when looking for a new truck.

Ain't gonna happen.. the fall election will screw their heads back on straight. The deep recession caused by the present congress and their leader will bring some order and prices back to near normal... as I see it.
EV's will continue to be a novelty. There is no free lunch as these EV's are being presented now. Again, my take. And I'm not going for the hype as the economy won't support it.

 

[Bentrim]

With the current administration promising to end our dependence on fossil fuel what can the future hold? As with old forms of energy (horses, steam etc.) they were not replaced overnight, I do not think neither is the ice going to die quickly EV's are fairly new, need more refinement, need more range, quicker recharge time, and when that is all done, where will the electric come from to recharge the batteries? Wind doesn't always blow, sun doesn't always shine, water is drying up in the west, nuclear plants are shutting down, so what is left beside fossil fueled generators, plus current electric infrastructure cannot meet the demand for all the ev's added.
If it was possible I would want everyone to go out and purchase an EV and at a preset time everybody plug them in all at one time. Then watch the lights go out.
The current EV promoters are not dumb as soon as the masses get on board guess what will happen to electric rates! They gotcha coming and going.

 

[bnold]

Then they're not free if I paid for them.

Depends how you look at it I suppose.

My installation is subsidized by a tax credit on my own personal taxes.

It is a reduction in the exorbitant amount of federal tax I pay for 1 year. Frankly, I don’t agree with many of our federal gov’s expenditures. Maybe, my solar tax credit is shorting some of those, one could dream. (Can we start a discussion on flat tax as well? Or some other means for a huge percentage of freeloaders in this country to not get a free ride paid by others? )

Regardless of the tax credit, they do have paybacks or ROI, mine was less than 6 years at installation, but getting shorter quickly now due to the increase in electricity cost. (50% increase in rate in past month 9.5 to 14.5)

Always funny those who can’t accept an option, EV, solar energy or whatever. Has to be a ‘greeny’ and not seeing the bigger picture. When the bigger picture is often just a calculator, I’m not claiming a environmental saving. I am claiming more $$ in my pocket at the end of the month.

 

[jcman]

It is a nice looking truck. I read an article that Lightning sales will not be at Ford dealers. That Ford is developing a new division company - I think separate - for EV. I am guessing that that may be so that those dealerships have the capability to service EV and only EV. It is good to see that they are looking into how to service ev.

Read an article today that Ford is going to sell its EVs strictly on the internet with the fixed prices and no dealers and they deliver the vehicle to your home.

 

[jcman]

I'm considering an EV car. Price is a big consideration. Read that GM dropped the price of the Bolt $6000. It doesn't qualify for a federal tax credit because GM has sold their quota of EV vehicles which qualify for the tax credit. I have a feeling it won't be long until all the EV manufacturers hit that wall.

 

[jcman]

If I lived in an urban area and just needed a local commuter. This doesn’t apply to me, so no.

Most EVs now have over 200 mile range on one charge and some are in the 350 to 400 mile range. Problem will be how fast can it recharge? You can fill a 20 gallon gas tank in about 5 minutes, EVs even at the maximum charge rate take at least 20 minutes.

 

[ultrarunner]

Uhh, grid tied solar is pretty common. What my system is.

I have a bi-directional meter from my Coop Utility.

My 15KW solar system/inverter pushes up to 62.5A @ 240V into my distribution system. It is basically 1st source, any excess and my meter spins backwards, if my demand is higher the meter spins forwards (albeit slower due to my own production), rain or night and meter acts as normal.

Last month my little system averaged around 70kwh per day, or about 2,100kwh produced over a billing period.

On my meter, 2,252kwh flowed in from the grid and I pushed (generated) 1,475kwh back into the grid. The delta of 777kwh is what I paid for on my bill.

This energy wasn’t stored, I have no batteries. In the peak sun of the day, somebody else used my solar power (and paid me for it), power plants generated a little less.

In no way am I saying this is ‘green’ or whatever, don’t care. I’m all for many types of power generation and a firm believer we are behind many powers of the world in nuclear.

This is how it was before Smart Meters and Time of Use, etc... Meter forward and back settled each month.

It was not that long ago the stories were saying A/C on hot summer days was too much for the grid... now the hot days of summer not so much a problem until the sun sets so they bumped peak pricing to 9pm...

 

[ultrarunner]

EV goes back to the earliest days of automotive tech with Porsche building EV and Mrs. Henry Ford owning a EV for her personal use for many years charged by their small hydro plant at their Michigan home.

As with most things it really depends on the application...

With gas over $6 a gallon and diesel hitting $7 some of the early adopters are doing well charging from their own office arrays or early Tesla buyers getting free Tesla charging.

As a teen remember a guy that converted a 76 VW Rabbit to electric ..

It was a simple conversion with beefing up the springs for the added weight... it was silent.

Back in the 70's Cupertino CA had electric mail trucks...

 

[ultrarunner]

In my case Free electricity was a freebie from the estate selling the home I bought

The project was started but never finished and when my offer was accepted I asked what about the hardware in the garage and was told it's mine and would be doing them a favor as everything was ancient circa 2008... 160W panels and Sunny Boy Inverter.

There was not much to putting it together as the ground mount hardware was cemented in place years ago... I did have to pay a utility application fee which was not much.

Since commissioning I have not paid for a single kW of electricity.

The monthly meter fee totals $180 annually and each year I receive a $300 to $400 check at True Up.

I hear people say that electricity from their solar is free. It sounds like these solar systems are being given away with no charge. That's the only way you can get free electricity. Where can I get one of these free solar setups?

 

[jyoutz]

Most EVs now have over 200 mile range on one charge and some are in the 350 to 400 mile range. Problem will be how fast can it recharge? You can fill a 20 gallon gas tank in about 5 minutes, EVs even at the maximum charge rate take at least 20 minutes.

If I traveled north up the interstate, the next larger city is 250 miles; in between are very small towns that may or may not have charging facilities. Most of the rural west isn’t EV ready yet.