I am getting a Tesla

Wildman Rocketry
Advertise with us
The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
RocketGeekInFL

RocketGeekInFL

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2013
Messages
3,282
Reaction score
2,980
I am getting a Tesla in a few months and here are my thoughts and reasons. Reason 1. I don't have to stop at a gas station ever again 2. Reliance on foreign energy 3. They are just cool 4. HOV lane access all the time

Only major issue... I live in Florida. If our power goes out due to hurricane, which it will, this might present a problem. I am looking into getting solar installed to negate this issue however. Also trying to talk my employer into taking advantage of the tax break they get by installing chargers in the parking lot. Since we are in a building that is on the same grid as the actual power company, we hardly ever loose power and when we do we have massive gensets that power the entire building.
 
RocketGeekInFL said:
I am getting a Tesla in a few months and here are my thoughts and reasons. Reason 1. I don't have to stop at a gas station ever again 2. Reliance on foreign energy 3. They are just cool 4. HOV lane access all the time
Click to expand...
You don't need to justify it to people here, particularly in this thread. Can we *please* move this discussion someplace else (like elsewhere in the Watering Hole, or even better /dev/null). There is nothing even slightly LOL about it.

Apologies for my crankiness, I know you didn't start this.

I am looking into getting solar installed to negate this issue however.
Click to expand...
Residential solar with off-grid capability is ideal. Charging at work is nice too; wish I could but waiting for my company to put in chargers. At least two Model 3s plus one Prius Prime that could use them.
 
Moves from being co-dependent on gas, becomes co-dependent on a power grid. I enjoy driving around in my Z4.
 
"If our power goes out due to hurricane, which it will, this might present a problem. I am looking into getting solar installed to negate this issue however."

I would suggest that the chances of your solar generating anything during a hurricane are slim to none.
Now if you were talking solar/wind combined, you might have a chance.
 
spigalau said:
"If our power goes out due to hurricane, which it will, this might present a problem. I am looking into getting solar installed to negate this issue however."

I would suggest that the chances of your solar generating anything during a hurricane are slim to none.
Now if you were talking solar/wind combined, you might have a chance.
Click to expand...
Wind power only works up certain wind speeds, then the generator have to be "turned off" or stopped to prevent damage to the system. So a hurricane is not likely to be any better with wind than solar, however if both survive a hurricane undamaged they might at least have some power. Its also hard to store a significant amount of electricity for long periods, gas or diesel not too hard.
 
rharshberger said:
Wind power only works up certain wind speeds, then the generator have to be "turned off" or stopped to prevent damage to the system. So a hurricane is not likely to be any better with wind than solar, however if both survive a hurricane undamaged they might at least have some power. Its also hard to store a significant amount of electricity for long periods, gas or diesel not too hard.
Click to expand...

Yes, we looked at doing a combined solar/wind system for the lodge but decided against it as the peak generation hours of the unit were outside the peak usage periods. Adding bulk storage to the solution was not very cost effective either.

Also, changed the passive solar hotwater heating system (under floor) to a diesel burner and now in winter the floors are around 75 deg (f) under foot.
 
spigalau said:
Yes, we looked at doing a combined solar/wind system for the lodge but decided against it as the peak generation hours of the unit were outside the peak usage periods. Adding bulk storage to the solution was not very cost effective either.

Also, changed the passive solar hotwater heating system (under floor) to a diesel burner and now in winter the floors are around 75 deg (f) under foot.
Click to expand...
I too have been looking at these options as well, and am thinking of a solar/wind for immediate use with a LP or diesel generator as backup for outages. Have absolutely zero desire to give up cars I can somewhat work on if needed for ones that I cant.
 
I bought a Leaf 4 years ago and haven't looked back. One thing that doesn't get a lot of airtime is that electric cars have very few maintenance items. I've had to replace the cabin air filter a few times plus new tires and that's about it. No oil changes, 30K/60K maintenance, etc.

We have rooftop solar (about 50% of our annual usage), but no bulk storage since our power in the city is very reliable.
 
Any backup power source to charge a Tesla has to be a pure sinewave or the Tesla won't charge.

Solar or wind alone aren't practical unless you spend a lot on capacity and storage. And get a pure sinewave inverter with enough capacity. At least a $10K investment. Battery cost & lifetime are a concern (as it is with the Tesla).

A good gas generator with 5KW output will take a day to full charge a Tesla. You'll get about 15 miles per gallon. Need a good-sized gasoline storage for long power outages. Most residential areas have zoning rules limiting the tank size. This is a good choice for short outages at minimal cost. $1K or so.

