On 05.11.24 06:59, o1bigtenor via Dng wrote:

> Dunno if you quite get the extent of weather

> conditions like I get to experience (think Karl also gets a wck load!!).

SE Australia, 64m (211') above sea level: We don't know what snow is, and

it can be months in between serious rain. Just enough regular overcast

to warrant half the off-grid batteries I have, but not enough to make me

anxious about charging the EV as well, even in the depths of winter.

(You'd split your sides at what I think is winter, mind you.)

Even in deep winter, the back-up generator hasn't had a run, so I'd

better give it one for maintenance. That's due to the 27 kW of panels

generating 3 to 5 kW in complete medium density overcast, so long as

it's not raining.

As for cold-climate EVs, it's my (purely theoretical) understanding that

in -45°C you'd want a Tesla, a warm garage, and grid-powered battery

warming before leaving home. Outdoor parking wouldn't be a viable option,

if you wanted any range.

> Have considered getting solar panels except it seems we have some kind

> of proclivity for getting some 20 to even 35 or more overcast days in

> the time period from Nov 15 to Feb 15th - - - so a backup generator

> would be a serious necessity - - - likely not going to happen any time

> soon although I would love to go off grid!

Yes, hard off-grid predicates a back-up generator. But that's not too

expensive - all I have is a little 3.2 kW Honda unit. It could run for

16 hrs to charge my 46 kWh of batteries, while they deliver any load

peaks, via the redundant 6 KVA battery inverters. But panels are cheaper than batteries - a 300% oversized array can smack a lot of energy into a large battery bank in one sunny afternoon. And in a lot of overcast, ya don't need a lot of aircon. My 46 kWh of batteries is more than enough for our winter overcast, which is similar to yours.

My DIY battery banks comprise 48 off 304 AH LiFePO₄ prismatic cells,

with a Jikong BMS on each 16 cell bank. That gave me 46 kWh for A$18k,

about 1.3 times the installed price of one Tesla Powerwall. There are

now boxed 16 kWh banks available at reasonable prices, for simple plug&play

semi-DIY - lots easier, and safer for muggles.

> Then there is the cost of those EV vehicles - - - - I just can't make

> them pencil out.

That may be the case in USA, at least until NAFTA-shielded Mexico ramps

up manufacture. Having to wait a bit will only give you more for less,

as Lithium prices fall, battery tech sneaks ahead at a surprising clip

(due to the utter millions spent on it), and economies of scale feed

into a price war which is already killing the slow witted companies now

experiencing a "Kodak moment". (Last week, VW announced closure of 3

factories and sacking of tens of thousands. Expect more. Nissan stocks

are junk, I read. GM may fold, and Ford's survival may yet need a bailout,

as they cancel one US$2B effort to transition, and grasp for a viable

way forward.)

We bemoaned losing our Aussie car manufacturing industry, but now

there's no need for tariffs on EVs, and the nifty MG4 is only A$31k,

about US$20,500, so an ICE vehicle is unattractive in comparison, even

before the cost of petrol (gas). Required service is "Come back every

two years, for us to change the battery coolant.", with no radiator to

top up, or oil to change. The base model MG4 has a 51 kWh LiFePO₄

battery pack. That is much safer than Li-Ion, lasts twice as long, and

is less SoC sensitive: the 20 - 80% SoC constraint for long Li-Ion

battery life does not apply. There's multiple reports, from USA and

China, of EV battery packs still having 80% of capacity after half a

million miles. The evidence points to EV battery packs having a useful

second life off-grid, after the car has been driven into the ground.

> If you are serious about an electric tractor - - - - reply and I will

> get you some info sent. There is a Dutch company where they even seem

> somewhat affordable. The offerings so far from the Big manufacturers

> are running in the upper $200k (Can) in cost for a moderate sized

> utility tractor with a 4 hour run time (largely a show piece item imo)

> which I don't think you're talking about for expense.

I'll investigate anything that's close to being real. All I need is a

compact tractor, i.e. 25 hp, good for mowing a few acres and taking a

small backhoe for clearing brush from my 7.2 km of boundary fence. At

70, a few hours of light work between charges is all I'm good for. (And for 9 months of the year, the kangaroos keep the home paddock down to 5 cm (2"), so it's only fair weather mowing at that.)

New Holland has a bigger unit, at least 45 hp, with a seriously

substantial battery pack, but it's "Price On Application", so I'm in

contact with an Indian manufacturer, to see if a retired electrical

engineer can do anything to speed up productionising of their "Gen 2"

compact EV tractor. Still waiting.

> Interesting digressions from the programming languages!!!

Yeah, it's worth keeping a weather eye on the rapid energy technology

realignment, really going exponential now. ($1T globally last year, $2T+

this year, steeper increase next year) Solar panels took decades to drop

below 10% of early prices, but big batteries are about to outdo that

startlingly, after a frustrating hiatus now falling behind us.

We've had HV power pylons storm-flattened in recent years, but now in two

states in one week. I got a letter into a regional newspaper suggesting

we can underground large parts of the grid now, or devolve into

fragmented local generation and storage islands with only an intermittent

national grid, as the +10% atmospheric moisture at +1.5°C becomes +20%

moisture at +2°C by 2040 - and hurricanes are steam powered. When

budgets are ransacked for remedial housing and food supply, there won't

be funds for climate-resilient grid undergrounding. (But we're not long

on foresight in any regard at the moment - emissions are still rising,

for pixie's sake.)

Erik

(An optimistic pessimist, who figures we're slow witted experiential

learners, but the faster-learning adapters can survive. Probably. If

you're on high ground. ;-)