Don't invest in horses

[Zathras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Koolau Yeah, shop charges in our area are like $150/hour. Imagine pulling into a place that has invested in a lift suitable for rapid changes of batteries. If it takes 15 minutes to change a battery, that's $40 just for the shop - before their charging costs and profit. Oh, and they'll be charging during peak hours unless they want to stock a few hundred batteries so they can charge off-peak. I don't see it but I was wrong once so YMMV.

If done correctly, it can all be automated and take about 90 seconds.
However, it really doesn’t work well in the USA.
Whoever is doing the swaps needs about three times the number of batteries. That is a lot of very large batteries.

The cost of charging is a minor issue compared to the required inventory. Not to mention getting all manufacturers using the same format.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobbieB The future is 2 electric cars parked in the driveway under a solar carport.

Depending on how many miles per day you drive, a carport worth of solar panels is hard pressed to charge 1 EV, let alone 2.

Safer to ride a scooter, which does not burn as much solar juice.

[Koolau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobbieB The future is 2 electric cars parked in the driveway under a solar carport.

Heh, heh, no carport and no electrical hook up. Other than that, I think you're right! Maybe not in my life time but I'm guessing it will happen.

[RobbieB]

I dunno. 20x20' ie 400 sq-ft is more than I have on my roof now. Yeah, for one car charging during the day and drive the other one. Switch off as needed.

And yeah, E-Motorcycles, sign me up, I've got 2 gassers now, selling one.

[NW-Bound]

On a flat surface of 20'x20', you can fit 22 standard PV panels of 42"x62", each is rated at 330W.

Where I am in the sunny SW, the above panels will produce 45 kWh/day in August, and 17 kWh/day in December. For an EV drawing 35 kWh/100 miles, that's 129 miles/day in the summer, and 49 miles/day in the winter.

The problem is when you are drivin', you are not home chargin'. Hence, it works better to have 2 EVs to alternate, one being charged while you drive the other one.

And of course, if you are not in the sunlit SW where I am, you need to derate for your less sunny climate.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound The problem is when you are drivin', you are not home chargin'. Hence, it works better to have 2 EVs to alternate, one being charged while you drive the other one.

You only need one if you only drive at night.

[RobbieB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound On a flat surface of 20'x20', you can fit 22 standard PV panels of 42"x62", each is rated at 330W. Where I am in the sunny SW, the above panels will produce 45 kWh/day in August, and 17 kWh/day in December. For an EV drawing 35 kWh/100 miles, that's 129 miles/day in the summer, and 49 miles/day in the winter. The problem is when you are drivin', you are not home chargin'. Hence, it works better to have 2 EVs to alternate, one being charged while you drive the other one. And of course, if you are not in the sunlit SW where I am, you need to derate for your less sunny climate.

That's why I said 2 ev's under 400 sq-ft.

[NW-Bound]

Not everyone can afford to have a spare EV.

I think there is a market here for less expensive solution: an EV battery pack that you can mount/dismount yourself. The spare battery pack can be left at home getting charged while you are out on a joy ride.

EV battery packs weigh around 1,000 lbs, so we need an ingenious solution for the battery swap to be DIY.

Well, I guess you can also have a fixed battery at home, and transfer its charge to the car when you get home. Just lose a few more percent of energy.

[RobbieB]

Yeah, easy access just unclip and pull out. Should be great in a collision.

Not everyone can afford 1 car let alone 2 cars. Not everyone can afford solar.

And not everyone can afford the big third battery charging under the roof while both cars are off at work all day.

But 400 sq-ft over the driveway is possible almost anywhere.

[NW-Bound]

If you cannot afford an EV, perhaps you can buy some shares of an EV maker instead.

I just happened to see today's EV stock price movements on Yahoo. They all drop more bigly than the overall market which drops -2.1%. What's going on?

Tesla: -7.2%
Rivian: -11.9%
Lucid: -17.0%
Nio: -12.4%
Xpeng: -14.7%
BYD: -8.3%

[Christine]

Many creative ideas!


But I would think that having one EV and charging it from the grid will be cheaper than needing two EVs and only charge on slow solar.
Combine solar, grid and a local battery then you can get the best of both worlds.




The challenge for all EV makers is that there is a shortage of batteries. So using batteries for swap stations means that you must make fewer cars.

[MarieIG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister And in terms of the thread subject, there are folks here in Kentucky who have made some pretty vast fortunes investing in horses.

https://www.si.com/horse-racing/2018...e-racing-price

Some of the ERs from the racing circuit supplement their income with a little part time work as well . . .

[Koolau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobbieB Yeah, easy access just unclip and pull out. Should be great in a collision. Not everyone can afford 1 car let alone 2 cars. Not everyone can afford solar. And not everyone can afford the big third battery charging under the roof while both cars are off at work all day. But 400 sq-ft over the driveway is possible almost anywhere.

Heh, heh, not at my condo. It's been a while but when I briefly researched the issue of folks who don't have their own garage/car port for charging, I recall finding significantly more than 1/3 of folks do not.

I do like the idea of direct solar charging of EVs. THAT would very likely make them worth the extra cost. Not only would they actually pay for themselves in fuel savings (eventually) but they would actually cut use of FFs. Win:Win

[NW-Bound]

Tesla is facing fierce competition from other EV makers.

Below is a chart comparing Tesla production to that of BYD, and just in the EV category as BYD also makes hybrid cars.

And that's just BYD. I would like to find a chart showing EV production from all makers.

[Koolau]

^^^^^^^^^

So I guess that's why Tesla raised their prices!

[Christine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Koolau ^^^^^^^^^ So I guess that's why Tesla raised their prices!

Tesla usually raise their prices to stop the waiting lists from becoming too long. To wait a year before you get your new car is tiresome.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Koolau ^^^^^^^^^ So I guess that's why Tesla raised their prices!

No, not in China. Tesla dropped the price of the Model X in China by 9% last month.

BYD is not exporting EV cars to the US yet because of the high tariff.

However, BYD has been making electric semis in Lancaster, California. It has delivered more than 100 semi trucks to US customers.

[Christine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Tesla is facing fierce competition from other EV makers. Below is a chart comparing Tesla production to that of BYD, and just in the EV category as BYD also makes hybrid cars. And that's just BYD. I would like to find a chart showing EV production from all makers.

Here is one source:


https://www.ev-volumes.com/


Edit: Pasted in the wrong link.




As an investor I look at profit margins in addition to pure sales numbers. And IMHO Tesla vs the rest looks a lot like Apple vs the rest regarding mobile phone profits.

[Christine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Tesla is facing fierce competition from other EV makers.

I would love for that to be true. But they are almost all fumbling around and making mediocre products.


Volkswagen was for a long time the most promising of the traditional western companies. But then the board kicked out their visionary leader Herbert Diess. And a few months later:


https://driveteslacanada.ca/news/vol...sibly-shelved/


Bad news for the environment and for us drivers looking for diversity when buying our next cars.

[Christine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound However, BYD has been making electric semis in Lancaster, California. It has delivered more than 100 semi trucks to US customers.

And here in Norway they have sold many electric buses.


For transport companies it boils down to cost per mile. And having an EV myself I know that electric trucks and buses will win many customers with this metric.


It will be exiting to see the new Tesla Semi when the first trucks are delivered to Pepsi on December the 1st.