Electric car thread

[gravitylover]

Funny you mention the weight difference because I called my ins company for a quote on a Bolt vs a Trax and the Bolt was nearly $2k/yr more so I asked why. The answer was that it's so much heavier and the heavier vehicle will do more damage when you zone out and drive into a house or small car. I asked how often their customers drive into houses and she said that I'd be surprised so I countered with 'disappointed not surprised'. She laughed. I don't really want either one but it seemed a good comparison so I made the call. If an EV is going to cost so much more to insure it takes away a lot of the reasons to get one.

[bodywhomper]

I was wrong about burning wood being carbon neutral. I guess I read a logging lobbyist article. Still too cheap to pay for propane and I enjoy everything about curting firewood.

It don’t think it’s a simple equation. And it’s dependent on the situation. There’s no getting around the emissions from use of the chainsaw, vehicle, and splitter (if you’re using one), but there is something to consider that the mammoth area (assuming this is where your cutting) has a severe overgrowth problem and thinning for firewood use would result in an increase in the carbon sink in that area of forest. Plus the thinning is part of a larger plan for forest management to mitigate catastrophic fire in the area. Catastrophic fire would result in a large release of CO2 and it’s likely to result in a habitat conversion to a scrub habitat that would not provide as beneficial of a carbon sink than the current pine forest.

[oldnew_guy]

Funny you mention the weight difference because I called my ins company for a quote on a Bolt vs a Trax and the Bolt was nearly $2k/yr more so I asked why. The answer was that it's so much heavier and the heavier vehicle will do more damage when you zone out and drive into a house or small car. I asked how often their customers drive into houses and she said that I'd be surprised so I countered with 'disappointed not surprised'. She laughed. I don't really want either one but it seemed a good comparison so I made the call. If an EV is going to cost so much more to insure it takes away a lot of the reasons to get one.

So is the insurance on a truck of similar mass to a Bolt 2k more than the Trax?

[oldnew_guy]

Jennifer Homendy, raised the issue in a speech in Washington to the Transportation Research Board. AP reports she pointed, by way as an example, to an electric GMC Hummer that weighs about 9,000 pounds with a battery pack that alone is 2,900 pounds — roughly the entire weight of a typical Honda Civic.

“I’m concerned about the increased risk of severe injury and death for all road users from heavier curb weights and increasing size, power, and performance of vehicles on our roads, including electric vehicles,”
The official noted Ford’s F-150 Lightning EV pickup is 2,000 to 3,000 pounds heavier than the same model’s combustion version. The Mustang Mach E electric SUV and the Volvo XC40 EV, she said, are roughly 33 percent heavier than their gasoline counterparts.

“That has a significant impact on safety for all road users,” Homendy added.

For some reason we have allowed things like trucks and SUVs to just get ever bigger, harder to see out of and heavier. That doesn’t even get into the aftermarket lifts, etc.

It’s more than just fatalities and injuries too, it partially drives costs on road projects as well because roadside barriers have to be upgraded to accommodate these larger and heavier vehicles.

[Ted Striker]

...electric GMC Hummer that weighs about 9,000 pounds with a battery pack that alone is 2,900 pounds — roughly the entire weight of a typical Honda Civic.

“I’m concerned about the increased risk of severe injury and death for all road users from heavier curb weights
The Mustang Mach E electric SUV and the Volvo XC40 EV, she said, are roughly 33 percent heavier than their gasoline counterparts.

If I look up false dilemma in a textbook, will I see an electric Hummer?

Her point was that our vehicles are already way too big, so electrifying existing domestic trucks is a bad idea.

Chevy Volt weighs half of a Silverado 2500.

[45hill]

It don’t think it’s a simple equation. And it’s dependent on the situation. There’s no getting around the emissions from use of the chainsaw, vehicle, and splitter (if you’re using one), but there is something to consider that the mammoth area (assuming this is where your cutting) has a severe overgrowth problem and thinning for firewood use would result in an increase in the carbon sink in that area of forest. Plus the thinning is part of a larger plan for forest management to mitigate catastrophic fire in the area. Catastrophic fire would result in a large release of CO2 and it’s likely to result in a habitat conversion to a scrub habitat that would not provide as beneficial of a carbon sink than the current pine forest.

The forest is really overgrown and the drought/beetle kill has killed a lot of trees. They thinned the craters road this summer and it was a firewood fiesta. I believe this was one of the final phases of the doughnut around town. With all the newbs going with propane furnaces or pellet stoves and the old heads moving out of town, wood is plentiful. I pulled two years worth of dry lodgepole less than a half mile off the loop. You barely even have to look for it.

[adrenalated]

Funny you mention the weight difference because I called my ins company for a quote on a Bolt vs a Trax and the Bolt was nearly $2k/yr more so I asked why. The answer was that it's so much heavier and the heavier vehicle will do more damage when you zone out and drive into a house or small car. I asked how often their customers drive into houses and she said that I'd be surprised so I countered with 'disappointed not surprised'. She laughed. I don't really want either one but it seemed a good comparison so I made the call. If an EV is going to cost so much more to insure it takes away a lot of the reasons to get one.

This sounded insane to me and very different than my experience so I went back and checked my premiums. When I sold my 2016 Hyundai Accent and bought my 2019 Chevy Bolt, the change in my premium was $25.53 for a 6mo period.

