How much is your local "Trump at the Pump Tax?"

This has been fun, but I have to pack the car to drive 15000kms to say goodbye to a good friend who probably won't see the weekend.
I will be driving my MG4 EV that cost the equivalent of USD $21,000 on the road including all taxes and 12 mths rego and insurance.
I will be using those non existent EV chargers to recharge, an hr to fill up to drive another 350kms at a cost of the USD equivalent of $7.70, probably 4 stops, I actually regain power on the down hill bits, so the range is better than the flat road 350kms ....
I guess I'll have a meal or a walk to stretch the legs, or read a book on the phone .... but more likely sleep, so I can do the trip in one go ... 9,300 miles on $30.80 in electricity, fortunately, our govt hasn't banned EV's and the oil companies can see the writing on the wall over here and are part of the EV fast charging network rollout.

How do you support all these fast chargers where the grid isn't up to it? You add a battery bank, charge from the solar mounted on the canopy roof of the fuel station and top up with what the grid is capable of supplying.
Free energy from the sun, maybe a wind turbine or two, but pretty artistic looking vertical axis, so it becomes a feature but doesn't make that noise that only effects those who aren't making money from having the wind turbine on there property, so more free electricty to use and sell, must be a capitalist who can see money to be made from that ....

T1 Terry

 

At least they are only exploiting their own labour, not sitting back and living the high life on the backs of those working under them ....

T1 Terry

 

Cars replaced horses because cars don't need to be fed and watered and poop-scooped twice a day, every day, all year round, even when not being used for transportation or work.

Do you remember the (before automobile) projections of how deep New York City's streets would soon be covered in horse manure, at the rate the City was growing? How many tens of thousands of tons of manure would have to be removed every day? The new-fangled automobiles and trucks rendered those projections obsolete.

 

No economical ICE models? I just bought a low mile CT200h for $7000, best car I've ever owned, I can smoke a sport bike going on downhill curves, they catch on the straights but lose on the turns. And you can get a clean medium mileage 2nd gen Prius for $4000. And ICE tech is so refined there's virtually no pollution. And I towed a 2000 lbs loaded trailer 700 miles with my 2nd gen and ran 65 mph no problem.

People don't want EV's because they are too expensive and have a limited range and take too long to charge. Good for a medium commute but not a road trip. Maybe when batteries get better, which will happen. But we don't have the grid for it at this point. And transmission lines lose up to 40% over distance. And the EV "trucks" won't haul a load. I hauled 18,000 lbs 700 miles and had two 15 minute stops for fuel with a 3/4 ton diesel, and it went up steep interstate hiway at 1/3 throttle. Nothing tows like a diesel. My 2014 F250 has 800 ft/lbs torque. They tested a Tesla truck hauling a 16 ft 4000 lbs camper and the range was 80 miles and they had to stop and charge for 40 minutes. The F150 EV was worse, hauling a car trailer with a 3000 lbs car only made it 30 miles.

 

By my calculations, a 15000 km trip -- more than one-third of the way around the planet -- would need 43 recharges at 350 km/charge. Not just 4 recharges.

15000 km in 4 days, requires an average speed of over 150 km/hour -- counting all the stop time to recharge and rest and sleep. Probably more like 230 km/hr as a moving average. That requires a much higher speed limit than anyplace in this country.

9,300 miles on $30.80 in electricity, figures out to 1/3 of cent per mile. That means your electricity is priced less than one-tenth our average price.

 

I count 26 GE nuclear plants completed just since 2004.....and that's JUST GE.
Westinghouse has completed 20 in the last 50 years all still in service....and there are 45 other reactors in service that are a combination of Westinghouse and GE, along with a couple made by Bechtel.....

 

I enjoyed this article discussing the rise of the "electroyuan" and its chances (timeframe, really) of overtaking the petrodollar.

China was already ahead of the USA on a few fronts. President Trump's actions so far have allowed China to vault ahead in several others.

I'd go crazy if I didn't eventually forgive him for a few of his mistakes, but I'll never forgive him for making the USA look weak, dumb and slow.

 

I see the above not as two wholly irreconcilable views, but rather as a sign that the question "how many jobs did they create?" should generally be followed with "and what kind?".

 

...and not having every city street covered in horse manure. Summer in town must have been a treat.

China's state is what some marxists would call state capitalism, i.e. one run by the Party, but still a system that relies on accrued capital.

It is unlikely that one can be successful, wealthy and generally loved. Envy may be our most basic vice, but it is sad to see it cynically harnessed.

 

I filled up the Prius today- $4.09 at the station which was beating everyone else in town by $0.20 last month. I'll have to look and see how bad it is at the other stations near me.