My sense is the use case for an EV is not there for you. As per my post above, you don't drive enough miles to really justify any cost savings, and it is not necessarily any better for the environment. Your Honda may have a few years left in it?I am in the midst of finally buying a solar installation.
Part of that is deciding what annual input I want out of the installation.
I have extremely detailed records of how much electricity I have been using in every circuit in the house. What I am doing today is the bare minimum electrical use on my part. If I had solar I'd change a lot in my behavior, e.g., turn up temperature of heat pump water heater, reduce the humidity level of the dehumidifier in my basement, set the heat temperature higher for my mini-splits, use the air conditioning feature of the mini-splits.
It is a lot of estimates / guesses involved in how much electricity would be consumed with those changes compared to how I'm currently using all those items. Those estimated could be close or far off.
A totally new item could be a car that consumes electricity.
I bought my current 2004 Honda Accord in December 2013 when it had 123,000 miles. Nearly 11 years later the odometer is only at 169,000. Only 46,000 over those nearly 11 years. So not much more than 4,000 miles a year being driven. That might be the most I'd drive in a year.
That car is in excellent shape and I'd only stop using it once it does not seem economical to continue to do repairs to it.
But when that time come I'm open to buying either an EV or a hybrid, neither of which I know anything about.
The last four cars I've owned have all been Honda Accords. Therefore, I'd look for another Honda Accord or a Toyota Camry. I believe both have EV versions? I'd be willing to buy new.
What costs would there be to equip my house as a charging station for one of those vehicles? I have a 500 square foot garage and my electrical panel is on a wall next to a garage floor.
Same question for a hybrid? Do each of those models come in hybrid versions?
Looking for anything you can provide for the basics for EV / hybrid so that I'm not still nearly 100% ignorant and can then start to pursue more detailed information on each.
Also, is there any formula for how many kWh are consumed for so many 1,000's of miles driven annually?
Thanks!
I would encourage experimentation with an EV. For example buy a used Nissan Leaf and see how you go? Or if a bigger more expensive EV consider leasing? The hassles with EV might be too much - you don't want to be locked in for 10+ years.
You have very expensive electricity in Massachusetts. Would you be able to charge during the day? Because if not, the solar PV is not going to help you. At level 2 (say 6 kwhr/ hr) you might get 5-6 hours in so 30 kwhr or "half a tank". Much more for a small EV like a Nissan Leaf.
On sizing solar PV for me it's how big is your roof? It's really more about site considerations. Solar panels themselves are now dirt cheap (90% fall in prices in 10 years, say) so the cost of installation is really the big cost, and you want to do this once (only). How that works out with your various incentive schemes in MA I do not know - what credit you get for surplus power.
Eventually I think most (all?) domestic PV installations will have a battery component. The real value of solar PV is generating energy 8 am to 4pm, ish, and using your own energy during peak hours (5pm-10pm ish) when electricity is in high demand/ expensive. But home batteries are still relatively expensive so you don't have to do that now (but you might mention to your contractor it is a possibility in the future and whether that would change your configuration).
Statistics: Posted by Valuethinker — Fri Sep 13, 2024 2:31 am — Replies 22 — Views 1066