Comments for Inside EVs

Comment on Solar Electric Scooter Makes You Feel Good When Your Getting Around (Video) by Steve T

Steve T — Sun, 19 May 2013 22:09:29 +0000

Agree.

Comment on Will Electric Vehicles Drive Mechanics Out of Business? by Mark H

Mark H — Sun, 19 May 2013 21:54:02 +0000

Same for mine Bill. My oil life indicator is still around 85% after 18 months. At this rate it will tell me to change it in about 9 years. Of course I will change it before then but same point you are making.

Comment on Will Electric Vehicles Drive Mechanics Out of Business? by Bill Howland

Bill Howland — Sun, 19 May 2013 21:26:01 +0000

My car is over 2 years old and has yet to have even its first oil change. I will get one next year only because I have an expiring coupon, not because the car needs it.

Comment on Will Electric Vehicles Drive Mechanics Out of Business? by Bill Howland

Bill Howland — Sun, 19 May 2013 21:24:25 +0000

Eric Loveday quite obviously isn’t familiar with the maintenance schedule for the Chevy Volt. If he was he would see it needs less than half the normal maintenance.

Comment on SolarCity Claims to Have “Over 395 Energy Storage Pilot Projects Under Contract”…Are Most Contracts With Current Tesla Owners? by Mark H

Mark H — Sun, 19 May 2013 21:20:31 +0000

Power companies are willing to offer price reduction incentives to customers who use less power during peak demand, but complain about solar energy offered during peak. Not only has our state of NC gunned down phone and internet conversations from potential Tesla customers but have put forth bills to cancel the 2007 renewable energy policies. I will spend the money for a backup system before I dump my PV energy on the grid for free. Hopefully the EV market as suggested in this article will aide in progressing future PV storage solutions as well. This all ends well but man there are some battles to be fought along the way.

Comment on Will Electric Vehicles Drive Mechanics Out of Business? by Mark H

Mark H — Sun, 19 May 2013 20:47:49 +0000

+1 bloggin. Maintenance disappear? No. But definitely much less and more specialized.

Also, depending on how they are used (or not used) range extenders too will have much less service. As MrEnergyCzar stated, just because there is an engine under the hood the same rules do not apply. Think about it, if you owned a car and only drove it 900 miles per year it would probably last a very long time with a lot less “engine” maintenance. Many Volt drivers and future range extenders will see less than 1000-2000 miles per year from the range extender itself. Once this sinks in, manufactures will radically change what they offer in a range extender.

Originally I imagined extenders disappearing in a decade. I am slowly seeing the extender continue as an accessory. That accessory may or may not come in the form of a combustion engine. BMW has made the first step toward understanding the light duty low performance extender and IMO we will see more of this. In either case, it is unlikely that it adds more than a fraction to the scheduled maintenance.

Comment on SolarCity Claims to Have “Over 395 Energy Storage Pilot Projects Under Contract”…Are Most Contracts With Current Tesla Owners? by Anthony

Anthony — Sun, 19 May 2013 20:39:41 +0000

The 10-year time horizon seems right, since thats how long it’ll take for solar power to be a large enough part of the grid where you will need storage to smooth out generation.

Comment on SolarCity Claims to Have “Over 395 Energy Storage Pilot Projects Under Contract”…Are Most Contracts With Current Tesla Owners? by GeorgeS

GeorgeS — Sun, 19 May 2013 20:36:29 +0000

Obviously there is a storage issue with PV and wind as they need 100% back up from the grid. Thus you are in essence installing twice the capacity you need. Low cost storage is a solution, sort of. My solar PV installation was pretty darned expensive and it’s grid tied with no battery backup. Even lead acid battery backup added too much cost to the system for me to afford.

The Germans are trying hard to solve the problem. They are going with CHP back up. A slightly different way to go. However I can’t get to excited about having an ICE in my basement.

Maybe someday solid oxide fuel cells will offer a better alternative to ICE CHP.

Comment on In Europe, Sales of Pure Electric Vehicles Increased 20-Fold From 2010 to 2012 by Matthias

Matthias — Sun, 19 May 2013 20:30:58 +0000

Hey there! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be okay. I’m definitely enjoying your blog and look forward to new
posts.

Comment on Will Electric Vehicles Drive Mechanics Out of Business? by scottf200

scottf200 — Sun, 19 May 2013 20:18:22 +0000

Good point about the brakes. That actually is going to cut into the service center profits. For those that use the ‘max regen’ features on these cars the physical brake parts get a LOT less use.