Posted on 10/24/2010 7:31:35 AM PDT by 6SJ7
When I embarked on the Volt press launch, I made a public promise to keep my impressions of the car itself separate from concerns about its overall viability. My review of the Volt is coming on Monday, but a new issue is already raising its head to confront GM’s extended-range electric car. The Volt’s home charger costs $490 on top of the Volt’s $41,000 (pre-tax credit) price, and costs another $1,500 to install. But, according to BNet’s Jim Motavelli, money isn’t the only obstacle to obtaining the home charger that’s necessary to tap the Volt’s 40 miles of electric range. EV advocate and Volt Customer Advisory Board member Chelsea Sexton, of “Who Killed The Electric Car? fame, is one of the first Americans to live with the Volt, and despite enjoying the backing of GM, she’s run into a problem that she and other EV advocates worry will blunt enthusiasm for home-charged EVs like the Volt: she needs a “time of use” meter.
Motavelli explains the conundrum
California puts its electricity users in pricing categories based on their usage patterns. Since Sexton uses a “stunningly low” amount of electricity, she’s on the lowest tier. But the addition of the Volt would push her into a higher bracket, making it likely that EV charging “would be more expensive than putting gas in my Saturn.” With the time-of-use meter, the EV is billed separately and doesn’t count as part of her home use.
But California’s public utilities commission requires all of its customers’ electric meters to be grouped together, and that meant running a one-inch thick metal conduit along the face of her building. The other option is to punch through three neighbors’ walls. “I can just see the homeowners’ association going for that,” she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at thetruthaboutcars.com ...
I presume that everyone, not just CA, would need some sort of separate meter so that federal, state and local highway (etc) fuel taxes can be applied to charging the vehicle.
Government Mandates Blvd is somewhere in there as well...
Good point. I’ve never seen any mention of road use taxes being applied to EVs.
The government tax gorging on this new ecophenomenon will boggle the mind once the totality of its implications are realized - much like Obama’s Deathcare legislation.
Heh. Maybe this will teach liberals that electricity actually doesn't come out of magic holes in the wall, that there is a real cost to generating and distributing it.
Thats as easy to overcome as any other concern.
A BIG FAT tax on electricity usage to cover the costs of government installing "free" meters for ALL electric car users.
Oh, and another bureaucracy to regulate it.
That made me smile, big time!
I can't stand sloppy reporting. There is no such thing. I'm guessing they meant "one inch diameter" conduit. (Which is actually 1.315" if they require rigid. )
But I'm not worried, I don't make $250,000 a year....and according to Obama...
What is really coming is a mandate to include this hookup into new homes. The BIG PROBLEM: "IT'S THE GRID, STUPID". IT CAN'T SUPPORT THIS!!
And they're coming for money to build this system and they'll roll all over us to get it.
Windmills on the Great Lakes is one brilliant idea.
Where can I get me one of these Skittle-poopin' unicorns?
About 1/2 of he electric power in the US comes from coal, so an electric powered car runs on coal.
Oregon, Washington and California are all using “stimulus money” to install EV charging stations up and down the I-5 corridor right now. The one item that has not even been mentioned is how much electricity it will take for a quick charge, and who pays for it, and how much it will really cost.
This is just damned-foolishness at it’s very worst, and the group hysteria about these cars is coming to a screeching halt as reality intrudes on the group-think on electric cars.
OK, so I’m still behind on my day’s coffee, but let me see if I understand this correctly.
The eco-Nazis/eco-commies complain about fat, stupid, lazy, Gaia-killing Americans leaving their cellphone chargers plugged in overnight, because that is an obscenely gross drain off the electric grid.
But leaving a VEHICLE charger plugged in overnight to propel a ton of material for 40 miles...that’s just fine because it isn’t burning any fossil fuels? Oh wait, what is creating that electricity, diesel-powered generators? Guess it depends upon the area and the source of the electricity that enables the tyrants to approve of this.
Now, now, you don't expect some eco-green little lady to know that do you?
Then we'll just have to grid and bear it. But this is more important for the planet than our petty little concerns...
Finally someone is taking notice that the electricity bill will go up. No mention of how high up it will go.
Did you just happen to know that off the top of your head, or do you have some lying around, along with a good set of calipers to measure with?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.