Some regular readers may have noticed that I’ve been a bit detached from the blog in the past week. There’s a good reason for that. I’ve been immersing myself in the joys of owning and learning about the nuts and volts of an electric car.
Yes, that evil old Anthony Watts, doubter of Anthropogenic Global Warming, is now driving an NEV (Neighborhood Electric Vehicle) to and from work every day, to lunch, and on errands in town. I put 100 miles on it the first week. Of course this sort of energy efficiency isn’t anything new for me, since I put solar on my home, and on one of the local schools when I was a trustee. But never mind that, I’m still “evil” for doubting AGW. 😉
It would be interesting to see what some other pro-AGW folks drive. I see Jim Hansen has a 85 mile each way commute from his house in Kintnersville, Pennsylvania to Columbia University in NYC.
The NEV is a 2002 Ford “Think” which is no longer in production since California dropped the ZEV (Zero Emissions Vehicle) mandate in 2003. It is one of the rare “pickup truck” models, and as seen below, the former owner drove that point home:
If you are a Ford pickup truck owner, you’ll recognize the logo. The famous Ford F-150 pickup truck is rated for a 1500 pound cargo capacity. This vehicle is rated at 500 pounds, hence the designation, though not an official one.
Those who have owned Fords are often reminded of these famous F.O.R.D descriptions:
“Fix Or Repair Daily”, or “Found On Road Dead”.
Since this operates on 6x 12V Gel Cells, which are under the seats, I’ve added a new one:
Found On Road Discharged
Though not really, I get about 25-30 miles of range from this vehicle, and finding a power plug is easy between my home, office, and some folks around town I know. Currently it has a top speed of 25MPH, which is limited by a controller, but the vehicle can be modded with new programming and an enhanced efficiency motor to reach up to 39MPH. I’m not sure if I need that, as I have not found the speed to be an issue. I mostly take the back streets anyway, and my office is about 2 miles from my home. The only place I can’t go is the Highway, but I don’t need to.
The complete vehicle specs are listed here, from testing done by the US Department of Energy.
Now here is the really important part, look at the DOE rated energy cost:
Energy Cost: @ $0.10/kWh: $0.016/mi
In California, I pay about 15 cents per kilowatt/hour, so my cost would be: $.024/mile or 2.4 cents per mile. With battery replacement every 4 years, I figure that will rise to 3, maybe 4 cents a mile. Even if I’m off by a factor of 100%, and it costs me 6-8 cents a mile to drive, it is still a bargain. In my regular vehicle, given the $3.89/gallon gas price, I figured I was spending about $40-$50 per week in gasoline costs just doing my daily routine and errands.
So, my mission here is simple; I’m not saving the planet, I’m saving money.
That is infectious, and my local newspaper editor, David Little, did his weekly Sunday column on it and the electric car club in town. He’s hooked.
Right now the vehicle is in my garage, I completely disassembled the body and dash so I could locate an intermittent electrical connection and give the entire vehicle a good cleaning and inspection. The former owner lived in a desert area, and there was a lot of sand in it. It has been a joy to work on. It is simple and efficient in design, and easily maintainable with simple hand tools. I’ve located the electrical problem and fixed it. Once I get the vehicle reassembled, I’ll get back to blogging more on the issues related to USHCN and surfacestations.org
In the meantime, I’m having a ball! Bumper sticker suggestions are welcome.
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Anthony,
One of my favorite movie lines was Rocky from Chicken Run –
“In America when we want to motivate someone, we don’t talk about death”
The constant drumbeat of stories about Armageddon has likely done more harm than good for the environmental movement. It is much easier to motivate people by telling them a valuable truth, rather than trying to scare them with absurd fantasies.
I ride my bike to work and get excellent gas mileage – though I hear that exercise causes a lot of “dangerous” greenhouse gas emissions.
“It would be interesting to see what some other pro-AGW folks drive.”
Or how about us anti-AGW people who just value economics? I drive a 22-year-old Mercedes diesel (champagne tastes, beer budget) – it is all steel and leather (M-B doesn’t use much plastic!) so it is all recyclable or biodegradable when it has passed the 1,000,000 mile mark so it is much more Earth-friendly than trying to scrap a Prius with all its batteries! I am also comfortably wrapped in a very strong steel cage in the event of misadventure. And, yes I also have a bike and hiking boots.
Enjoy your electric toy! Watts revolts!
BTW, how much did you pay for it?
[$4500]
How much time have you put into it? (What is your time worth–at least 25/hour).
[beyond the work I’m doing this week, about 10 hours for inspection, cleaning, minor repairs – like any used vehicle, none beyond thta this year. I see the car as a hobby value also, I ENJOY working on it.]
How many miles do you expect to go a year?
[ 3000]
How many years do you expect to own it–five is a reasonable depreciation schedule. [up to ten, since it is very easy to maintain, unless something better comes along]
Looking forward to your revised cost per mile figures.
>>>>REPLY: No it is not missing, I don’t play golf.<<<<
Probably just as well. It leads to global cursing. Weather you take it up or not, be advised that it leads to ‘fore’ casting from reality diverging from the model swing…or is that a SWAG?
Another thought. As I watch Detroit kick the puck out of Dallas (4-2 in the 3rd) perhaps your little electric chair has possibilities as a ZAMBONI. A Zippy Aerosol Minimizing Bio Oxygen Neutral Infuser. A machine like that could smooth the ice and put any curve desired in a climate hockey stick for a mere pittance of eco-Watts.
