Duracell Dunce
Quiet! Genius at work:
Uh-huh. You "saved" $700 on gas -- by spending $12,000 to convert a vehicle that wasn't worth $1000 dollars. Let's ignore for the moment the fact that charging 20 lead-acid batteries every night will make your electrical meter spin around faster than a whirling dervish on crack, and instead follow your "logic" out completely. If we assume that you "save" $2,100 per year on gasoline costs, you'll have to drive that vehicle for 5.7 years before you break even -- again, that is disregarding electricity bills. The vehicle is already 13 years old, you've crippled its range, hauling capacity, and general utility, and compared to every other vehicle on the road, you've limited your own travel options by your car's capabilities -- or lack thereof. Better hope there's not a traffic jam on the way home from work.
Additionally, the vehicle would now be classified as experimental, which means your insurance costs go up. And walking back over to the electric meter for a second, I noticed that nowhere in the article did Mr. Horsley mention the change in his electric bill. Oh, and he left the air conditioner off the car -- presumably because the draw of the compressor motor would drop the range to about 20 miles.
You're on the leading edge, Mr. Horsley. The leading edge of suckers:
Great news! You win!
Now, I've got this bridge that I can let you have for a really good price...
Larry Horsley loves that he doesn't buy much gas, even though he drives his '95 Chevy S-10 back and forth to work each day. Larry Horsley's pickup has a set of neatly arranged electronics where his engine once was.
Horsley, a self-described do-it-yourselfer, simply plugs his truck into an electric wall outlet in his Douglasville, Georgia, garage and charges it overnight, instead of buying gasoline refined from mostly imported oil.
The whole conversion, including the truck, cost him about $12,000, which parts dealers say is about standard.
The truck can travel about 40 miles without damaging the lead-acid batteries before the vehicle needs recharging, Horsley said.
Horsley estimated that he has saved $700 since switching to electric four months ago. He's quick to point out that that's just the savings on gas. He also doesn't have to pay for oil or filter changes, since there is no engine oil or fuel filters to change.
Uh-huh. You "saved" $700 on gas -- by spending $12,000 to convert a vehicle that wasn't worth $1000 dollars. Let's ignore for the moment the fact that charging 20 lead-acid batteries every night will make your electrical meter spin around faster than a whirling dervish on crack, and instead follow your "logic" out completely. If we assume that you "save" $2,100 per year on gasoline costs, you'll have to drive that vehicle for 5.7 years before you break even -- again, that is disregarding electricity bills. The vehicle is already 13 years old, you've crippled its range, hauling capacity, and general utility, and compared to every other vehicle on the road, you've limited your own travel options by your car's capabilities -- or lack thereof. Better hope there's not a traffic jam on the way home from work.
Additionally, the vehicle would now be classified as experimental, which means your insurance costs go up. And walking back over to the electric meter for a second, I noticed that nowhere in the article did Mr. Horsley mention the change in his electric bill. Oh, and he left the air conditioner off the car -- presumably because the draw of the compressor motor would drop the range to about 20 miles.
You're on the leading edge, Mr. Horsley. The leading edge of suckers:
"If I can keep a dollar from going overseas, I'll spend two dollars," he said.
Great news! You win!
Now, I've got this bridge that I can let you have for a really good price...
posted by Jar(egg)head at 11:57
2 Comments:
I know you know this, but I just had to add, being a financial person and all, that your simple payback method did not take into account the time value of money. Surely, with an upfront payment of $12,000, his payback would be over 6 years, and I expect those batteries will need to be replaced around then or sooner, so then we have another capital expenditure requiring additional time for payback. Unless I truely dont understand the life of the batteries he's using, I would be suprised to see them last even 5 years with heavy daily use. When you throw in the energy costs to charge the batteries every night, this thing may never have a payback. From an engineers perspective, that sounds like job security for life to replace and maintain an asset that shouldn't have been bought, but from a consumers perspective that's call money pit, which is closely related to stupid or hobby.
You have to keep in mind this is a not a mass produced conversion or electric vehicle. It's a one off, done by a smart guy with some extra money. It's likely a very rewarding hobby for him. With the added benefit of knowing he's supplied cash flow to American companies, and less cash flow to the middle east.
Also important to note is that even if 100% of the electricity comes from coal, an electric car ends up to be far more efficient, and less polluting. Centralizing energy production is key to cleaning up the air in big cities.
With wealth you can change the world. Even if you only use $12,000 dollars of it.
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