MMM Buys Brand New Nissan Leaf; "An Experiment"

[travelover]

Pretty sure you can parallel these, and they are only $28 each:

New Vicor VI 264 CU BM F1 DC DC Converter Module in 300V 250W Out 48V 200W | eBay

I was joking. The batteries in electric cars are a bunch of lower voltage cells, the better way would be to reassemble the cells in combination a series/ parallel arrangement to get the voltage you wanted.

 

[Fermion]

One doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to take advantage of $21,000 in government subsidies on a $35,000 purchase.

What it does prove is that the system is broken if the government is paying 60% of the purchase price of a new vehicle.

What is that internet law thing called where a majority of people will not get a sarcastic post?

 

[Fermion]

I was joking. The batteries in electric cars are a bunch of lower voltage cells, the better way would be to reassemble the cells in combination a series/ parallel arrangement to get the voltage you wanted.

I was being serious. The attractiveness of a big factory made battery pack is you have the charging and safety systems already worked out for you. If you go messing with rewiring the pack, you probably have to engineer a whole lot of other things and lose the nice safe easy to charge battery module. If you work with whatever voltage the thing outputs, it might be better.

 

[JoeWras]

I'm suspicious of no compensation. I'll have to take his word, but I can still be suspicious.

I'm a reviewer for a well known retail chain and I get a lot of very nice product for free simply by reviewing. It is actually kind of nice, and shocking. This is the new way of spending marketing money. I'm not saying he got something for free, but I suspect his ad revenue from the blog is tied in with hits on car brand or some such other twisted compensation metric.

 

[travelover]

I was being serious. The attractiveness of a big factory made battery pack is you have the charging and safety systems already worked out for you. If you go messing with rewiring the pack, you probably have to engineer a whole lot of other things and lose the nice safe easy to charge battery module. If you work with whatever voltage the thing outputs, it might be better.

Electric cars and hybrids still have a 12 volt system which is charged through a large DC-DC inverter. If you bought a high voltage electric car battery, you could harvest the inverter, as well. Mine is rated for 110 amps at 12 volts.

 

[enginerd]

I'm a reviewer for a well known retail chain and I get a lot of very nice product for free simply by reviewing. It is actually kind of nice, and shocking. This is the new way of spending marketing money.

I'm glad to see Amazon just banned this practice.

 

[ERD50]

I'm glad to see Amazon just banned this practice.

But they still allow it in the 'Vine' program? But I guess that is anonymous between the supplier and the reviewer, but it still seems dodgy to me.

-ERD50

 

[JoeWras]

But they still allow it in the 'Vine' program? But I guess that is anonymous between the supplier and the reviewer, but it still seems dodgy to me.

-ERD50

I'm not a Vine reviewer, but I'm in a similar program with a different retailer, and I am fully identified like Vine reviewers. As far as I know, Vine is alive and well. The change they made was of the direct from manufacturer reviewers who simply started their Amazon review with a catch phrase

 

[karen1972]

I'm glad to see Amazon just banned this practice.

I was pretty sure 2 years ago the Govt came out with very clear guidelines that ANY compensation NOT disclosed was against the law. ie that all bloggers, reviewers, etc no matter how small the compensation needs to disclose...compensation is not just in the form of cash, but can include free food, airlines, hotel stay, products, etc.

 

[walkinwood]

One doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to take advantage of $21,000 in government subsidies on a $35,000 purchase.

What it does prove is that the system is broken if the government is paying 60% of the purchase price of a new vehicle.

I get $12,153 as the government subsidy.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Vine is okay because Amazon runs the program, not the merchants. Vine reviewers can give 1 star reviews and they don't have to worry about not getting more products to review. The merchants have no say or control over who gets to review their products. There is no incentive for reviewers to give all positive reviews like there is in programs not run by Amazon.

 

[Running_Man]

I was pretty sure 2 years ago the Govt came out with very clear guidelines that ANY compensation NOT disclosed was against the law. ie that all bloggers, reviewers, etc no matter how small the compensation needs to disclose...compensation is not just in the form of cash, but can include free food, airlines, hotel stay, products, etc.

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking

Yes truth in advertising while they also admit on the front page describing the law they do not enforce the law unless there are ENOUGH complaints to justify LOOKING at the activity. MMM has stated on the blog that MMM is not a real person and income spending figures and income received are not his actual figures but a this is persona used to create an internet presence. So since MMM does not actually own the Nissan Leaf then the law would not apply as MMM never actually received the Leaf. But hey when you become a multimillionaire by claiming to spend only 25K per year, while taking trips to Canada, Central America & Hawaii keeping people coming to your blog makes life good and any controversy only increases traffic.

