Category Archives: Gas vs Electric

Time to Get Real, Pretty Please

Posted in Gas vs Electric, Going Green by

Heat pumps, as the term implies, transfer heat from outdoors to indoors. Really, it is that simple. Nothing magic here folks.

The problem with heat pumps is that is there is a severe shortage of heat, for instance, when it is 0 degrees outdoors, there is very little heat to pump indoors. Hence while heat pumps have marginal success in many of the southern states, NOT SO MUCH IN MAINE OR MONTENA. I really don’t think they will be so effective in places like major ski resorts.

And all these brilliant scientist are baffled at why people insist on choosing systems that work, you know, like oil, LP and natural gas.

I have a brilliant idea. Make these scientist spend two winters in north Idaho in houses heated with nothing but heat pumps. No cheating now. No heating elements, gas or electric. No fire places with the proverbial yule log on it. Well, maybe a couple for Christmas. Then ask them how much they like the heat pump idea.

The Real Problems With EVs

Posted in Electric Automobiles, EVs, Gas vs Electric, Going Green by

It’s not just how many charge stations there are, but what kind they are and how reliable are they. Where I am located, there is a wealth of charging stations for Teslas or Tesla compatible cars. For the type I need, not so much. I have looked at the maps showing charge stations, but I have found one common question, are they compatible.

So, I start out on my trip to Fort Smith say. A three hundred mile trip. That means, at least one stop to charge on the way, one charge after I get there and one charge on the way home. Okay. Fine. We can stop over to get a bite to eat while charging. That might work. I don’t know.

However, I get to that spot in Little Rock where they say there is a charge station. That gives me a fifty mile cushion which is fine. But when I get there, I find out the charge station is for Teslas. Now what do I do? Even more, are there any places in Little Rock where I can charge my car. I don’t know. I cannot find out for sure.

Maybe that means we only buy Teslas. Does that mean all other car manufacturer must just put the padlock on the door and close up shop. Remember, only electric cars in 20 or 30 miles.

I don’t know. I have had my Nissan for about six months now, and I have found it is difficult if not impossible to determine which chargers are compatible and which ones are not. Even if they are compatible, can I access the charger? I have heard that with an adapter, I can charge my car with a Tesla charger, but that has two problems. First their chords are too short. more over, if I could use a Tesla charger, as near as I can tell, it would only be a level two charger. I don’t know for sure, but I think that is a 5 or 6 hour charge time.

It’s beside the point. The real problem is that it seems no one wants to talk about it. I didn’t know anything about it until I started looking for charging stations. No one told me. I was told it was as simple as getting an adapter and plug it in. What if I am down to 10 percent and then I find out it doesn’t work?

I was told I can charge at home. It works. It really does. However, there are limits. At a 120 volts, it’s close to two days for a 10% to 80%. I can have a level 2 installed having 220. Only, finding someone to do it is not so easy. I haven’t had an estimate, but I know electricians do like to make a bunch of money. Moreover, I am not totally comfortable with the 120. I have to use an extension cord which gets a little warm.

The car is wonderful. I love it. I love driving it. I just wish I could feel comfortable driving farther than 80 miles from home.

I don’t know, but I would guess any charging stations will be along the interstates. So, I guess that means we who own electric cars will have to stay close to the interstates or carry gas powered generators. If it remains that way, the electric cars will fade, likely very fast. Now one will like a car that will not be able to carry them on a visit to Grandma’s.

Mostly, the government should post where and what kind of chargers are available. Those who hope to sell the vehicles should do what they can to make the same info available. My best guess. it would really be nice to have the chargers work with one car as well as another. Compatibility is one of the biggest problems in many industries. EVs are no exception. Can you imagine people buying gas powered cars if that can’t find gasoline?

Not in My Lifetime

Posted in Electric Automobiles, Gas vs Electric, Going Green by

The declaration has been made. It has been determinedgames. couple of short decades, maybe a tad more, cars made in the US will not have internal combustion engines. I would argue the point. In fact I have very vigorously. Can’t see how that will happen, but the more I argued the point the less people listened.

So, I have accepted the inevitable. In fact, I bought an electric car. For me, it is really working out well. Considering how little I drive, it is wonderful. About every 4th day, I plug it in and go quietly motoring right by all the gas stations, which brings me to the real object of this post, gas stations.

