I hear a lot of people say that about Teslas. I still think Tesla is the best overall, but I like the Mach E better. Tesla needs to refresh their designs.
EV lots getting cleaned out.
- Thread starter Snagglefoot
- Start date
Why are you even here?
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2023
- Messages
- 1,659
I mean, I have solar that makes up to 16 kWh/day. Nothing crazy, but it adds up. It covers my summer AC completely, or translates to about 50 mi of range.
Distributed household solar makes sense to me. It’s cheap, efficiency is now topping 25%, and battery storage is now viable. You get at least partial self-sufficiency (no outages, ever) and the ongoing cost savings.
But yes the energy demands of society currently require hydrocarbons. It also requires nearly every other type of generation (coal starts getting iffy pretty quick though). Not to get on a soapbox but “all of the above” with reasonable, science-based considerations for the pros and cons of each energy generation source is the way. I’ll leave it at that.
" Significant slowdown in US EV sales..." https://about.bnef.com/insights/cle...-year-but-growth-in-some-major-markets-slows/
I wish I went with a metal roof 3 years ago rather than the $20K asphalt roof....I'd consider solar then.
Not every American vehicle owner has access to solar power and the NIMBY crowd won't allow nuclear and AI is supposed to require gobs of power so I don't see where all this electricity will come from? I do like the idea of
'Hybrid' vehicles but even they need lithium ion batteries which we aren't up to speed on mining if I'm not mistaken. I'd hate to depend on China for it.
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2023
- Messages
- 1,659
Compared to modern AI datacenters EVs are a drop in the bucket. Plus they are mostly charged at night while everyone is sleeping. It kinda works out because while AI training can be done anytime, AI inference (when people are actually using AI) is mostly during business hours and residential demand settles down later at night. Let’s say you charge your EV from 11pm to 7:30am, you get to work at 8am, use AI til 5pm. You open your smart home app and turn the AC on at home so it’s cool when you get there. Also when you get home you do laundry and cook and watch TV which uses power. But then you go to bed around the same time your car starts charging. And you probably don’t need AC anymore at that point.
So EV power usage is literally irrelevant. Even if you ignore homeowners with solar and/or battery.
Tesla offers self-driving, quality software with a good mobile app and infotainment and OTA updates that actually work, a great purchase/ordering experience, a well equipped base trim, and insane performance per dollar.
But plenty of other EVs are better in many ways. I still prefer GM EVs in many ways. Better door handles. No dumb frameless windows. But the base GM EVs are not well equipped, are slow, and the mobile app is literally trash and not free.
It just depends what you’re into. IMO Tesla needs to sell the Cybercab with a steering wheel so normal people can buy it as a cost effective vehicle.
And make a proper boxy 3-row SUV to compete with the EV9, R1S, etc. Use the Cybertruck architecture with a more normal shaped body.
Both of those vehicles would be easy to make compared to some of the other crazy hard problems they have solved and could probably be released within a year.
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2020
- Messages
- 741
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Northern locations don't benefit like the sunny south. I don't have enough real estate on my lot to generate close to the 2,200kWh/month I can use during the more temperate periods where my heat pump does the bulk of the work, let alone also charge an EV. Solar capacity factor for ideally placed commercial ground mount during Dec/Jan/Feb is on the order of 3-4% here, worse for rooftop.
Shut off an ai datacenter and crypto and the entire installed base wouldn’t have an issue, would be more than enough excess power.
Crypto by itself uses as much power as all the EVs combined.
Each ai data center uses as much power as 1.78 million EVs and we want 3000 of them.
I think your worried about the wrong thing.
If you look at the fields full of new Ford F-series behind the dealer you would know the entire auto market is selling less.
Can’t sell what you don’t have.
EV Wise besides Tesla there simply aren’t any on the lot in most of the country, to get a used equinox EV, I have to travel 120+ miles, only a couple used examples in the state.
Last edited:
Campgrounds last two weeks almost entirely EVs for tent and trailer campers. Surprised me.