 

[haha]

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking

MMM has stated on the blog that MMM is not a real person and income spending figures and income received are not his actual figures but a this is persona used to create an internet presence. So since MMM does not actually own the Nissan Leaf then the law would not apply as MMM never actually received the Leaf. But hey when you become a multimillionaire by claiming to spend only 25K per year, while taking trips to Canada, Central America & Hawaii keeping people coming to your blog makes life good and any controversy only increases traffic.

100% agree. I wonder what this guy's popularity says about the perspicacity of his followers.

Ha

 

[Major Tom]

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking

Yes truth in advertising while they also admit on the front page describing the law they do not enforce the law unless there are ENOUGH complaints to justify LOOKING at the activity. MMM has stated on the blog that MMM is not a real person and income spending figures and income received are not his actual figures but a this is persona used to create an internet presence. So since MMM does not actually own the Nissan Leaf then the law would not apply as MMM never actually received the Leaf. But hey when you become a multimillionaire by claiming to spend only 25K per year, while taking trips to Canada, Central America & Hawaii keeping people coming to your blog makes life good and any controversy only increases traffic.

+1

100% agree. I wonder what this guy's popularity says about the perspicacity of his followers.

Ha

+1 again.

These 2 quotes from Running_Man and haha succintly describe my thoughts and feelings on MMM.

 

[Music Lover]

What is that internet law thing called where a majority of people will not get a sarcastic post?

Sometimes I miss the obvious...

 

[RobbieB]

Hehe, I didn't know that. The whole MMM thing is really a joke eh? Never read it so dunno.

That's pretty good, people just love to read cheap fiction eh? Amazing.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

100% agree. I wonder what this guy's popularity says about the perspicacity of his followers.

Ha

There is an article on the MMM site by another blogger (J.D. Roth) and how they met at a conference where the MMM guy gave a presentation on how to build a cult. I may be wrong, but I get the feeling that most posters here are more into sharing financial and retirement insights and appreciating a wide variety of perspectives than becoming cult members.

 

[GravitySucks]

Hmm a fictional character buys a Nissan Leaf. Is our Trombone Al building the MMM persona for his next novel?

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[REWahoo]

Hmm a fictional character buys a Nissan Leaf. Is our Trombone Al building the MMM persona for his next novel?

Could be. Maybe Al plans on his fictional character having a rollover accident leading to a total change in how carefully he drives. IOW, turning over a new Leaf...

 

[Greencheese]

Hehe, I didn't know that. The whole MMM thing is really a joke eh? Never read it so dunno.

That's pretty good, people just love to read cheap fiction eh? Amazing.

I wouldn't say the ~ENTIRE~ MMM thing is a joke, but MMM himself has become so. It reminds me of a story about a librarian who got lucky and invested correctly during the financial crisis last decade. Her general advice was good (invest for the long term and be aware of your risk tolerance) but the specifics of why she pulled her money out of the market at the very top were ridiculous. She got lucky and thought it was all skill.

 

[RobbieB]

Was he legit when he started? Really 30 and squeaking by on 25 grand a year?

I guess he's got lots now, but how about way back then?

And now that he's got mega bucks is he really still cheaping it out or just not telling people he's eating wagyu and caviar?

 

[Music Lover]

Was he legit when he started? Really 30 and squeaking by on 25 grand a year?

I guess he's got lots now, but how about way back then?

And now that he's got mega bucks is he really still cheaping it out or just not telling people he's eating wagyu and caviar?

I was under the impression that him and his wife had decent incomes and reached FI that way. It was only after their house was paid off that they claim to live on about $25k per year. $25k per year in expenses is not unrealistic for a frugal couple with no debt, very low transportation costs, and no frivolous spending.

 

[Big_Hitter]

Was he legit when he started? Really 30 and squeaking by on 25 grand a year?

I guess he's got lots now, but how about way back then?

And now that he's got mega bucks is he really still cheaping it out or just not telling people he's eating wagyu and caviar?

i think he's always been a FERB

 

[RobbieB]

So, you guys think he is really legit, still frugal after all the millions?

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I was under the impression that him and his wife had decent incomes and reached FI that way. It was only after their house was paid off that they claim to live on about $25k per year. $25k per year in expenses is not unrealistic for a frugal couple with no debt, very low transportation costs, and no frivolous spending.

When people on Reddit tried to pin him down on his actual investable portfolio size to support a family of three with the adults in their 30s (portfolio $400K?) when he declared himself retired, his response was: "My post-retirement financial picture is confusing and ever-changing because I play around with investments and earnings so much. That's why I am hesitant to focus too much on personal details and can never explain it fully - it always leads to recursively-packed cans of worms."

So there you have it:
Reddit: Deconstructing Mr. Money Moustache
https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfi...tructing_mrmoneymoustache_rejoinders_welcome/