Can you foresee it, the gradual fading away of something that polkadoted our landscape since, oh, about 1905 or 1910, I guess. Some would have to remain for some gas powered vehicles: trucks, buses, police cars, ambulances, etc, etc, and so forth.

The proverbial gas station will fade, fade away. We can and will likely fight it. However, those ecologist do seem unstoppable.

This means the service station will need to change or go out of business. It makes me wonder what it will be like, though I’ll not ever see it in my lifetime. Oh, I will see a little change here and there. But just how things will be are decades away, maybe longer. To be sure, obstacles will be encountered. Problems will have to be solved.

The way I see it, the biggest problem is charge time. Mostly, it slows the long trip. Let’s say I want to go see the Grand Canyon. It’s around 1500 miles from here. If I have a car that has a 300 mile range, it means at least 5 stops to recharge, more likely 6. That does assume recharge stations are located at ideal spots along the way. Right now, that means each stop must be a minimum of 30 minutes. That does not count time waiting for a charging station. You see that family that left this area 2 minutes before me will get to that charging station before me. That means waiting 30 minutes for him to finish charging his car.

Now, let’s look at the converted recharge station. Instead of 10 pumps, it now has 10 rechargers. Instead of taking 5 minutes to refill a gas tank we’re looking at 30 minutes, six times longer to recharge the cars.

I guess we won’t have as much gas stations, but likely 5 or 6 times as many charging stations.

I suppose this problem might be somewhat resolved with a charging system that is a lot faster. That does, of course, leave those in the future with 2 more problems. Distribution of that much electricity without a big improvement to the grid. The second problem is generating that much electricity without making a bunch of greenhouse gasses.

Just a Quick Thought

Posted in Biden, Gas vs Electric, Going Green by

For a couple of decades now, especially since Old Joe took over the Oval Office, the effort has been to go electric. Now we are getting boil orders for water and we must cut back on electric usage.

I guess those that have electric stoves will need to use their propane turkey cooker to boil the water. Which, makes me wonder, just how much water can you boil on one of those things before you need a refill.

Maybe those who bought electric stoves should make sure they keep a natural gas one too…just in case. Those that went to heat their with electric, should keep the old ng home heater just in case. Do I really need to make the same suggestion for the hot water heater?

Of course not. It’s silly to go to electric in the first place.

A New Wonder Plane

Posted in Climate Change, experience, Fantasy, Gas vs Electric by

Just saw it on the web…an electric powered seaplane capable of a hundred miles with 19 passengers. Now let’s see. That means it can go between L.A. or San Diego and Catalina. maybe without a recharge. That means it can go from L. A. to San Diego. I suspect it would take a few stops to go from L. A. to San Francisco.

That is a somewhat limited range though there is an advantage. Should the fuel…er, the charge, start running low, as long as it is over water, it can just about sit down anywhere. No need to look for a runway. On the other hand, it could be a long swim to shore.

I kind of like the idea of seaplanes. If I were a billionaire, I just might buy one. However, I think mine would be powered by gas. Much better to fly than swim.

Okay. That is just over the edge. I shouldn’t say things like that when people are doing what they can to save our planet. However, sometimes a person has to go over the edge a little to get people to that we are a long ways from truly practical electric planes. I did see the photo of the plane, though. It looks nice. Put a couple of gas guzzling engines on it, and they just might have a product they can sell.

Joe and His Green Crowd FIGURATIVELY Got Shot Down

Posted in Abuse of Power, Biden, Electectric vehicles, FOC, Gas vs Electric, Going Green, Lawyers and Representation, Liberals, Lobbyists by

First, let me re-emphasize “figuratively.” That does not mean literally. No one shot at them, not even a peashooter. I say that lest someone misconstrue the meaning of my words.

If I heard the report right, a federal judge just OKed Phillips Petroleum’s drilling in Alaska, or at least the preparation for it. Now they can build the road, which will permit them to move their equipment in. Biden fought to stop them. He loves drilling for oil and mining for all sorts of things, as long as it is not within the US. He does not like anything benefiting American industry unless approved by the greenies.

I just love it when Joe and his greenies suffer such setbacks. To be sure, when they have setbacks, the American people benefit. In this case, it just might help hold the price down at the gas pumps. The only people that don’t like that are the greenies, those building wind mills and solar batteries, and those invested in EVs.