There are several Natural Gas / Propane backup power generator suppliers. If you have NG at your property, it will likely be there for a while during some natural disasters. Your own LPG tank is a better backup. They offer automatic switch-over to power your house. A 50A generator is about $3K-$4K. I haven't calculated the efficiency and equivalent MPG.
https://www.kohlerpower.com/home/home-generators/generators
 
If you think you are not powering that thing without foreign oil or fossil fuels, you are fooling yourself. 64% of US power will still from fossil fuels even today.
 
cwbullet said:
If you think you are not powering that thing without foreign oil or fossil fuels, you are fooling yourself. 64% of US power will still from fossil fuels even today.
Click to expand...

Also 'countries of origin' for components is quite interesting, there are a lot of non-renewable resources that go in to producing them.
 
Charge the battery before the storm, you have 300+ miles. How far do you gotta go?
A solar array would need to be large and susceptible to storm damage.
Charge it at Disney World, the power doesn't go off there.

M
 
I have thought about a Tesla. They need a station in my area first. I would not pretend delude myself that I saving the planet by buying one.
 
cwbullet said:
If you think you are not powering that thing without foreign oil or fossil fuels, you are fooling yourself. 64% of US power will still from fossil fuels even today.
Click to expand...
Varies by location, but even using your numbers that's 36% less fossil fuels than an ICE even before accounting for greater efficiency. Total carbon footprint over vehicle lifetime is lower, even in areas with a relatively dirty grid. Also my EV will get cleaner every year along with the grid. Also if I buy green energy at my house (planning to do so, although not great options in NJ) or install solar I can get closer to zero use of fossil fuel for day to day driving. Also, relocating tailpipe emissions to power plants brings a bunch of benefits, especially in cities. Also, they're silent. Also, they're crazy fun to drive. Instant torque.

I am confused by the line of reasoning that either EVs are conjured out of thin air with no resources and run on magic pixie dust, or else they're evil virtue-signaling crap.

BEVs are environmentally preferable to ICEs. They are not perfect and do not have a zero carbon footprint. Public transportation and electric micromobility solutions (ebikes, scooters, etc.) are far better. But those options are not available to all.
 
I got my Tesla when the full federal credit was still in effect, so that was $7500 at the time. Now it's gone for Tesla and GM, still in relatively good shape for other manufacturers as far as I know. Here in NJ, no sales tax on EVs, so that's good for another ~$3K.

EDIT: GM has $1875 federal tax credit in place until the end of March, 2020. Then zero.
 
rharshberger said:
Wind power only works up certain wind speeds, then the generator have to be "turned off" or stopped to prevent damage to the system. So a hurricane is not likely to be any better with wind than solar, however if both survive a hurricane undamaged they might at least have some power. Its also hard to store a significant amount of electricity for long periods, gas or diesel not too hard.
Click to expand...

When we had a wind generator in Littleton Co at 40 mph wind speed it would have to disengage and just free wheel.
 
The Fed ones expired for Tesla this year, however it looks as if they will be extended possibly for 2-3 years. You could get up $7500 back on your taxes last I looked at the proposed bill. Businesses have an incentive to install charges, though I don't know the full tax breaks they get. As for charger locations, they are all over the place down here now, and not just at 'Tesla Stations' some of the Wawa stations here have Superchargers now, the mall, and even what is called Rosemary Square (a huge dining and retail complex) have them in the parking garages now. The campus my office is in has them but from another tenant on the other side of the complex. Whole foods has them as well. Disney is an option as are some of the hotels in the area that now have chargers.

Another thing of note, one of these days the laws are going to catch up to EV owners, as we pay no gas tax, the state/county/city are going to be looking to recoup those lost revenues. Not sure how they are going to do this. I know California, the bastion of new taxes, was toying around with the idea of basing your vehicle registration fee on miles driven in the year.
 
As to note about solar and charging, Tesla does recommend using a powerwall in combo with their panels for charging. On another note, I know a third party now has a charger that turns your vehicle into a powerwall by reversing the flow.
 
Point number 3 is more than enough justification in my mind.

The real question is how many F-motors will it take to send it to space?
 
RocketGeekInFL said:
The Fed ones expired for Tesla this year, however it looks as if they will be extended possibly for 2-3 years. You could get up $7500 back on your taxes last I looked at the proposed bill. Businesses have an incentive to install charges, though I don't know the full tax breaks they get. As for charger locations, they are all over the place down here now, and not just at 'Tesla Stations' some of the Wawa stations here have Superchargers now, the mall, and even what is called Rosemary Square (a huge dining and retail complex) have them in the parking garages now. The campus my office is in has them but from another tenant on the other side of the complex. Whole foods has them as well. Disney is an option as are some of the hotels in the area that now have chargers.

