Electric Tacoma coming

If you take names seriously, the Ranger either has to be best in class at miles per tank, or an excellent jack of all trades.

This is my head canon now.

I had Mr. Van Eaton, he had us all line up and hold hands while one person touched an electrical source (I forget what, it's been a few years...). I was that jack hole that broke the chain so that people adjacent to me would get a little shock.

How are you guys filling up 25 gallons in 5 minutes? It takes me like 7 minutes for 15 gallons.

Serious question though, because people like to bring up this argument. How much time do you REALLY spend at the pump? A light googling shows that a Tesla Model 3 can charge 15 miles/minute at a quick charge station, so in 5 minutes you add 75 miles of range. That's not bad. If I'm on a road trip and stopping for gas, odds are I'm running in, using the bathroom, grabbing some drinks... All in, 15-20 minutes/stop. That's 225-300 miles of range in the Tesla. Not all EVs are created equal of course, but that's what we're advancing beyond. The whole 5 minute fill-up argument doesn't really hold much water anymore.

That's "old manufacturing" logic. Car manufacturers - in fact most industries - have spent the last 30+ years moving away form that in favor of more flexible manufacturing, specifically BECAUSE you can produce more quickly and higher quality at lower cost.

 

If you live in San Diego and don't already have solar on your house you're missing out. I'm sure you've seen how many parking lots are putting in solar panels above them as well now, hell, my kids school has already put solar panels above the parking lot.

 

We generate all of our electricity up here with hydro dams. In many parts of the continent they aren’t so lucky and use coal or natural gas fired plants. Then half the juice is lost in transmission. How is that any better than just burning gas?

 

yeah good point . Just saying what you see on the road now is overwhelming Tesla and they seem to be keeping up pace with orders .

 

In my opinion, Nuclear is the way to go to ensure power is available for a flood of EVs. Cleaner and more efficient than coal or natural gas, and can scale up more quickly as advancements in clean energy technology can be made and implemented.

 

Efficiency of most older thermal generating stations is in mid 30s. Some of the newer ones approach 50%. This does not include transmission losses.

 

Wait… people can afford a house in SD?

 

It helps to have bought our first house here 15 years ago. Granted we bought that one at the peak of the market and then spent 10 years getting the equity back but we bought our second at the right time 5ish years ago and the rise in equity has been awesome so far.

The sunshine and perfect weather tax ain't cheap.....

 

It’s not necessary for any one source to solve the entire problem. The grid demonstrates that weakness every year. It should be relegated to buffering supplies from areas that have excess to areas that are short rather than being sole provider or used as a merry-go-round to jack up price. Some places have water, all have enough sun to be one of the primary sources. The farther from the equator you are the greater the tidal swings. Wind is more consistent some places than others. People keep looking for the one magic bullet that will solve all of their problems instead of using each an every resource that’s available in their area and working with their neighbors to share resources. At what point in our history did we go from a can-do mindset to one that quits without trying. Do what is possible now then get up tomorrow and do it again.

 

If you take the names seriously, the Ranger get 1d10 + CON HP per level

You just made me realize that with EV charging, you don't have to babysit the hose pumping flammable liquid from a massive underground tank into your vehicle with the risk of static discharge roasting you alive.
Plug it in, throw out the trash, wipe down the windows, take a piss, buy some jerky and gatorade, wait for the wife, walk the dogs. That's a lot of dead time, and you don't have to be near it at all.
If I'm driving with my dad, we're taking breaks every hour anyway, whether or not we need fuel.

 

Amen!!! I get the idea behind it and I understand the push because of emissions and all that good stuff. But gas cars really can’t get much cleaner burning. But I feel you 100% the whole grid will be overwhelmed and that’ll lead to all of us possibly not being able to heat/cool our homes, store our food, use technology to talk to family.. etc. Another thing I’d question is the security of them as far has hacking goes. I’m only 25 but I enjoy the simple life and don’t need to drive something like that.

 

One of my worries on electric vs gas is during hunting season I may go 10 days without a charge. I can take extra gas. I have heard that electrics are not so good in cold weather. My last elk hunting trip it never got above 34 and was in the teens each night. I would have preferred a diesel like they make all over the world but not here

 

A lot of diesels have to be kept plugged in, in colder climates anyway, to keep the engine warm. EV's can warm their own batteries and help mitigate the effects of the cold.

So, if you sometimes have to keep it plugged in anyway, might as well skip the fueling step imo.

 

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/03/21/electric-cars-cold-weather-testing/

 

Stick it to your Tesla fanboys. And accord to the study, the Kona lost only 9% of its range, but it’s range on US cars sucks — like 100 miles total.

 

What do car rental companies think about adding BEV to their fleets?

Those cars don't always sit on their lots all night long with access to a charging station.

 

https://fueleconomy.gov/feg/coldweather.shtml

All vehicles lose economy / range in the cold. It might affect EV's a little worse on average, but it definitely affects combustion engines, too.

Ultimately, it seems like most of the reasons people cite for not wanting an EV / hybrid are already the reality for existing non-battery vehicles: too much wiring / electronic control systems, economy loss when cold / towing, lack of fuel off road.

The last point reminds me that EV's don't idle. So you could off-road and probably not run down nearly as much range as an ICE in the same amount of time. They also regen, so any braking or downhill is giving you some power back.

Don't get me wrong, I don't drive one, either. I can only have one vehicle and I won't put my insane dog in a luxury sedan. But as soon as there is a 30mpg or 100mpge Tacoma, I'm going to be all over it.

 

That's true that diesels are cold blooded but gas is not. City Boys can have their electric cars but I want gas for the mountains.

 

I dunno there are plenty of people who just tow a boat to the lake on the weekend or people like landscapers who haul equipment around but will do well less than 100 miles. Everyone acts like towing means a road trip with a camper but that’s not the case.

 

Also what I think is amazing is the current fuel infrastructure. Every gas station in America is supplied by heavy trucks that drive around the country pumping gasoline out of one place, lugging it all around, and then pumping into tanks under the stations, so we can the pump it into our trucks and drive somewhere else.

I definitely take it for granted that the gasoline is just going to be there flowing like an artesian well, but there are actually a lot of things happening behind the scenes.

Seems kind of ridiculous when all these places are connected to power lines already.