My Ford Explorer bumper sticker reads “powered by hydrogen-loaded nanorods”. Unfortunately, most people have forgotten about the hydrogen economy and fuel cells.
Oh and bumper sticker:
Watts amatta 4 u?
I’ve a friend that lives south of Atlanta in Peachtree City. Before I ever went to visit and witness it for myself, he had told me it was likely to be behind a golf cart at the McDonalds drive-thru and see them parked in the grocery parking lot…picking up the kids at school.
http://www.peachtree-city.org/index.asp?NID=216
It would be nice if my community would try to even accommodate a stinkin’ bicycle. They don’t, won’t and it’s dangerous as heck to try and go anywhere outside the neighborhood on one.
Hey Aviator, “Watts Revolt” would make a good bumper sticker for Anthony.
It’s a good idea for now. But if everyone had electric cars, then electricity would be a lot more expensive. The long term solution is better technology, more nuclear power, and a willingness to actually use our natural resources.
Well, all I have to say is that, I am not a “credited” Climate Scientist, but after the last 4 years of “my humble research” on this complicated issue, “I do not agree with the Gore/ IPCC/ McCain/ Enviromentalist Greenies” solutions to what is (non) AGW problem. “It is my believe that humans”, do not have a “Nat’s A-s effect on Global Climate change”. Man should not promote action’s that have an “unreasonable impact” on “Earth’s enviornment, but enough of this ‘Greenee” BS. Someone, please “prove to the the world” that, it is the “Sun” not “humans”, that “Rules”. As a result of my belief’s, I just went out and bought a “New Chev. 4×4 Truck”. (Down sized from an 8.1 to a 5.3) as my contribution. “Please end this Madness”, before this Country’s “way of life” is “destroyed by Socialisim”. As much as I hate to do it, “I’m holding my nose” and voting for McCain. Not the best of ‘all possibly solutions’, but better than the alternatives. I also pray alot!!!!
Or, to mix an electrical pun with Brit. sl.:
2W Motor
I’ve coauthored a new phrase patterned after Galileo’s legendary response to oppressive and incorrect authority:
Eppure, si rinfresca which means Yet, It Cools
Galileo’s original phrase was:
Eppur si muove which means Yet It Moves
Just a thought.
.well its a fancy looking golf kart…
but, 3.85 $ for a gallon is CHEAP!!!!..
here (netherlands) its 1.60 euro a liter (so around 9 (yes nine, IX) dollar a gallon)
So stop complaining..! 🙂
980 & 1 Watt
regards from Switzerland,
Freddie
My only complaint is that gas taxes are used to pay for the roads. If you aren’t buying gas, you aren’t helping to fund the roads that you are using.
REPLY: Alright, fine. I’ll get an electric airplane.
Thanks, Anthony. You’ve shown what I’ve been thinking for some time. The “solution” to gas prices is available right now — existing electric cars — and no basic tech advances necessary.
Of course, some infrastructure additions are needed. “Public”, metered electric outlets situated in accessible places — relatively simple.
Eventual problem, tho, is a biggie. Millions of electric vehicles will require more electric generation for recharging, and it’s darn near impossible right now (NIMBYS) to build anything other than small, cheap natural-gas-powered turbines.
REPLY: The charging problem is only a problem from noon to 6PM, during peak demand hours. There is scads of excess capacity at night, and many power plants throttle back. Charging these vehicles overnight can make use of that excess capacity.
My father-in-law, an old diehard Nascar fan, has always said that FORD stands for “First On Race Day”.
I now have visions of the next Great Road Trip:
http://pastorhawkins.files.wordpress.com/2006/11/thestraightstory03.jpg
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166896/)
The following says that climate models have been worthless:
http://www.itia.ntua.gr/en/docinfo/850
But Gavin at RC says they’re as prcise as a micrometer:
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2008/05/what-the-ipcc-models-really-say/
Who should I believe?!
Aviator,
My Benz (200c 4 cyl.) is 5 years old – and has lots of plastic. They don’t make ’em like they used to.
Electric: It’s watts for driving.
REPLY: Good one!
The electric cars are coming & in a big way from all the auto makers. They are now pouring billions into them. Why ? They want to get around the CAFE standards is one reason.
As one exec said, to meet CAFE, emissions & safety standards there will have to be a ‘chemical refinery under the hood’.
So far, they have gotten the prices down on all future cars to ‘only’ $11,500 extra above the ‘normal’ price of the car. So, my 2000 Sephia, instead of $14k would be $25.5k.
The state of California is looking into charging a ‘mileage tax’ to make up for the losses in gasoline taxes.
Makes me thing about this whole “ZEV” thing.
I remember being surprised to read that back in the 1980’s electric cars were found to outgas the same amount of lead vapors as a car burning leaded gas.
I guess battery tech has improved a bit with the sealed batteries, but even if they’re considered to be “sealed,” they can still vent, esp. if they’re charged too quickly. A wee bit of lead comes along with any hydrogen that’s vented. Even AGM or gel lead-acid batteries need good ventilation to prevent hydrogen gas build-up.
My money saving item is a push mower for my yard. I mean a rotary blade no engine type. The input is biofuel. i.e. what I ate the night before. There is little exhaust except my hard breathing when getting out of breath.