FWIW, my 3.5 miles/kWh metric is based on my results, including running the A/C in hot Alabama (as well as headlights and then in the winter running the heater). On a spring day my local driving is closer to 4.5 miles/kWh. But in the real world I have to run the AC some and the heater some and the headlights, just like gas cars in the real world don't get their stated mpg. Also, there's the fact that some of my local charging is for highway miles. Part of that is because I live in a somewhat rural area and I drive 75mph on a highway for about 7 miles one-way when I go to town. And part of that is when I go on long trips and drive 80mph on the interstate, the first leg of that trip was charged at home. All of that narrows down to me getting 3.5 miles/kWh in the real world.
One of the main reasons I got an EV is because, since we need 2 cars anyway, having one of them an EV and one of them a gas car gives us some diversification in our energy dependencies. If the Dims make gas too expensive and hard to come by, we'll take our trips in the EV. If the Dims make the grid less dependable or too expensive, we'll do most of our trips in the gas truck. If the Dims mess up both gas and the grid then it'll mess up our long trips, but we can at least do local driving in the EV charged by home solar.
I understand why some people do prepping. My version of prepping isn't to try to survive in a Mad Max style dystopia and living on a year's worth of stored food and water. That type of scenario may or may not come. What I see happening is the left trying to control us with more of a slow-boil-kills-the-frog approach, and they've chosen energy as their favorite weapon. By making our home and transportation mostly energy self-reliant, my wife and I are hopefully in a good position to be comfortable in retirement while we resist the left's demand for us to reduce our freedoms.
[[just like gas cars in the real world don’t get their stated mpg.]]
Yep good point-
[[What I see happening is the left trying to control us with more of a slow-boil-kills-the-frog approach]]
Exactly- doing it en mass would start an uprising- doing it bit by bit accomplishes the goal without stirring up unrest too much- with folks thinking “It’s gotta turn around at some point”
[[By making our home and transportation mostly energy self-reliant, my wife and I are hopefully in a good position to be comfortable in retirement]]
Yep- you have a pretty good system there- I’ve seen many of your posts talking abotu energy independence and such-
How about mountain states like California, Colorado, the Appalachia, or upstate New York? Sure, for every uphill there is a corresponding downhill, but would the uphill drive draw more electricity than constant flat-road driving given the extra weight of EVs?
-PJ