Going Green
Environmental issues, energy and electric cars
Tesla and NHTSA fight over what safety scores mean
Submitted by brad on Thu, 2019-08-08 12:40Tesla advertised that the Model 3 is the safest car ever based on NHTSA's tests. NHTSA wrote them a letter saying, "stop saying that, you can't compare these scores across different weight classes."
Here's some analysis of who is right and why Tesla wins in the end at NHTSA and Tesla spar over safety claims
How RV Parks can exploit a new market of EV road trippers
Submitted by brad on Wed, 2019-08-07 11:21RV parks already have the infrastructure for charging electric vehicles on road trips. They just need somewhere decent for the road trippers to sleep and they can exploit a whole new market. Some already rent little cabins. If they add glamping tents they can serve customers at a low cost and could quickly fill out the many gaps in the EV trip network. In my new Forbes site article, I outline the things they could do, and give some advice to drivers too.
San Diego Scooter Impound battle offers ideas for improving scooter hygiene
Submitted by brad on Tue, 2019-07-30 13:06How to not waste most of the public EV charging infrastructure
Submitted by brad on Sun, 2019-07-28 15:59Over 60,000 EV charging stations have been installed in the US. But a huge number of them see fairly light use because they are not in the right place for the current generation of electric cars, and not for the coming self-driving ones.
Make Supercharging better by ordering food in advance
Submitted by brad on Tue, 2019-06-04 13:34I've written about how to make Tesla Supercharging work, you try to have a meal while doing that. Here's a proposal to make that work much better: Be able to order food from participating restaurants while on the way to the charger, and have it all timed perfectly to either:
If you buy land that will be covered by rising seas, should the government help you?
Submitted by brad on Thu, 2019-05-23 11:36Evidence mounts that sea level rise can't be avoided now, absent some miracle of geoengineering, and maybe not even with that. Even if you're one of those who insists human pollution isn't the cause, the planet is getting warmer, the ice sheets are melting at extreme rates.
Would a rental battery pack be a better choice than a super-long-range electric car?
Submitted by brad on Tue, 2019-04-16 12:50When you buy an electric car, you can often choose among various battery sizes. The larger your battery, the more range you have -- and you may get some extra performance -- and the longer your pack lasts, but the extra capacity is very expensive and adds weight to the car. The truth is, most people only need the extra capacity of a long range car when doing road trips. A modest 150 to 200 mile range car is sufficient for driving around a town, depending on the town.
Teslas keep changing prices and frustrating buyers
Submitted by brad on Mon, 2019-04-15 13:07There have been ten different prices changes to Tesla Model 3s since I got mine just over 4 months ago. While one expects electric computerized vehicles to go down in price over time, most buyers didn't count on anything like this, and people who rushed out to buy "before the price goes up" are not happy.
Dockless scooters change the economics of downtown parking
Submitted by brad on Thu, 2019-04-04 12:07Motel charging beats Supercharging for Electric Car Tourism
Submitted by brad on Thu, 2019-03-28 10:44Tales of an Electric Car Road Trip and Supercharging strategy
Submitted by brad on Wed, 2019-03-27 09:11This month we took an electric car road trip in the California desert to see the flowers. The idea of a road trip in the desert with an electric car would have been crazy not too long ago. Now it's becoming possible, soon it will be easy, but there's still lots to learn.
Putting solar panels on the roof doesn't change emissions from driving an electric car
Submitted by brad on Mon, 2019-03-11 12:01Earlier, I wrote about what happens when we put renewables on the grid and how complex it is.
Putting renewables on the grid to green your electric car is complicated
Submitted by brad on Mon, 2019-03-11 11:53Making short-range electric cars more useful with staging lots
Submitted by brad on Fri, 2019-03-08 12:52Electric cars should stream TV when they are fast-charging
Submitted by brad on Tue, 2019-03-05 12:56The question every electric car buyer asks is how convenient charging will be, and how much will the range limit my travel - known as "range anxiety."
The end of the A380 and California HSR teach us smaller is better
Submitted by brad on Fri, 2019-02-15 11:08I have written often about the new economies in transportation that future technology like robocars provide. In my research I've learned something that seems to not be well known in the transportation world -- that often, smaller is better and more energy efficient.
What Tesla should have done better regarding a break-in
Submitted by brad on Sun, 2019-02-10 21:43Not long after I got it, I had a burglary of my Tesla. This led to an upcoming article on what cars of the future might do about break-ins As a background to that article, I am adding some details about what might have happened better.
Fast car charger economics
Submitted by brad on Tue, 2019-01-22 12:53As you might guess, my recent switch to an electric car is revealing a variety of things to me, so you will be seeing more on that in the coming period.
I got an electric car. My electric bill went down
Submitted by brad on Mon, 2019-01-21 11:44Here's a moderately surprising result of switching to an electric car. Here in California, my electric bill went down. Just by a little, but in essence the (green) energy for my car is coming for free.
On my recent bill I used 900kwh and paid $168. 2 months ago I used 700kwh and paid $178. I drove around 900 miles. A small amount of my car electricity came from Tesla superchargers or other charging stations. Most was from my house. Yes, I use an above average amount of electricity already.
Why this this happen?