Maybe they're doing things different now but at that time there was no meaningful difference.

[4matic]

Seen a couple Lucid’s around. Odd looking things. Acquisition or bankrupt. No way it makes it in the luxury class.

[J. Barron DeJong]

Seen a couple Lucid’s around. Odd looking things. Acquisition or bankrupt. No way it makes it in the luxury class.

I’ve only seen one. My wife thought it was a Buick.

[bodywhomper]

The forest is really overgrown and the drought/beetle kill has killed a lot of trees. They thinned the craters road this summer and it was a firewood fiesta. I believe this was one of the final phases of the doughnut around town. With all the newbs going with propane furnaces or pellet stoves and the old heads moving out of town, wood is plentiful. I pulled two years worth of dry lodgepole less than a half mile off the loop. You barely even have to look for it.

Yes.

Note that inyo NF is planning at fuels reduction program western-ish of mammoth. I think it’s about 55,000 acres. There could be a lot of firewood available from that project, too.

There have been larger biomass forest projects that resulted in increases in overall carbon emissions. The USA wood pellet processing industry that ships the pellets to Europe is an example that comes to mind.

[Ted Striker]

I saw one up close and briefly talked to the owner. Not terrible looking, but not really a standout either. From some angles it looked like it was smiling.

[NBABUCKS1]

Tesla price cuts are nuts and going to move a lot of vehicles despite musk being musk

Vehicle	Old Purchase Price	New Purchase Price
3 RWD	46,990	43,990
3 Performance	62,990	53,990
Y LR	65,990	52,990
Y Performance	69,990	56,990
S Dual Motor	104,990	94,990
S Plaid	135,990	114,990
X Dual Motor	120,990	109,990
X Plaid	138,990	119,990

Also - The Y and 3 all quality for the fed rebate now - so take off $7500 from those numbers too.

[carlh]

Those prices are just a drop back to last year but the rebate makes them tempting.

[LongShortLong]

i have 40000 miles on my EV and if I didn’t take it once to Moab and once to Jackson I could say I spent zero minutes recharging it anywhere but my house, if my memory is serving me right. I did think I’d spend a lot of time recharging elsewhere when I bought it though.

This is a prime selling point to me. It's always ready with a full battery and I never need to visit a "gas" station unless I'm on a really long trip. Someone should work out the extra step where it automatically plugs in when parked at home.

[present tense]

Saw an R1S today for the first time in the wild. After being under impressed with the R1T size, this thing looked pretty beastly. Was sitting next to a Toyota sequoia and really wasn’t dwarfed at all, looked pretty nice.

[WMD]

Just sat in an F150 Lightning. It feels like a pickup truck! My kids really liked it a lot, I thought it was ok. Didn't get to drive it though as it just arrived at the dealer today and it isn't set up yet. It also belongs to someone so not really available to test drive.

[J. Barron DeJong]

This is a prime selling point to me. It's always ready with a full battery and I never need to visit a "gas" station unless I'm on a really long trip. Someone should work out the extra step where it automatically plugs in when parked at home.

Tesla was working on that, but then Elon got distracted by an argument on the internet.

[muted reborn]

interesting. Guess we're hiding those wendover trips from more than one person....

Ha!

This is a prime selling point to me. It's always ready with a full battery and I never need to visit a "gas" station unless I'm on a really long trip. Someone should work out the extra step where it automatically plugs in when parked at home.

Somewhat done already

Saw an R1S today for the first time in the wild. After being under impressed with the R1T size, this thing looked pretty beastly. Was sitting next to a Toyota sequoia and really wasn’t dwarfed at all, looked pretty nice.

Shit, I must have seen one today too. I thought it was a truck with a topper, I was confused - I was too busy looking at the road in front of me to see what it really was.

[oldnew_guy]

https://www.newsweek.com/republicans...-fuels-1773757

Sponsored by Casper Republican Senator Jim Anderson with the support of several top Republican legislators, the resolution proposes to phase out the sale of all new electric vehicle sales in the state by 2035 to help maintain the fossil fuel jobs that underpin the state's economy.

"The proliferation of electric vehicles at the expense of gas-powered vehicles will have deleterious impacts on Wyoming's communities and will be detrimental to Wyoming's economy and the ability for the country to efficiently engage in commerce," the resolution reads.




"Phasing out the sale of new electric vehicles in Wyoming by 2035 will ensure the stability of Wyoming's oil and gas industry and will help preserve the country's critical minerals for vital purposes."

[gravitylover]

Wytucky

[WMD]

https://www.newsweek.com/republicans...-fuels-1773757

I'm so proud to live in Wyoming!

[PB]

But .... think of the coal miners!!

[J. Barron DeJong]

But .... think of the coal miners!!

Less than 40k coal miners in the country:

https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES1021210001

Just give them $1M each to retire and be done with this shit.

[PB]

Hmm ..... 40,000 x $1,000,000 = forty billion $.

What does one have to do to be considered a coal miner?

[J. Barron DeJong]

Hmm ..... 40,000 x $1,000,000 = forty billion $.

What does one have to do to be considered a coal miner?

I don’t actually think that’s an idea that should be seriously pursued, but if it would eliminate the use of coal miners as sympathetic figures to prevent coal power from being curtailed, $40B isn’t that much in the long run.

My guess is that it’s the owners not the miners that are the major hurdle…