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Post by mags243 on Mar 11, 2022 17:46:52 GMT
My husband has been researching both, but we don't know anyone who has either. If you have an EV car or solar panels to help power your home please tell me about them. TIA!
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Tearisci
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,062
Nov 6, 2018 16:34:30 GMT
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Post by Tearisci on Mar 11, 2022 18:14:53 GMT
I actually had one of the first mass-produced electric car in the U.S - The Nissan Leaf. Ex-H was a geek gadget guy so he had to have it.
At the time, there was only a range of about 60 miles so it was a challenge to really go anywhere major. We would drive to my parent's house about 25 miles away and park at a charger. They then would come pick us up while the car charged.
I also had the BMW i-3 which had more miles and a small gas generator that would help with a longer range.
Some of our most epic fights were of pushing the limits of range. I would get so pissed that we would be down to 3 miles and almost not make it home.
I wouldn't have one today but I live in Texas and everything is so spread out!
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Post by ~summer~ on Mar 11, 2022 18:20:24 GMT
We have a plug in electric car but it is also a hybrid.
Our house has too many tall trees and too much shade for solar panels.
My parents though, and my sister both have solar panels on the roof and all electric cars - they also have a Tesla power wall. I know they are super happy with all of it. If you have specific questions I can ask them.
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caangel
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,705 
Location: So Cal
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Post by caangel on Mar 11, 2022 18:38:11 GMT
DH just got a Polestar 2. He had been looking for a few yrs. Didn't want a Tesla cuz everyone has one 🙄. He loves it. He works about 3 miles from home (big deal in So Cal) and typically only drives about 10-15 miles max a day, usually less than that. We don't have solar, yet. And are just using a regular plug as he needs to get an electrician to install the kind he needs for the car (like your dryer plug). Polestar has a deal with Electrify America (?) for 2yrs of free charging. It is just for 30 min a day. We live next to a mall with these chargers so one day a week he goes and charges up (about 40% increase in 30 min). He only charges at home right new if needed as it is a lot slower since we don't have the higher capacity plug. I think he has about a 200+ mile range. We are heading to San Diego at the end of the month (80miles one way) to do a distance test and see how it goes.
We will eventually do solar and several of our neighbors have it. But I need him to do all the work (too many numbers and technical thing for me) and that just hasn't been his priority yet.
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Post by librarylady on Mar 11, 2022 19:14:54 GMT
I don't have an EV car, but have a hybrid that does not need to be plugged in.
When it is using gasoline, that recharges the battery, as I understand it.
It is a 2010 Fusion, and is much larger than a Prius. The back seat is comfortable and can seat 2
or even 3 people there.
My mother's home is 287 miles from mine. Until there is an electric vehicle that can go that distance, I am not
interested. I also don't understand how an EV could provide a road trip. I enjoy traveling via car for vacations.
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scrappinghappy
Pearl Clutcher
“I’m late, I’m late for a very important date. No time to say “Hello.” Goodbye. I’m late...."
Posts: 4,307
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Post by scrappinghappy on Mar 11, 2022 19:44:02 GMT
We live near Chicago. I have a Tesla and we had the high speed charger installed at home. Our electrician charged us $95 but I know friends who did it who paid over $1000 in the same town. I went with the Tesla over the other EV's because of the charging network. Other EV sellers had no idea where chargers were, how to access a network, how fast they were etc. Tesla was so easy. The longest trip I have taken it on was about 330 miles and I was unimpressed. Although the stated range is over 300 miles you can't go that far because while the charging network is big, there are still only chargers about 50-60 mi apart so you need to charge way before you use up your range and each charge takes 30-45 minutes and doesn't charge to full power. The trip took me 6 1/2 hours. We do it a LOT in dh's Audi and we can go round trip without filling up with gas at all, in about 5 hours. I had to charge twice - once at the destination and once half way back. Also if you like to drive fast, and I do, lol, your range is less than the stated range. So... know it's about the journey too and not just the destination. I LOVE my car for driving around town and will definitely replace with another EV when my lease is up. Not sure it will be a Tesla though because there are some very cool looking EV's in the pipeline that will rival the Tesla performance and be better made. For what's it's worth, driving an average of 20 miles a day, Tesla estimates my gas saving to date to be $66. Last week it was $55, and it is based on the difference between local electricity rates and local gas prices which have shot up in the past week or so. So with the expense of putting in the charger, we haven't broken even yet. I've had the car for a year.
