JackFlorey
100 kW
Same. I don't even rinse it off. Rain does that for me. Running for ~15 years now.
Some thoughts on the future of automotive EVs
- Thread starter JackFlorey
- Start date
jonescg
100 MW
Then why not buy one of those cheap second hand EVs?
DaLanMan
10 kW
I am gonna have to take that as proof you don't live in Cali... Honestly I am surprised that Perth has that much rain... Isn't it like a second hand product from NSW?
JackFlorey
100 kW
San Diego. We simply don't lose that much production from dust in the summer.
Hillhater
100 TW
..again you are fortunate Jack.
most of out here in the rest of the world have to deal with dust, leaves, pollen, bird droppings, etc that reek havock on the output of a series string inverter set up if not cleaned off !
Not a problem when ground mounted. Not washed these in 5 yrs... except for an occasional bird deposit. I usually leave a 'snow shelf' directly below the panels... to snag a little extra watt boost from it.
jonescg
100 MW
At the end of a Perth summer there's a bit of dust, but not so much that it impacts output. First rains wash them well.
Alan B
100 GW
I sold my EV (2013 Leaf) in January and bought a Prius Prime plug in hybrid. I'm getting 50 miles of EV range and 450 of gas range at 50 mpg (though I rarely have to burn any gas). As was mentioned, with the crazy cost of electricity here in California I can basically drive cheaper on low cost gas than on charge at midnight electricity. But having no range anxiety is very nice. The depreciation on EVs is horrendous, and the damage repair costs are very high. The insurance companies total them with little damage, no one wants to mess with EV battery repairs. Extra DMV fees to make up for gas taxes and lousy electric rates are killing the EV market. The lots are full of unsold EVs, even Teslas are rotting in fields.
I was expecting to be able to get improved batteries for the Leaf, but that never materialized. The only update is to newer Leaf batteries removed from wrecked cars, hacked into fooling the car it is an old battery at crazy prices. So the EV manufacturers themselves are preventing the tech from taking off. Tesla is similar, with a stranglehold on future upgrades and maintenance. Someday perhaps this will improve. The Leaf is a 20 year life vehicle with a 10 year battery and nothing cost effective to replace/improve it with. A dead end.
But for now, here, for us a plug in hybrid was a much better choice.
Our other vehicle is an old truck capable of towing 10,000 pounds which we do with our trailers. Electric trucks can tow fine but they are crazy expensive, costly to charge, take a long time, and when towing have no useful range. A lot of EV trucks are sitting in fields unsold too.
Electric bikes, hybrids and PHEVs are great.
I was expecting to be able to get improved batteries for the Leaf, but that never materialized. The only update is to newer Leaf batteries removed from wrecked cars, hacked into fooling the car it is an old battery at crazy prices. So the EV manufacturers themselves are preventing the tech from taking off. Tesla is similar, with a stranglehold on future upgrades and maintenance. Someday perhaps this will improve. The Leaf is a 20 year life vehicle with a 10 year battery and nothing cost effective to replace/improve it with. A dead end.
But for now, here, for us a plug in hybrid was a much better choice.
Our other vehicle is an old truck capable of towing 10,000 pounds which we do with our trailers. Electric trucks can tow fine but they are crazy expensive, costly to charge, take a long time, and when towing have no useful range. A lot of EV trucks are sitting in fields unsold too.
Electric bikes, hybrids and PHEVs are great.
I went for a plug-in RAV4 and you can directly compare the costs for running on gas or electricity. The normal electric rate here is something like $.46/kWh, which is ridiculous. Doing the math, to break even, the gas price would be around $6/gallon. Right now, the gas price is quite a bit lower than that, so it's cheaper to run on gas.
Last year I had a surplus of solar generated power and used up all the excess by running the car on electricity. The electric utility doesn't give you much for excess generated power, so it's best to try to use it all up by the end of the billing cycle.
Last year I had a surplus of solar generated power and used up all the excess by running the car on electricity. The electric utility doesn't give you much for excess generated power, so it's best to try to use it all up by the end of the billing cycle.
I bought a 2013 Chevy Volt PHEV earlier this year. 25 - 40 mi. electric-only range before the ICE kicks in. Local electricity costs $0.13 - $0.14/ kWh. Most of my daily use is within the plugin range or close to it. Used probably less than 2-3 gallons in 5 months. So far, a no-brainer for me.
jonescg
100 MW
I'm still blown away by how expensive solar PV is in the USA. Unsubsidised solar panels here in Australia are 20c/W.
If you're car dependent like many suburbs are, a solar rooftop and a cheap used EV is a great way to save about $3000 a year in fuel you don't need to buy.
If you're loving your PHEVs because you don't need big driving range, you can just buy a short range EV. I've been driving a friend's Leaf to work and back (90 km round trip) and it's been solid.
If you're car dependent like many suburbs are, a solar rooftop and a cheap used EV is a great way to save about $3000 a year in fuel you don't need to buy.
If you're loving your PHEVs because you don't need big driving range, you can just buy a short range EV. I've been driving a friend's Leaf to work and back (90 km round trip) and it's been solid.
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