Loran, what you're doing and thinking of doing parallel what we've done at our home (installing solar) and hope to do (purchase an EV or two), which will make use of the excess power we're now generating.
It seems to me that farms, ranches and rural homesites with acreage have a great asset to make use of -- namely, their land. Our ground-based solar takes up about 1.000 square feet in a south-facing portion of our three-acre parcel and helps to buffer noise from the adjacent roadway. More importantly, we're generating twice as much electricity as we use, four times as much in the summer even with three new window air conditioners. So I second your point about the happy coincidence of the increase in solar power to use when the need for AC is greatest.
Another factor that can work to promote the use of EVs in rural areas: the torque of battery power in tractors and pickup trucks. When my tractor can out pull your tractor and my pickup can beat yours, that will change the whole image of EVs, as the new battery-powered Ford F-150s are likely to do.
Let me add another small idea to the mix. In addition to subsidizing the purchase of new EVs, governments should extend their tax credits to the retrofitting of gas vehicles into EVs. That's being done on a small, cottage industry basis now without subsidies, as far as I know, for costs in the neighborhood of $10,000 or so. Plus, there's a carbon savings from using existing auto bodies rather than manufacturing them anew. With subsidies in the range of $10,000 for new EV purchases, the government could offer free conversions to those who want them and, here's the quid pro quo, those who commit to a gas tax alternative based in the form of a fee paid for miles driven. We'll still need roads in an EV world and will still have to pay for them.
There are lots of opportunities for small scale solar. If we think small, we can make big gains.
Yes Tim! I love the idea of supporting the retrofit industry. Incentivizing manufacturers into offering parts and kits for local mechanics or startups to install would be a great boost to those businesses and make EVs potentially affordable to another segment of the population. And more demand means faster buildout of infrastructure and charging networks. Hopefully instead of parking meters in downtowns or permits in high density residential areas we get charging stations so that people don’t need a garage or outbuilding to get “refueled.”
Exactly!
Loran, what you're doing and thinking of doing parallel what we've done at our home (installing solar) and hope to do (purchase an EV or two), which will make use of the excess power we're now generating.
It seems to me that farms, ranches and rural homesites with acreage have a great asset to make use of -- namely, their land. Our ground-based solar takes up about 1.000 square feet in a south-facing portion of our three-acre parcel and helps to buffer noise from the adjacent roadway. More importantly, we're generating twice as much electricity as we use, four times as much in the summer even with three new window air conditioners. So I second your point about the happy coincidence of the increase in solar power to use when the need for AC is greatest.
Another factor that can work to promote the use of EVs in rural areas: the torque of battery power in tractors and pickup trucks. When my tractor can out pull your tractor and my pickup can beat yours, that will change the whole image of EVs, as the new battery-powered Ford F-150s are likely to do.
Let me add another small idea to the mix. In addition to subsidizing the purchase of new EVs, governments should extend their tax credits to the retrofitting of gas vehicles into EVs. That's being done on a small, cottage industry basis now without subsidies, as far as I know, for costs in the neighborhood of $10,000 or so. Plus, there's a carbon savings from using existing auto bodies rather than manufacturing them anew. With subsidies in the range of $10,000 for new EV purchases, the government could offer free conversions to those who want them and, here's the quid pro quo, those who commit to a gas tax alternative based in the form of a fee paid for miles driven. We'll still need roads in an EV world and will still have to pay for them.
There are lots of opportunities for small scale solar. If we think small, we can make big gains.
Tim Nesbitt
Yes Tim! I love the idea of supporting the retrofit industry. Incentivizing manufacturers into offering parts and kits for local mechanics or startups to install would be a great boost to those businesses and make EVs potentially affordable to another segment of the population. And more demand means faster buildout of infrastructure and charging networks. Hopefully instead of parking meters in downtowns or permits in high density residential areas we get charging stations so that people don’t need a garage or outbuilding to get “refueled.”