Our solar panels are being installed by the end of the month so no help on that yet except to say that Illinois allows for up to 110% of your previous years usage when determining how many panels you can install. Despite what they tell you it's not FREE. There are definite up front costs, you can get a loan for them, and the payback is over many years. My hubby also did all the research on that but I know he wouldn't have done it if it wasn't going to be cost effective.
HOWEVER if you live in FL read your contract very carefully. They are phasing out electricity buy-back which is a huge potential loss in savings.
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mlcmom
Junior Member
Posts: 94
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Post by mlcmom on Mar 12, 2022 14:33:59 GMT
We’ve had an EV for a little over 3 years and have had no issues. When we built our house we had the mid level charger installed so that makes it easy. My DH is an energy consultant and a numbers person so he did a lot of research before he bought it. I was not a fan initially because I didn’t really understand the technology and just didn’t trust it. I also wasn’t sure I could remember to keep it charged up! I almost never drove it the first year- just wasn’t comfortable with it. Then the pandemic hit and he was working from home(he usually has an hour commute), so his car was almost always just sitting at home. We also had two grand babies born that year(🥰) and I was driving a lot more and got really tired of filling my car up so I started driving his car and now I rarely drive my car anymore. It takes about 5 seconds to plug in and has just become habit. There is an online network of chargers that the car will search for and it’s never been an issue for us- but we’ve never taken more than a 4-5 trip. We pull in and charge for 20 min and then we’re back on the road! Much less painful than filling up for $50! I think his car has about a 250 mile range. Our charge cost last month was $26 and would have been $260. I had to fill up my car last week for $60 and I was crabby about it🥴! We will most likely trade my car in for another EV and I never would have thought I would be okay with that. Let me know if you have any questions!
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Post by zima on Mar 12, 2022 14:34:44 GMT
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seaexplore
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,837
Member is Online
Apr 25, 2015 23:57:30 GMT
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Post by seaexplore on Mar 12, 2022 14:58:39 GMT
We have solar. Installed it ourselves in March 2019. It paid for itself last month. We owe nothing ever to PG&E for use since we have credits that cover connection fees. We do not have a battery wall… yet. It’s still cost prohibitive for us.
Currently zero plans to get an EV. I would need to charge at night and we would be paying at that time. I also drive over 500 miles a week so no interest there for me. Many of my days are more than a charge would be. The network just isn’t there yet for charging . We also take long road trips and that just isn’t something I want to deal with along the way.
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Post by freecharlie on Mar 12, 2022 15:22:39 GMT
I have a Nissan Leaf, solar panels, and two batteries.
What would you like to know?
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iowgirl
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,295
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Post by iowgirl on Mar 12, 2022 15:51:34 GMT
We did get some solar panels to make a portable power source for several wells that we need to use to water cows in pastures. It, so far, has been successful, but not without issues. The solar panels charge a battery to use during dark, but when we have several days of low/no sunshine, we had to end up running a gas generator to power everything. But overall it has been a successful venture.
I know this is different than what you are looking into - but I wanted to mention the tax benefits. We were able to use the purchase of the solar panels for a great tax benefit, and that paid for a large chunk of the cost of the setup.
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Post by cmpeter on Mar 12, 2022 16:55:31 GMT
We have a Ford Mach-E. No Solar as we live in the woods. We’ve yet to take a long road trip in it. Pre-Covid dh had an hour long drive to get to the office. He’s been working from home for the past two years though. Although with gas prices rising, we are glad we have it.
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Post by hop2 on Mar 12, 2022 17:10:25 GMT
All I can say about solar panels for your house is - take a regular home equity loan for them or save up front for them. Many of the leases for solar panels have no benefit at all for the use of your roof or property. If you contemplate a lease read it, read it well, read all the fine print not just the top first page, & read it again. DO NOT just listen to the salesman. Do not just look at the figure they make bold. There’s a lot of other costs & fees hidden inside that lease. In order to find the rare fair one you’ll need to read, read, & read.
I’ve read several of them recently and haven’t come upon one I’d sign. ( which in my case means I won’t buy your house )
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