The_AirHawk

But.... 99 Man!

NINETY-NINE!!!!!11!!!!!!11!!!

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Parfois, on fait pas semblant
Sometimes, it's not pretend
Oderint Dum Metuant
Let them hate so long as they fear
политики предпочитают безоружных крестьян
Politicians Prefer Unarmed Peasants
Nothing to see here, Citizen. Move along now...

12er

I checked out the "$500 Lease" claim for the model S. Reality was $1200 a month minus gas, time to pump gas and a few other numbers they pulled out of their rears. Bummer as I'd be on one so fast it would make your head spin. 200 mile range is 99% of our driving.

Many EV's out there under 40k now (though they are hovering around the 100 mile figure). Since we've been new car shopping Ive seen the EV focus, Fit, Rav 4 and of course the Leaf on the local lots. Charging stations are popping up all over and "there's an app for that." My buddy is really digging their Rav4, though roasting the tires will cost you a hand full of miles. Same as my old muscle cars in that respect. His wife is handling her 65 mile commute without issue and they just got their solar installed. So they are happy as clams. They are saving money now over the same commute with their Highlander hybred and their meter is running backwards during the day.

jmdonald

As a city/suburban ride they may make sense. What you don't spend on gas you will spend on electricity. Cost to charge vs. miles per charge. That is a more valid metric.

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Secede.

seruzawa

How many decades until the cost of installing solar makes up the difference?

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"Make no mistake, Communism lost a big argument - one we know today as the 20th century."

12er

For their use, 9 year return on solar before they break even. With PG&E raising rates every year to pay for their incompetance and bonuses it could be faster. They went to a tankless water heater with the solar install additionally, since the vast majority of our power expense is keeping water hot 24/7 in this country. Not counting gas savings from their EV (as that would go to offset the additional cost of the EV)

For my use it would take about 30 years as my wife and I have a small home, no kids or AC and use very little power. PG&E lobbied CA to not pay you for your power adding to the grid. What they do is settle up at the end of the year. If you use more power than you produced, you pay for the power. If you produced more than you used, you get no bill and PG&E thank you for your donation to the grid. For us we'd definitely be giving to PG&E or it would pay off for us quicker as we'd be a power producer.

12er

Electricity is much cheaper than gas, plus no oil changes, transmission service, etc. With the regenerative braking, your pads will last longer also. So its not just gas savings but maintenance costs as well.

The EV's are labeled with MPG equivilants and most are around the 100 - 120mpg range. That is if you believe the EPAs math.

With every auto maker pumping out EV's they are going to take off pretty quickly as things are changing fast.

"What about battery pack longevity" uh, lease for now... Though I forsee it to be easy enough to create a retro pack down the road if battery tech takes off.

Tesla's technology is now down from over 100k (roadster) to 40k (EV rav4) in 10 years. Just as a 45 in plasma in 2001 was 12k, blue ray, dvd, cd players were a grand when they came out.

So just like everything but economics the tech is trickling down to the masses and gaining speed daily.