484 take a walk

Above, enjoying my first electric car ride. My mom had a LSV for a few years (a street legal electric golf cart) and that was I guess technically my first EV ride, but this 2017 Chevy Bolt, purchased used 18 months ago, was my first "real car."

The owner said he's been surprised by how sporty it is, and says the 200 mile range is plenty to use as a daily driver. I think he's put about 24k miles on it.

Overall, it was a pretty nice experience. But still a car.

Back in the 90s Corbin, a motorcycle seat maker, made a vehicle that looked pretty much like this. 

Ok, maybe not exactly. Same idea, tho. And it's a pretty good one: we don't need a big car to haul our little bodies around.

The reviewers agree. 100 mile range, 80mph top speed and highway legal can handle most of our get around needs, even in our built-for-cars infrastructure.

$18k. I'm not sure how that compares to a used Bolt. 

But but how could we ever live without cars?

Dunno, but all of history figured it out until about a hundred years ago.

Yamaha's cool new e-moped.

Except, like a lot of industrial titans, Yamaha found it easier to buy someone else's innovation than to come up with their own.

I do hear they are doing some interesting things with electric boat motors, tho.

They're switching from one kind of lithium battery to a cheaper one that doesn't use nickel. It's easier to make, but not as long range, and heavier.

One of the ideas that is emerging in EVs is right sizing the battery. As consumers, we all have range anxiety. We want a car that can go as far as possible on one charge.

But the reality of batteries is asking us to change our hoarding ways. The reality of batteries is that they are heavy and expensive. The bigger battery, the worse your mileage and performance will be. And the more expensive. So the idea is to only buy a vehicle with enough range to deal with your usual driving. 

This doesn't cotton well with Americans, who are used to over doing things, resource wise. But we're figuring it out, one price tag at a time. 

Do I buy the cheaper one that does exactly what I need, or do I buy the expensive one that will be used at 50% all the time?

And then there's the price of gas.

Let me just bang on my drum a little bit over here.

Barumpapapum.

But really, it's not that bad. 

What's all this bellyaching?


It is crazy the stances people will take to please their base.

Even if their base is energy barrons

 
Next, I looked into who owns NextEra, and I have no idea. I do know that their "renewable energy" comes from nukes, tho.

Apparently, doing something 84% of your voters don't want can backfire.



File under: #PlumbCrazy

Don't worry, only by a couple points. Basically the same as if you drank everyday, according to this other popular headline that's been floating around.

Don't blame China for playing catch up. It's the same as US citizens pointing the finger at equatorial countries and saying, "stop deforestation."

For you readers in Florida, just ignore all this. Our ancestors were just perfect gentlemen.



Enjoy your week, take a walk.

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