AND, by the way, from another but related report. Did you hear? The Saudis decided to decrease oil production. Or was it that they will try to increase prices. Either way, it is same, same.

The Unanticipated Obvious

Posted in Biden, Electectric vehicles, Gas vs Electric, Going Green, Mistakes by

I’ve said it and said it again. I barely made it through high school. I have no college degree, though I did have a littie college. Yet it seems I anticipated something the guys with with the big degrees overlooked. At least, they chose to ignore it.

When they first started really pushing the electric autos, I actually wrote a post pointing out that the electric power grid would need some serious beefing up.

I don’t guess anyone paid any attention to me because it was only today I heard of anyone else taking note of the problem. As obvious as it was from the beginning, it seems to have taken about 4 years to realize that the grid just isn’t up to it.

Their suggestion to deal with the problem is to charge the batteries at work during the day instead of at home at night.

Guess I can’t have an electric car. Can’t plug it in at work. I’m retired.

Apologies to Kobalt

Posted in CEO Princeple, Gas vs Electric by

I had been putting off cutting the rest of a large branch that fell in my back yard. I can think of a dozen reasons to put it off. Wait for it to cool off a little, wait for the wood to dry making lighter and easier to cut, etc. The truth was some laziness and some fear. I was afraid that big thing would fall on me and leave my wife on her own.

A guy came by and offered to do it for $150 so I let him and his partner have at it. Borrowing my Kobalt battery powered chainsaw an expert went to work. 15 minutes later the 800+ pounds of wood lie in 4 foot pieces at the curb.

However , if I needed to do much more work, it would have to wait for a battery recharge.

As an aside, later I mentioned to my wife that I was tired. She replied, I don’t see why. You haven’t done anything. I said I did too. I watched a man make firewood out of a big branch. That is exhausting you know.

Sometimes, Bigger is Better

Posted in CEO Princeple, Gas vs Electric by

A tree fell in my back yard. I already had a 14 inch chainsaw, but it is old, dull and requires an extension cord. So, I went to Lowes and bought a battery powered Kobalt 40 V 14 in. model. I mean, if it’s Kobalt it has to be good.

From the start, I was disappointed. It took about 2 hours to put the chain on and adjust it. Moreover, as my wife said the chain looks more like something to hang around the neck than something designed for dealing with even small trees.

I guess I should have gotten an 18 inch model but I was only battling 6 inch limbs. At any rate, it took 5 minutes for the chain to get caught in one of the limbs.

When I put the old wore out saw to the task, it went right through it.

Then, once I freed the chain for the new saw. It took another hour to put it back on. For this I refer to the post I wrote on what I call the CEO principle. Clearly, the CEO has never used this saw. Leastways, I know he never installed the chain.

As an aside, the installation book can stand a couple of small corrections. First, it might help to explain that the kickback lever is a little difficult to actuate. I was afraid of breaking it.

Also, it might help to explain the chain installation better. Better yet, they could make it easier to install the thing.

California Ads?

Posted in Abuse of Power, Communist Takover, FOC, Gas vs Electric, Going Green, gun control, Kamala Harris, Lawyers and Representation, Liberals, Over Advertising, Unions by

I used to live in California. I grew up not far from Disneyland. In fact, I was there before there was a Disneyland.

One thing I noticed was that those who visited the Golden state had a tendency to want to stay. I wasn’t the only only one who noticed it. Many others made similar remarks.

There wasn’t a need to advertise the place. It had unlimited natural magnets. The weather and beaches were enough, but there were so many others.

Guess things have changed. People are leaving the place. I guess some are just leaving. Others must first sell their homes, possibly taking a loss.

Now, would you believe, California is running ads, frequently. I keep seeing them. Someone needs to tell them that there is a far better way.

  1. Get all the libs out of the governments, state and local.
  2. Reduce the taxes.
  3. Reduce regulations.
  4. Fix the schools and colleges.

afterwards , those wonderful natural magnets would do all the rest. It would be better for California, the residents and the country. As for those running the state now, it would be better that they find another line of work…better for everyone.

Moreover, the ads by themselves don’t stand a chance of working. All the U-Hauls will be outbound.

The folks in Texas and Florida already figured it out. Just maybe are smarter than the air heads on the west coast.