How to impress your neighbors now that everyone has a Tesla

[A64Pilot]

I don’t think any logical person is saying fossil will go away or should completely, However I think most logical people do understand that fossil isn’t coming down in price but will continue to increase over time. Logically if we cut back on its consumption, we will have more of it, for longer. There are many things like ships for example and airplanes that we aren’t anywhere near being able to go electric, but just maybe we ought to be saving the fossil for those things where it’s needed that there just isn’t a realistic replacement for. I have all gas powered weed eaters, blowers, lawn mower, edgers etc. but when they wear out I don’t think I’ll replace them with gas power, electric ones have become viable, just like the cordless drill has.

The one really big reason to go electric when it’s viable is efficiency, the model 3 is up to 95% efficient, has to be to travel 260 miles on the same BTU of 1.5 gls of gasoline, then the power grid is phenomenally efficient, by whatever means the electricity is generated, even if you burn fossil to make the electricity the power plant is far more efficient than an automobile. However we are going to have to increase generating capacity TANSTAAFL

 One way or another we as a Society will have to become more efficient, and if we are smart and adopt technology that works, we can be, but we are going to have to change some of our attitudes that are I believe driven by marketers to make money, not by any actual need. Truth is the average person doesn’t need a three row SUV, or a 3,000 sq ft house for example, you will see house and auto sizes decreasing. It’s inevitable 

So far I’m about 2 years into this electric car experiment, I’ve had zero problems with the car, zero required maintenance excepting tire rotation and the thing cost about 1/4 to charge of what it costs to fuel an average car. We have had to make zero changes in our driving habits, excepting never having to visit a gas station and traveling so far has been a non issue. If the next say 10 years work out as well as the first two then it will be great, only time will tell though. I don’t doubt the battery has enough cycles in it to get there, but I question what 10 years will do to it. There are over 10 year old EV’s but the battery chemistry is different

Oh, and the darn thing is quick too, much better acceleration and cornering ability than average, the AC works just as well sitting at a stop light as it does going down the highway, and it’s pre-cooled before we get in, no more getting in a hot or cold car, you can leave the AC on to keep the dog in the car while you go out to eat or shop, many small but significant differences. 

It’s a lot like the Prius we had for ten years and put 250,000 miles on it. No maintenance excepting what was normal for a regular car, oil changes, coolant flush and change, spark plugs, air filter etc. However the difference in the cost of fuel that we didn’t burn as compared to the average car exceeded the purchase price of the Prius. It wasn’t only free but in a matter of thinking made us money. It was a sort of experiment for us too. I think an EV is the logical evolution of a hybrid ICE / electric auto, just had to evolve the batteries, our Prius used Nimh batteries, which wouldn’t have worked for an EV.

The Prius had its share of detractors too, why I can’t figure that out, why do people care what others drive?

In truth I figure the money I save in not putting gas in my Auto is gas I can put in my Mooney, having 150 gls of Avgas being delivered tomorrow in fact.

[Fly Boomer]

17 hours ago, A64Pilot said:

Truth is the average person doesn’t need a three row SUV, or a 3,000 sq ft house for example, you will see house and auto sizes decreasing. It’s inevitable 

Another truth is that the average driver doesn't need 500 miles of range on an electric car.  The average American drives less than 40 miles per day.  If you have a 240-volt charger in your garage, you may never have to think about "filling up" again.  Granted, cross-country trips require a little planning, but the Tesla practically does all the work for you.

https://www.policygenius.com/auto-insurance/average-miles-driven-by-state/

[A64Pilot]

On 8/30/2023 at 2:41 PM, Fly Boomer said:

Another truth is that the average driver doesn't need 500 miles of range on an electric car.  The average American drives less than 40 miles per day.  If you have a 240-volt charger in your garage, you may never have to think about "filling up" again.  Granted, cross-country trips require a little planning, but the Tesla practically does all the work for you.

https://www.policygenius.com/auto-insurance/average-miles-driven-by-state/

My intent is if I ever have to drive a very long distance to rent. 

I’ve always said that but in truth I never drive really long distances, I fly instead, isn’t that why we have airplanes? My reasonings are several, mostly don’t rack all those miles on my car and less importantly if it breaks or I have an accident thousands of miles from home it’s not the issue it is if it’s mine.

The tesla all you have to do is push the switch on the steering wheel and say “navigate to Laguardia airport” if your say in Fl the route pops up with every stop for charging in the route, the stops are continuously monitored and as the car is internet connected if one were to break, power outage or just busy the car re-routes to another charge point. Never had that happen, but I almost never use Superchargers as you can see in the screen shots. All you have to do is drive, and with Autopilot you don’t even have to do that, just monitor things just like flying on Autopilot. Tesla Autopilot is brilliant on the highway, not as much on two lane roads and pretty useless in city traffic.

Another thing, notice in the screen shots that charging at home cost 17c per KWH, but Supercharging costs 40C per KWH. Superchargers require no people, they are just chargers that sit there and I’ve never seen one being maintained so I suspect beyond buying the thing there is very little operating expense, with a 300% profit margin for what he sells the power for compared to what he pays for it, I think Musk is making a HUGE amount of money from Superchargers. I base the 300% off of a guess that he pays less per KWH than I do just like all other Commercial customers, but it’s a guess as I have no idea what he pays.

With a profit margin like that why do we think chargers need to be Government subsidized?

If you believe Fortune magazine gas station see less than 2% profit, why aren’t they subsidized?

https://fortune.com/2022/08/09/energy-profit-margins-gas-stations-proof-fuel-retailers-high-gas-prices-alex-kinnier/