I'll probably be dead in 40 years so it won't matter much

I do expect most of us will be forced to go with some sort of EV contraption in the next 20 years.

 

I'm thinking more like 20 years.

 

Dont know the way its going... 'Everyone must switch to EV', followed by 'CAR CHARGING CURFEW' because grid can't handle it. Not switching to EV for a while lol.

 

My EV plans are pretty simple.

1. Get the kids through college.
2. Retire.
3. Move.
4. EV.

Not sure if moving or retirement comes before the other, but anyway... we'll be driving an EV between 3 to 6 years from now.

I'm guessing someone here on the forum would want to buy my car.

 

Appalled? One of the examples where the word in spanish makes sense however it does not translate.

The G37 is a car I would have loved to be the first and only owner for that long.
Plenty of things can happen in 4 decades, kids alone. You'd have to have the space to keep said car + many more to be able to keep this in that condition.
Possibly other distractions since I fee like the temptation to mod and enjoy will be severe and lastly paint maintenance.
40yr paint is similar to cheap paint today with some decent preparation however Chevy paint in the 70s was nothing to brag about.

 

It will definitely take more than 20 years, it's not as simple of a change as people think it is. In 20 years, I imagine some % of households will own an EV however the remaining fleet in the household will still be ICE.

I'll eventually have an EV in the household but it will be a long while before that happens. In a few years I will upgrade the Altima to an SUV. An EV for our family car is not an option as I want to use it as a roadtrip car with the kids. My personal car will be an ICE car as a prefer a car with a soul for the type of spirited driving I do.

 

With my kids older now, the EV would be the family car.

I don't know, Rob... we have different crystal *****, LOL.

 

On one hand, my jobs throws me into an echo chamber of energy transition enthusiasts, most of whom are very gung-ho about transportation electrification.

On the other, I work with folks who actually have to make that transition happen. The scale and complexity are both pretty hard to grasp, when thinking about the practical steps that kinda have to occur to avoid completely disrupting how we run our day to day lives.

An example, the electrical transformer (grey thing up on the utility pole) is usually rated for 25 kilowatts (kW) and serves on average 3-5 homes. A typical house uses about 2kW at any given time (fluctuates from maybe 1-4kW, as lights go on/off, AC runs then stops, etc). So the transformer has maybe has 5-10kW of headroom during the grid peak (usually when everyone gets home from work and turns on appliances). The typical home level 2 (240V) EV charger draws about 7kW (50amp breaker from the home’s main panel). So even with two EV charging at that peak time (approx 20% adoption), the local grid is probably going to overload. There are some possible solutions, but nothing yet is well tested at-scale. And don’t get me started on issues with the larger transmission grid…

Im sure this can be said for most industries, but the people who know how things work are so rarely the decision makers (and are often not even a part of the process)

Ok end rant

 

I am still driving for Uber part time on my G and a lot of customers praise the car . Uber said that they switching to EV or hybrid by 2025 and I am really thinking about getting in the future Q50 hybrid AWD or Acura RLX hybrid sport AWD. Still very skeptical about full EV cars.

 

An electric car with a gas generator like BMW i8 with its 3 cyl gas motor to help charge the electric with the option to go full electric or run on gas in an emergency is in my eyes a good compromise.

 

The Chevrolet Volt was ahead of its time it had the same type of system. Living here in Alberta where we get a pretty heavy dose of winter full EVs don't make much sense unless you have indoor heated parking at home and work, hybrids are definitely the future here.

 

Rant on!

In my area of California (probably the most gung-ho state for green energy) There was once a mandate by the county that at least a percentage of new homes constructed had to have a minimal solar installation incorporated into the house. That mandate quickly died as Californians still want cheaper houses and solar added $10,000 - $20,000 to the price of the home. Not saying solar panels, or wind power, or EV's are the end all answer, but a logical transition plan that has a snowball's chance in hell of working would be nice. Thats one fault of pursuing an engineering degree, you have an understanding of the BS being shovelled these days

 

Long term plan for us is EV + rooftop solar (I have an unobstructed direct South elevation on the long axis of the house) and a few acres of corn & a still to make Ethanol for the race car.

Great-grands were moonshiners, so... this is just going back to roots LOL.

 

One issue with mandated systems is that they are hilariously small for the cost, since it builders overcharged for it.

What you waiting for at least they extended the tax credit. If you are interested the government has a very powerful solar tool. https://sam.nrel.gov/ and PVWatts is a much simpler tool https://pvwatts.nrel.gov/

 

My area of SC no longer does net metering due to market penetration of solar - nor are we allowed to use solar to run our house. Can only sell to the utility at wholesale. So we'd get about $22 off our $150ish power bill. Not worth it currently for a $40k system + the insurance increase.

That's why it's a LONG-term plan. Cost of solar will come down, and there's always a chance that if the right folks get elected the power company's regressive policies will change - they have before. And I can/will research more about putting in a generac-type failover switch to have the solar kick on to run the house at least when grid power is out 10-12 times a year.

This future is why I still have a built rotary engine in a crate in my garage... I can run it on pure alcohol LOL.