Another thing of note, one of these days the laws are going to catch up to EV owners, as we pay no gas tax, the state/county/city are going to be looking to recoup those lost revenues. Not sure how they are going to do this. I know California, the bastion of new taxes, was toying around with the idea of basing your vehicle registration fee on miles driven in the year.
Click to expand...
I think WA is getting ahead of CA in EV fees now some of my co-workers were whining about EV fees because the state is losing gas tax dollars without the fees.
 
RocketGeekInFL said:
The Fed ones expired for Tesla this year, however it looks as if they will be extended possibly for 2-3 years.
Click to expand...
Would be nice but I truly would not expect it to happen in the current administration.
rharshberger said:
I think WA is getting ahead of CA in EV fees now some of my co-workers were whining about EV fees because the state is losing gas tax dollars without the fees.
Click to expand...
Something along these lines seems likely to be put into place in most areas. Some type of fee to pay for the roads is not unreasonable; fixed fee is dumb though, and hugely asymmetric compared to how ICE vehicles pay. Anyway, annoying but still doesn't negate the cost per mile advantage of EVs. In NJ I calculated that I save about $50/month vs. my previous car which was a Prius getting 45 MPG. That's driving about 18K miles/year.
 
cwbullet said:
If you think you are not powering that thing without foreign oil or fossil fuels, you are fooling yourself. 64% of US power will still from fossil fuels even today.
Click to expand...

I kinda don't care what dyno juice, foreign or domestic, goes into electricity generation.
I do care that my cost per mile driven in an EV is 1/5th the cost of mile driven on any of my ICE cars.

Over the course of a year, that's about $3.5K in savings.
That pays for a LOT or rocketry gear...

I also like the fact that I can do 0-60 in 3.0 seconds flat, at about 1/10th the cost of what it would take to replicate that performance in a modern ICE sports car.
:cool:


spigalau said:
I would suggest that the chances of your solar generating anything during a hurricane are slim to none. Now if you were talking solar/wind combined, you might have a chance.
Click to expand...

Actually, solar panels generate electricity even off the moon light (sunlight reflecting off the moon's surface), so generation during cloudy days is definitely not a challenge. At distinctly lower levels than in the direct sunlight, but it does work.

Now scaling the solar panels' size to power your home, then generate and store enough electricity to recharge 75-100 KWh EV battery at off-hours, can be a planning and budgetary challenge. Financially, it never made sense for me in NJ (break-even in 27 years), but we do get less sunlight than FL.

cwbullet said:
I have thought about a Tesla. They need a station in my area first. I would not pretend delude myself that I saving the planet by buying one.
Click to expand...

Not the planet, just your wallet.
If planet gets something out of this deal, so much the batter!
:D

a

P.S.: IMHO, the easiest way to enjoy an EV is to have an L2 charger installed in your garage (relatively inexpensive, comes with federal tax credits), and have another ICE car in your garage.
 
Good for you. I was planning to buy the the Model 3 two years ago, but my Toyota died before the $35k version came out (and I'm a cheapskate). I ended up buying a Honda Clarity PHEV. With the tax credit, its the cheapest and best new car I've ever bought.

The best reason to buy an EV is that elections are cheaper than molecules. I can drive for pennies on the battery. And I love driving in EV mode--its quiet and has way better acceleration. When the motor kicks in after ~40 miles, I'm pissed.
 
Giving you an idea about solar generation, I recently installed a 10kW, 3-phase system. 34 panels on the roof. On a good day the best I have seen so far is a total of 72kWh. Yesterday, with the smoke from the fires in South Australia (nearly 1000km away), I got a measly 10kWh over the entire day :(.

Enjoy the Tesla. Down here electric cars are too expensive still, and not many charging stations. I have just ordered a Jeep with a 347 cubic inch (5.7 litre) Hemi :)
 

Similar threads

jqavins
My EV Experience
2
Replies
39
Views
2K
Simon Auty
S
Superza
Road to Three-Stage
Replies
10
Views
1K
Superza
Superza
V
Conducting Launches For A Crowd
Replies
22
Views
1K
loopy
loopy
Onebadhawk
Onebadhawk Recovery Harnesses Annual Black Week Sale
Replies
6
Views
947
Onebadhawk
Onebadhawk
ReynoldsSlumber
Old tractors, new tractors: Flying Pitchfork, Cluster F, TetraJet
Replies
16
Views
609
cwbullet
cwbullet

Latest posts

Back
Top