My little sparky
I jumped into the electric vehicle owners club. You know how you can tell a EV owner? You don't have to, they will tell you.
"Hi I am an EV owner, do you have time to discuss our lord and savior Elon Musk?"
While I could not own my dream car, a Tesla (come on $100 a steem!!) I found a cheap used Chevy spark. The things you miss out on when you buy used is all the rebates. I missed out on all of them and I live in California, ouch. Still the market is hard to find a good used electric vehicle under 10k. For more info I would recommend this great article by steemit writer extraordinaire @alexbeyman
I did get a great deal and I am happy to pay the cheaper price for a used car verses buying a new and getting the rebates. Overall I like owning an EV, it's fun to drive and less money on fuel. Also it keeps me away from the gas station which causes me much angst. Seeing gas prices rise as the summer gets hotter or when a middle eastern princess passing gas, makes my blood pressure go up. It makes me understand how an old coworker felt. I worked with this old crusty Vietnam vet who would throw up the middle finger and a mouth full of obscenities whenever we drove by a Vietnamese restaurant. At the time I was a fresh vet myself, I thought wow I do not have the same feeling about middle eastern food. Over time I began to understand how he felt, the symbol of Vietnam food was triggering his hate for the war and the betrayal of his country. While missed placed the memory recall was real. For myself, seeing the world tearing itself apart over oil rich land and the long term damage both invasions had on the Middle East made me hate the war and everything it touched especially gas stations. My stance on oil is as long as we use the least amount and from reputable countries, I am ok with its use. Oil is not a sustainable source of energy so my view is why keep using the stuff in vehicles. The health hazards are also a strong reason to not use ICE vehicles. It's not so much the war was fought over gas prices, but the gas price has become my trigger to remind me of the waisted blood, sweat, sacrifice, health, and friends needlessly taken over a country that is no better today.
I digress.
My thoughts on EVs.
I love love love driving an electric vehicle. The feeling of knowing I am getting the maximum efficiency while driving, no waisted energy loss in the transmission. The return regeneration of power on breaking and downhill driving makes my drive happy. The thought of throwing away money as I come down a hill in a ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicle always comes to mind. I know it's not much but it's still a thought. Driving makes me feel better about some things I dislike when I was driving an ICE vehicle. My drive home from work is mostly down hill so I love seeing the results of gravity actually making me a small amount of money. Like getting a .045 upvote.
I like knowing I can make my own fuel someday down the road. Owning a EV makes it much easier to have your own “refinery” of power. Solar panels are becoming more affordable and the future is going to be made up of small power plants called house's. So having a EV is a way to protect myself from the possibility of the frail oil industry from collapsing.
Problems I have had
Range Range Range. The chevy spark has a, what i like to call, “on paper” range of 82 miles. What this means is, if you drive real soft and not smash the “gas” pedal you can get 82 miles on one charge. Today I got the ATH of 77 miles for a charge.
When bought the car the guy who sold it to me said if you drive the car at optimal driving speeds he would get 90 miles. My first full charge said I would be able to drive 72 with a max range of 82. Driving carefully has raised the numbers.
This is a bit confusing, the range given was based off of the previous trip. The top number was the optimal range and the middle number was the realistic range, and thw lower number was the minimum miles you could get driving with a heavy foot. So if you drive heavy on the excelerator your next trip will reflect the predicted range accordingly. My hopes are the future will bring new battery technologies so I can upgrade to a longer range and smaller battery. Who knows the day may come soon or not.
I am excited about what the future brings to the world of EVs. I hope businesses keep offering “free” electricity to incentivise electric use and keep customers and employees. Electricity is cheap and it's only going to get cheaper. I do pay a higher rate than average for electricity in my state.
America needs to wake up and get in on the 3rd industrial revolution,
energy will be cheaper with smart grids, renewable energy and as the internet to things comes online.
Hopefully off peak hours turns into the afternoon as solar generates more power. I can see our electric cars becoming power walls for when the car is not being used. Acording to this fortune article http://fortune.com/2018/02/25/why-charging-your-electric-car-at-night-could-save-the-world/
“Drivers could even use their electric cars to become miniature power traders if they install two-way chargers, filling up their batteries when power rates are the cheapest and selling back to the grid if they’re plugged in during peak hours, said Mark Hutchinson, head of power and renewables consulting in Asia Pacific at Wood Mackenzie Ltd.”
Hopefully power companies turn into data management companies and the power grid becomes decentralized, I would love to sell my power at a higher rate during off peak hours while my car sits in the garage all weekend, for crypto. Electric cars could be mobile power walls with a few modifications. My desires for electric cars are similar to what the blockchain technologies will bring. Its not here yet, the rich people need to iron out the kinks. But it is getting close. Soon the power will move into the individual and cut out much of the centralized companies. I do save money using a EV, but todays reason is hope and peace of mind when I drive my EV.
Thanks for reading.
I have a 22 mile commute to work that is mostly highway miles. I think I could save lots of money by having a simple EV in my wheelhouse to get to and from. Of course, due to the wonders of divorce, I no longer live in a house where I'd have a driveway to charge my car in. My condominium complex would never even think of allowing some sort of charging station for me.
I will have to wait to be able to afford a house again before I can sink money into one of these EV's. I see them on the road and I am jealous.
Yeah your commute would be perfect for my car. I have to charge up at work to get home. If you have a place to charge it up at work or get the quick charger, 30 minutes for an 80% charge, you can live without the home charger. Might be a little annoying but still doable.
I wish I could get an electric motor for my truck. With all the short trips I usually make with it (it's not a daily driver, usually back and forth to the Home Depot around the corner from my house) range wouldn't be an issue usually, although it would be hard to justify owning it knowing that I can only go 50 miles on a charge. I bought mine for towing project vehicles and equipment so for that the range is a must. I certainly wouldn't miss the 11 mpg and maintenance of the v10 motor and slushbox transmission though. Someday the technology will be there and guys like me will be able to afford electric vehicles either new or slightly used. I can't wait to see Elon's pickup truck. I think they'll sell like hotcakes once people figure out how good they are. Until then I'll keep burning dinosaurs.
Totally understand you bro. Can't wait.